SOLD Mr L USA 1879-1901 Pattern Victorian Midshipman's Dirk, later Admiral of Distinguished Naval Family Last Used by a Lt Commander of HMS Argonaut of the Operation Torch and Normandy Landings

SOLD Mr L USA of this famed family’s sword and dirk with the admirals sword item number. 24254

Both are in excellent plus condition, with the traditional 1879-1901 Victorian retaining spring-clip attachment. With excellent overall gilt remaining to the hilt, fine sharkskin grip with original binding, deluxe etched blade with overall wear to the etching, excellent leather to the scabbard the scabbard. The scabbard throat is monogrammed for Midshipman, later Captain Cloete. Originally it was made for and used by his father when a midshipman, who later became a British rear admiral. It was then past to his eldest son when he enlisted, who was later became a most distinguished Lt Commander of WW2.
His other, second son, Midshipman R. E. Cloete, Royal Navy, was killed in action on the battleship H.M.S. Barham in November 1941. Tragically he was killed in action aboard, when Barham was sunk off the Egyptian coast by the German submarine U-331 with the loss of 862 crewmen, approximately two thirds of her crew.
We also have the admiral's named, Wilkinson RN sword, that was purchased in 1914.

The dirks last owner was the Admiral’s son, Captain Peter Lawrence Cloete OBE, RN, who served on HMS Argonaut as lieutenant and lieutenant commander in WW2 from 1941 til 1944, in numerous wartime fields of maritime conflict, including three of the most important allied invasions of WW2, Operation Torch, the Anglo-American invasion of French Morocco and Algeria during the North African Campaign, Operation Overlord, the Normandy Landings, and Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France. Later, after 1944, he served on the battleship HMS Duke of York, and the Aircraft Carrier HMS Ark Royal. The Dirk is monogrammed to him on the scabbard throat.

HMS Argonaut was a Dido-class cruiser of the British Royal Navy which saw active service during the Second World War. Constructed at the Cammell Laird shipyard, Birkenhead, Argonaut was laid down in 1939, launched in September 1941, and formally commissioned into service on 8 August 1942.

She saw service in the Mediterranean in 1942, and was badly damaged on 14 December. After being repaired she took part in Operation Overlord, the Normandy Landings, and Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France, before serving as an escort carrier group flagship.

During October and November 1942, Argonaut served as part of Operation Torch, the Allied landings in North Africa. The cruiser formed part of Force H, based in Gibraltar and commanded by Vice Admiral Sir E.N. Syfret. It was charged with guarding the landings against possible attack from Italian or Vichy French naval forces. HMS Argonaut, in particular, was dispatched on a diversionary mission into the Mediterranean.

In December 1942 Argonaut joined the newly formed Force Q, commanded by Rear Admiral Cecil Harcourt, with the mission of disrupting German–Italian convoys on the Tunisian coast. In addition to Argonaut, Force Q included the cruisers Aurora and Sirius, and the destroyers Quentin and HMAS Quiberon.

On 1 December, Argonaut and the other ships in Force Q took part in the Battle of Skerki Bank – attacking and largely destroying an Italian convoy. While the Axis forces lost four troop ships and the destroyer Folgore the Allies emerged from the engagement intact. On the following day, the German Air Force sank HMS Quentin westward of Cap Serrat. On 14 December 1942, Argonaut was heavily damaged when the Italian submarine Lazzaro Mocenigo struck the cruiser with two torpedoes from a spread of four, causing serious damage. The bow and stern sections of the cruiser were effectively blown off and the steering wrecked. Though only three crew members were killed, the damage was so severe that German authorities mistakenly believed the Argonaut had been sunk. The ship was patched up and limped to Algiers for more temporary repairs. It then sailed for the United States, where it underwent a seven-month reconstruction, completed in November 1943.

Repairs and later service
When the Argonaut returned to the UK, it was refitted and received the new Type 293 and 277 radars. It took part in bombardment duties on D-Day under the command of Captain Longley. It also supported the Allied invasion of Southern France, Operation Dragoon, before seeing duty as an escort carrier flagship.

Subsequently, the ship conducted a sweep of the Aegean Sea, sinking a number of small Axis craft, before sailing east to the Indian Ocean, where Argonaut joined the British Pacific Fleet in 1945.


Peter Laurence Cloete, the son of Rear-Admiral E. B. Cloete, R.N., was appointed a Naval Cadet in May 1931 and, having attended the Royal Navy’s Engineering College and been advanced to Midshipman, joined the cruiser H.M.S. Leander, in which ship he was serving as a Lieutenant (E.) by the outbreak of hostilities in September 1939. Leander served in the Mediterranean and East Indies 1940-41, and sank the Italian armed merchant cruiser Ramb I in the Indian Ocean in February of the latter year.

Removing to the cruiser H.M.S. Argonaut in August 1941, Cloete remained similarly employed until coming ashore to the Columbo base Lanka in September 1944, thereby sharing in her Battle Honours for North Africa 1942 and Normandy 1944, and gaining advancement to Lieutenant-Commander (E.) at the time of the Normandy landings. So, too, in such notable actions as the destruction of four enemy supply ships and a destroyer north of Tunis in December 1942 and, less happily, an attack by the Italian submarine Mocenigo in February 1943, when Argonaut’s bow and stern were blown off - subsequent repairs being undertaken in the U.S.A. and U.K.

Post-war, after promotion to Commander (E.) he served in the cruiser H.M.S. Belfast and the battleship H.M.S. Duke of York, and was awarded his O.B.E. in the Coronation Honours List in 1953, while serving in the cruiser H.M.S. Jamaica, which distinction he received at a Buckingham Palace investiture in the following month. Appointments in the aircraft carriers H.M.S. Ark Royal and Eagle ensued, in which latter ship he is believed to have qualified for his “Near East” clasp in 1956.

The Cloete family is remarkable in that it was to produce three generals’ and one admiral in the British and Indian armed forces, namely General Sir Abraham Josias Cloete, British Army; General Henry Daniel Cloete, British-Indian Army, Lieutenant-General Josias Gordon Cloete, British-Indian Army and Rear-Admiral Edward Balfour Cloete , Royal Navy. *** Priced for both pieces, £2495 the pair, the Admirals sword and his Dirk together

Code: 24253