War Hero's  20 th Cent ROYAL NAVY QINTANT / SEXTANT Former Property of CAPT Bernard Warburton Lee, RN, VC GUARANTEED ORIGINAL!  Cary, London Quintant Royal Navy 1911     Presented is an antique quintant, serial number 3251 matching entirely throughout, with a classic "T" frame made by Carey of London, Ca 1911. The quintant is in its last used condition having been the property throughout his naval career of the famous British World War Two hero, Captain Bernard Warburton Lee, RN, VC whose name is engraved on a brass plaque on the case's lid, and on the instrument. Captain Bernard Armitage Warburton Lee, RN, VC, is the famous English WW II hero of the First Battle of Narvik, Norway. Warburton Lee at that time commanded the British Destroyer Flotilla consisting of HMS's Hardy, Havock, Hostile, Hotspur and Hunter who engaged the German shore batteries and warships in a fierce duel to the death which cost the captain his life. For his exploits in this engagement he was awarded Britain's highest decoration for valor in combat, the Victoria Cross posthumously. During WW II only 23 Victory Crosses were awarded to members of the Royal Navy and Royal Navy Reserve, and of those only approximately 11 survived. How his sextant / quintant found its way to these shores is unknown. Bernard Warburton Lee's citation reads as follows: "For gallantry, enterprise and daring in command of the force engaged in the First Battle of Narvik, on 10th April, 1940. On being ordered to carry out an attack on Narvik, Captain Warburton Lee learned that the enemy was holding the place in much greater force than had been thought. He signaled to the Admiralty that six German destroyers and one submarine were there, that the channel might be mined, and that he intended to attack at dawn. The Admiralty replied that he alone could judge whether to attack, and that whatever decision he made would have full support. Captain Warburton led his flotilla of five destroyers up the fjord in heavy snow-storms, arriving off Narvik just after daybreak. He took the enemy completely by surprise and made three successful attacks on warships and merchantmen in the harbour. As the flotilla withdrew, five enemy destroyers of superior gunpower were encountered and engaged. The captain was mortally wounded by a shell which hit the bridge of H.M.S. Hardy. His last signal was "Continue to engage the enemy". CONDITION: The mirrors show their age and need to be re-silvered for use, but as a collectable should be left as is. The beautifully turned Rosewood handle is elegant. The index arm clamp, and swing arm magnifier are complete and in good working order. The frame is finished in its original gun metal blue black finish with some discoloration, but otherwise in excellent condition. The instrument has its original sighting tube, two telescopes, marked 3251, and one ocular lens cap. The case is in supurb condition with all the sextant's accessories fitted, and comes with the original certificate of inspection. See the gallery of photographs below. The instrument, and all its hardware are all in remarkably good condition as is noted above. Everything is present and in good working order except for a few incidentals like a lens cap, adjustment wrench and pick. There is nothing to mark this sextant down for except that the gun metal bluing is slightly discolored in places and the case has an age crack in its bottom, but is still sturdy. with a nice patina of age and is in exceptional quality overall. All numbers match. The polished arc and silver scale is calibrated -5 to 155 degrees making it a quintant not a sextant with a vernier scale reading from the right from 0 to 10 arc seconds in 2 second intervals. The sextant has three horizontal shades and four vertical shades, all in good order. The instrument and it's accessories are housed in the fitted military style hard wood carrying case which has brass hinges and latches, campaign chest handle and engraved brass plaque on its top with the owners name.           Listed in Webster's Instrument  List            Known Ownership     THE CERTIFICATE is the original issued by National Physical Laboratory in February, 1911. The non-adjustable instrument error is no greater that 20 arc seconds from 75 degrees through 120 degrees, the extent of the range measured, FROM WEBSTER'S LIST OF INSTRUMENT MAKERS: CARY & CO is from a long line of English instrument makers that seemingly are related to one another. Webster's has this company established in 1765 and located at 181 Strand, London, and later ar 7 Pall Mall, two doors East from Waterloo Place, London, S.W.   CREDENTIALS: We are one of the few people still selling navigation instruments that know anything about them. For purposes of judging whether my opinion counts, I was the editor of the chapter on sextants of the 1977 Edition of "Bowditch", The American Practical Navigator, NAVPUB 9; a member of the U.S. Naval Academy Navigation Symposium Board, 1975-1978; the author of a book on marine sextants, Cornell Maritime Press,1975, and the founding president of Nautech Maritime Corporation which partnered with Tamaya of Japan in the introduction of the MS 733 Spica, the MS 833, Jupiter, MS 933 Venus sextants and the famous NC-2 navigation computer, in the U.S. market. I  am also a retired Master Mariner, and held a U.S. Navy "D" Qualification as a Senior Skipper - Oceans.     This quintant / sextant is an outstanding example of an elegant tulip framed model and rates 5 Stars. CASE DIMENSIONS: 10" L x 10 1/2" D" L x 5" H     INSTRUMENT WEIGHT    2 LBS 8 OZ   GUARANTEE OF SATISFACTION: You must be fully satisfied with your purchase on arrival and that our description is entirely accurate or your money back. The only conditions are that an email authorization be obtained within three days, and that the instrument is returned in its original condition and packaging, and insured for its full value. Unfortunately, shipping charges are not included in this offer and are non-refundable unless we are at fault. INTERNATIONAL BUYERS WELCOME, but inquire first. There are extra costs. We have customers in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Nova Scotia, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, USVI and the Eastern Caribbean.   Rarely do you find an instrument from a historic personage that is that is 95 years old in this well preserved original condition. A superior addition to any collection.  Copyright 2006, Land And Sea Collection, All rights reserved    Select a thumbnail from the left to zoom. Image #1 Image #2 Image #3 Image #4 Image hosting and Zoom Gallery by VillagePhotos.com