Bidspirit auction | RARE hallmarked silver matchbox case

RARE hallmarked silver matchbox case made by Mappin & Webb, Birmingham 1928 with enamelled crest flag of the Blue Star line, engraved T.S.S Ulysses, 32 grams. Please note - The TSS Ulysses was built in Belfast by Workman Clark and was launched on July 5th 1913. On 22nd October 1913 she took up service on the Glasgow-Liverpool-Brisbane route. In 1915 she was trooping Australian soldiers to the Suez area and in 1917 was trooping US soldiers across the Atlantic. In 1920 she was back on commercial service to Brisbane via Cape Town. She was an important part of the Blue Funnel fleet with the Commodore Captain R D Owen in command. In 1942 she got out of Hong Kong prior to the arrival of the Japanese, sailing to Singapore and then Australia where she loaded a cargo for Liverpool via Panama Canal. On April 8th she collided with a vessel causing some bow damage, causing her to head for Newport News for repairs. On 11th April, 5 miles off Palm Beach, Florida, she was torpedoed twice by U-160 and sunk quickly. No lives were lost.