Victorian Ships Brass Bell From The Wild Flower, Famed Rescue Vessel

LT557, The Wild Flower was a fishing smack out of Lowestoft and on the 30th January 1895 was involved in a famous rescue involving the German passenger ship the SS ELBE.
In late January of 1895 the SS Elbe was enroute from Germany to New York with 354 passengers aboard, by a combination of bad luck and poor seamanship on the part of the steamship Craithie sailing from Scotland to Rotterdam there was a collision 50 miles offshore on a wild and stormy night. The Elbe had been firing warning rockets but the Craithie either didnt see them or choose to ignore them and ultimately ran into the Elbe at 5.30 in the morning with such force that the Elbe was sunk within 20 minutes. Two lifeboats were scrambled but one overturned, the Craithie didnt stop to help and although damaged carried on her journey. To far from land and their distress rockets having gone unseen the people in the lifeboat looked doomed, fortunately for them the fishing vessel Wildflower came to their rescue and took the 20 surviving passengers and crew aboard just in time as the lifeboat was beginning to break up. The crew of the Wildflower were rewarded by Kaiser Wilhelm II with a gold and silver watch and £5.
When the Wildflower ceased sailing the bell went into private hands, it was in the possesion of a Mr H.J. Finch who bequethed it to the Reydon Sea Scouts in October 1948, this information having been engraved on the side. (Reydon adjoins Southwold in Suffolk) ultimately it was housed in the British Legion in Southwold and when that closed came to me.
The bell is in superb condition, it is missing its clapper but comes with its original bracket and it is seriously heavy.
The bell is 8 inches in diameter and comes with a selection of paperwork detailing the Elbe and one has a picture of the Wildflower.

Code: 16947