HMS Alert Vice Admiral's Gong

This superb brass gong was probably made up to commemorate Alert entering service in October 1946. She was originally laid down as Loch Scamdale, then the name was changed to Dundrum Bay but finally named HMS Alert, pennant number K 647. She was a Bay Class frigate and was referred to as an Admiralty Yacht for command and gunboat diplomacy duties in the Mediterranean and Far Eastern stations. In service she was always referred to as 'The C in C's Yacht! She spent much of her service life in the Far East and won Battle Honours in the Korean War in 1951 as well as taking part in 'Operation Grapple', the first UK nuclear weapons test at Christmas Island in 1957. She was finally laid up in Plymouth in 1964 and scrapped in 1971. Our gong is finely worked in brass and as well as the ship's name, is engraved with the date 3rd October, 1946 and below a Vice Admiral's Ensign picked out in coloured paint. The gong was acquired through an ex Royal Navy family although we don't have any direct provenance with it but we assume would have been used in the Officers' Mess on board. The gong has a superb deep tone and would serve again today just as it clearly did throughout its service life. This is an absolutely unique piece of Royal Navy memorabilia - a real one off! Diameter of the gong is 17" (43 cm) and is 2" deep (5 cm) it weighs in at 8 kilos so please check shipping costs to your destination before ordering!