Re: Deutschland (U155)
Posted by:
Don Cox
()
Date: September 10, 2009 07:02PM
Thanks to assistance from the staff of the National Maritime Museum who found the answer in 'The Times' online I am satisfied that this bust is of Horatio Bottomley who bought the "Deutschland" for £12,000 in the Summer of 1919. Please see The Times 28 October 1921 p5 'The Bottomley Case'. This mentions Bottomley's purchase of the Deutschland which came up in a court case. Also, it was he who exhibited the vessel in the Thames.
The pictures in Google images match as do the facsimile signatures here: [www.antiquepapermoney.co.uk] and on the plinth, particularly in one telling aspect. The terminal 'o' of Horatio'and the 'b' of Bottomley are joined in the same idiosyncratic and affected way.
Given these facts it is highly improbable that this bust is made from anything other than metal from the WW1 submarine Deutschland. It is not for sale or assimilation into a private collection,
The pictures in Google images match as do the facsimile signatures here: [www.antiquepapermoney.co.uk] and on the plinth, particularly in one telling aspect. The terminal 'o' of Horatio'and the 'b' of Bottomley are joined in the same idiosyncratic and affected way.
Given these facts it is highly improbable that this bust is made from anything other than metal from the WW1 submarine Deutschland. It is not for sale or assimilation into a private collection,