U.K. Royal Navy White Ensign of the battleship HMS Malaya.
This white ensign was formerly part of the collection of Wall Street financier, business man and promoter of Anglo-American goodwill Calvin Bullock. His 1 Wall street offices in New York City contained the world leading collections of memorabilia pertaining to Napoleon & Lord Nelson. In the 1930s he sought to collect Confederate Flags and during World War II he acquired a representative collection of US, British, French and other allied ensigns from his many international, military and naval acquaintances. After his death in 1944 his son, Hugh Bullock kept the flags on display as a memorial to his late father.
In 1864 the Admiralty decided to end the ambiguity caused by the Red Ensign being both a civil ensign and a naval ensign, and the White Ensign became the sole ensign of the Royal Navy. It was also used by vessels from the Empire serving with the Royal Navy.
HMS Malaya was a Queen Elizabeth class battleship that fought at the battle of Jutland during World War I, where she was hit several times and suffered more casualties than any other British battleship present during the battle, with 63 of her crew dead and 33 wounded.
In 1922, the Malaya had the honor of carrying the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mohammed VI, from Istanbul into exile in Malta and then Italy. Between the wars she was modernized twice; in 1927-29 and in 1934-36.
At the start of World War II, HMS Malaya formed part of a defensive group in the Gulf of Aden, searching for German raiders. She then joined the Mediterranean Fleet. After the Battle of Taranto 11/12 in November 1940, the eastern Mediterranean had no need of such a large naval force, and so HMS Malaya was assigned to Force H, based at Gibraltar.
In this role she took part in numerous troopship escort duties to Suez; participated in Operation Harpoon, one of the many Malta convoys; and other convoy escort duties of the West African Coast. She was torpedoed by U-106 off the Cape Verde Islands and was detached for temporary repairs to Port of Spain, Trinidad, before sailing to the New York Navy Yard for major repairs, returning to duty August of 1941.
At some point during this period, Calvin Bullocks daughter-in-law, Mrs. Hugh Bullock acquired this ensign for him to display in his lecture room.
HMS Malaya returned to the Royal Navy for further escort, reserve and bombardment duties. She was struck from the Navy List in 1947 and broken up in 1948.
ZFC Significant Flag
Provenance:
• Arthur Smart & Sons, Ltd., Flag-makers, Manchester, United Kingdom, 1941.
• Issued to HMS Malaya, 1941.
• Acquired by Mrs. Hugh Bullock, New York, NY, 1941.
• Gifted to Calvin Bullock, New York, NY, until passing, 1944.
• By bequest to Hugh Bullock, until passing. 1966.
• By descent in Bullock family to daughter of Hugh Bullock, until 1997
• Acquired by the Zaricor Flag Collection via private treaty from estate Calvin Bullock of New York City, 1997
Sources:
United Kingdom: the White Ensign, Flags of the World, 18 November 2011, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/gb-ensw.html
White Ensign, Wikipedia, 18 November 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Ensign
THE COLOURS OF THE FLEET, The Flag Institute, 18 November 2011, from: http://www.flaginstitute.org/pdfs/the_colours_of_the_fleet.pdf
White Ensign, Information about White Ensign, 18 November 2011, from: http://english.turkcebilgi.com/White+Ensign
HMS Malaya, Wikipedia, 18 November 2011, from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Malaya
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
RTZFC
