About this piece
back to topA good-quality early 20th century bronze Royal Navy boat badge for the HMS Verity, from the collection of the late John Ritchie (1944-2025).
The HMS Verity was an Admiralty modified W-class destroyer ordered in 1918 as part of the 13th Order for Destroyers of the Emergency War Program and launched in 1919. Verity spent the late part of the 1920s and early 30s in the Mediterranean before deployment into the Second World War, assisting in the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940 and Operation Torch in North Africa in 1942. Following the war, she was sold to be dismantled for scrap in 1947.
The shield-shaped badge displays a burning oil lamp framed by a rope border as pictured, this one marked ‘Verity’ to the reverse.
‘Verity’ is just one of a selection of ship badges we have acquired from John Ritchie’s collection which will make interesting pieces for the modern collector of British naval history.
The John Ritchie Collection
John Ritchie was an eminent figure in the world of maritime antiques for over 40 years. In his lifetime, he served in the Merchant Navy and travelled the globe, developing a passion for maritime collecting and history. In later years, he became proprietor of Books Afloat in Weymouth, a second-hand bookshop dedicated to all things nautical.
