Great War H.M.S. Viknor casualty 1914 Star trio awarded to Able Seaman J. Dunne, Nelson Battalion, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve who was killed in the sinking in the Irish Sea of the armed merchant cruiser H.M.S. Viknor on 13th January 1915, and is now remembered on the Plymouth Naval Memorial.
Group of 3: 1914 Star; (MY.7/213 J. DUNN. A.B., R.N.V.R. NELSON BTTN. R.N.D.) British War Medal and Victory Medal; (M.7/213 J. DUNNE. A.B. R.N.V.R.). Note variation in spelling of surname on star.
Condition: Nearly Extremely Fine
Along with a copied photograph of H.M.S. Viknor and a copy newspaper article announcing that Dunne was missing after the sinking of H.M.S. Viknor
Joseph Dunne saw service as an Able Seaman (MY.7/213) with the Nelson Battalion, Royal Naval Division, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and was killed in the sinking of H.M.S. Viknor on 13th January 1915. He is remembered on the Plymouth Naval Memorial and is noted as the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Dunne of 277 Walton Lane, Walton, Liverpool.
Despite having rejected Atrato as an armed merchant cruiser in 1888, the Admiralty requisitioned her after the UK entered the First World War in 1914. She was fitted out, armed, and commissioned as HMS Viknor. She was placed under the command of Commander EO Ballantyne with a complement of 22 officers and 273 ratings and assigned to the 10th Cruiser Squadron.
On 28 December 1914 Viknor went on patrol from the River Tyne, and on 1 January she joined "B" patrol off the north coast of Scotland. The patrol was ordered to find and stop the neutral Norwegian America Line ship Bergensfjord, which the UK Government believed was carrying a suspected German spy. Viknor found Bergensfjord, detained her and escorted her to Kirkwall in Orkney. There the suspect and a number of other prisoners were transferred to Viknor, which then left for Liverpool.
Viknor never reached her destination. On 13 January 1915 she sank with all hands in heavy seas off Tory Island, County Donegal, Ireland. She sent no distress signal. Some wreckage and many corpses washed ashore on the northern coast of Ireland.
It is thought she struck a German naval mine, possibly one of those laid by the German auxiliary cruiser Berlin. Her wreck was found in 2006, and in 2011 a scuba diver placed a White Ensign on it in memory of her complement.