This is a loading wheel from the C3 Submarine in WW1. She didn’t see active service until the 23rd April 1918, when she was stripped of all valuable metals and equipment, fitted with explosives and manned by just 3 ratings and commanded by Captain Richard Douglas Sandford. Then she was used in the Ostend Zeebrugge raid. Her sole purpose was to be rammed under the wooden pier at the onset of the Ostend Mole then detonated to help block the German U-boats from using the harbour. 8 Victoria crosses were awarded and 1 was given to Captain Sandford.
Citation for Captain Sandford VC:
On 22/23 April 1918 at Zeebrugge, Belgium, Lieutenant Sandford commanding HM Submarine C.3, skilfully placed the vessel between the piles of the viaduct which connected the Mole with the shore, before laying his fuse and abandoning her. He disdained to use the gyro steering which would have enabled him and his crew to abandon the submarine at a safe distance, but preferred to make sure that his mission would be successful.