Groups and Single Decorations for Gallantry 85


A Great War D.S.M. group of five awarded to Able Seaman S. Sheard, Royal Navy, who was decorated for his gallant services in the fast destroyer-minelayer H.M.S. Abdiel, in which he served at Jutland and was still aboard during the blockade of the Bolshevik Baltic Fleet in 1919: he had earlier seen extensive service aboard the Battleship H.M.S. Vengeance in the Dardanelles Campaign


Distinguished Service Medal, G.V.R. (J.18378. S. Sheard, A.B. H.M.S. Abdiel. 1917); 1914-15 Star (J. 18378. S. Sheard, A.B., R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (J.18378 S. Sheard. A.B. R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 1st issue (J.18378 S. Sheard. A.B. H.M.S. Benbow.) light contact wear and polished, the last better therefore nearly very fine or better (5)


£600-£800 D.S.M. London Gazette 1 October 1917.


Seth Sheard was born in Leeds, Yorkshire in 1894 and joined the Royal Navy as Boy 2nd Class at the training Establishment H.M.S. Ganges on 17 July 1912. Transferring to Vivid I a week later, he was promoted to Boy 1st Class and then Ordinary Seaman before joining his first seagoing vessel, the pre-dreadnought Battleship, H.M.S. Queen on 18 March 1913. Returning to shore he was at Pembroke I from 1 May 1913 to 18 August 1913 at which time he joined the battleship H.M.S. Vengeance, gaining promotion to Able Seaman on 21 August 1914. After the outbreak of war Vengeance patrolled the English Channel with the 8th Battle Squadron before moving to Alexandria to protect the Suez Canal in November 1914. She then joined the Dardanelles Campaign in January 1915, where she saw extensive action trying to force the Dardanelles Strait in February and March and later supported the fighting ashore during the Gallipoli Campaign in April and May. Worn out from these operations, Vengeance then returned to Britain for a refit, Sheard remained with her until 29 August 1915 at which time he returned to Pembroke I. On 23 March 1916 he joined the newly commissioned H.M.S. Abdiel, a large destroyer converted to allow her to operate as a fast minelayer, under Commander B. Curtis. He was to remain with her for the rest of the war. Abdiel joined the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow and for a time she was engaged in night-time mine-laying operations in the Heligoland Bight and off Horns Reef. She accompanied the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916, after which, Abdiel followed Jellicoe’s orders in laying a minefield overnight in the expected path of the retreating German fleet. Later that morning, the German battleship Ostfriesland struck a mine laid by Abdiel, blowing a hole in her, and causing damage that kept Ostfriesland in dock until 26 July.


Jellicoe, writing in his memoirs, expressed his admiration for her: ‘In late 1916 the 20th (Minelaying) Destroyer Flotilla was formed with Abdiel, under the now Captain Curtis, the leader. Based at Immingham on the Humber, the Flotilla continued for the rest of the War to harass the High Seas Fleet by repeated dashes into German waters. Abdiel laid 6,293 mines altogether, far more than any other destroyer-minelayers ...’


Abdiel continued her minelaying operations through 1917 and into 1918. An indication of the frequent and hazardous nature of these operations is to be found in Endless Story: ‘Our task, which was to lay mines in the enemy swept channels in the Heligoland Bight, took us across the North Sea sometimes twice a week, sometimes more often. We had to pick our way in at night through torturous passages left between many lines drawn in red upon the chart - here, there, and everywhere - in the wet triangle bounded to the west by the line joining the Horns Reef to the Dutch island of Terschelling. The red lines represented previously laid British minefields, and, though their positions were supposedly exact, we could never really trust them to a mile or so. Mines, however, remain at a constant height above the sea floor, so we generally selected high water for our nocturnal activities over the other side.’


Post war operations - British intervention in the Russian Civil War


After the Great War, Sheard remained in Abdiel which continued as leader of the 20th Flotilla, arriving in the Baltic at the end of June 1919. Supported by the minelayer Princess Margaret, the 20th Flotilla continued in its main role of laying minefields to contain the Bolshevik Baltic Fleet. On 31 August 1919, Abdiel and Vittoria had anchored near Seskar Island while on patrol and were spotted by the Bolshevik submarine Pantera, which fired two torpedoes, sinking Vittoria. Abdiel rescued all but eight of Vittoria's crew. On 26 October, the 20th Flotilla was relieved and set out on its journey back to the Great Britain, with Sheard coming ashore for a time at Pembroke.


He next served in H.M.S. Moorhen, 4 February 1921 to 15 March 1923, H.M.S. Royal Sovereign, 13 May 1924 to 3 January 1925, and H.M.S. Benbow, 16 October 1925 to 11 May 1928. He received his Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal on 11 March 1928 while serving aboard the Benbow, and was finally pensioned ashore on 1 January 1929.


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