Pewter tankard from the mess of the SS Menelaus, an English merchant steamer that carried material to and from Britain during WWII.
On May 1st, 1942, her First Officer observed another cargo ship approaching, signaling for her to stop. The other vessel did not respond to allied codes, and when asked to identify herself, only signaled back "NEW BRITISH NAVY PATTROL." Menelaus requested the ship repeat the last word, and she responded "PATTROL."
The First Officer ordered the engines on full, and called for the Captain. The Captain, in turn, had a distress signal transmitted, and ordered the Menelaus' guns ready. The other ship fired its guns at her, but she was too far away.
A lookout on the Menelaus then spotted a small boat approaching at high speed, flying the Royal Navy ensign, and signaling for the Menelaus to "STOP." The Captain and First Officer observed the boat through binoculars: they saw the men aboard were wearing heavy Royal Navy coats in the warmth of the equatorial sun, their life vests were of the type used by the British Merchant Marine instead of those of the Royal Navy, and the Royal Navy ensign was a poorly-made replica.
The First Officer begged the Captain to open fire, but instead, the Captain ordered the boilers pushed beyond their recommended limits. The small boat began firing torpedoes, but the Menelaus deftly turn aside of them, and gained enough distance to put her out of range.
Good thing too. The other ship was the German Auxiliary Cruiser Michel, a merchant raider: essentially a modern privateer, the raider was a merchant ship with a hotrod engine that had been equipped with heavy guns and torpedoes. One of about a dozen such ships, the Michel's purpose was to pretend to be a neutral or allied merchant vessel in need of assistance, until the target ship came within range of her guns, and would then be sunk. The Michel was captained by Hellmuth von Ruckteschell, one of the few German Navy officers to be tried and convicted of war crimes, as he was notorious for leaving few or no survivors of the ships he sank.
The Michel sank 18 Allied merchant ships before she was sunk in turn, by a US submarine off the coast of Japan. The SS Menelaus was the only ship she engaged that managed to survive the encounter.
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Anyway, a serviceable tankard with a bit of history. I actually use it every night for my nightly shot or two of rum.
On May 1st, 1942, her First Officer observed another cargo ship approaching, signaling for her to stop. The other vessel did not respond to allied codes, and when asked to identify herself, only signaled back "NEW BRITISH NAVY PATTROL." Menelaus requested the ship repeat the last word, and she responded "PATTROL."
The First Officer ordered the engines on full, and called for the Captain. The Captain, in turn, had a distress signal transmitted, and ordered the Menelaus' guns ready. The other ship fired its guns at her, but she was too far away.
A lookout on the Menelaus then spotted a small boat approaching at high speed, flying the Royal Navy ensign, and signaling for the Menelaus to "STOP." The Captain and First Officer observed the boat through binoculars: they saw the men aboard were wearing heavy Royal Navy coats in the warmth of the equatorial sun, their life vests were of the type used by the British Merchant Marine instead of those of the Royal Navy, and the Royal Navy ensign was a poorly-made replica.
The First Officer begged the Captain to open fire, but instead, the Captain ordered the boilers pushed beyond their recommended limits. The small boat began firing torpedoes, but the Menelaus deftly turn aside of them, and gained enough distance to put her out of range.
Good thing too. The other ship was the German Auxiliary Cruiser Michel, a merchant raider: essentially a modern privateer, the raider was a merchant ship with a hotrod engine that had been equipped with heavy guns and torpedoes. One of about a dozen such ships, the Michel's purpose was to pretend to be a neutral or allied merchant vessel in need of assistance, until the target ship came within range of her guns, and would then be sunk. The Michel was captained by Hellmuth von Ruckteschell, one of the few German Navy officers to be tried and convicted of war crimes, as he was notorious for leaving few or no survivors of the ships he sank.
The Michel sank 18 Allied merchant ships before she was sunk in turn, by a US submarine off the coast of Japan. The SS Menelaus was the only ship she engaged that managed to survive the encounter.
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Anyway, a serviceable tankard with a bit of history. I actually use it every night for my nightly shot or two of rum.