Victoria Cross awarded to Captain Ronald Neil Stuart RNR (1886-1954). Lieutenant Stuart was serving on the Q-ship HMS ‘Pargust’ in 1917 when it was attacked by a U-boat. Q-ships posed as defenceless merchant ships (they were in fact fitted with concealed armament) that would tempt U-boats to the surface to attack - sometimes a 'Panic Party' was employed to deceive the U-boat crew into thinking the ship was being abandoned - some of the crew would leave the ship some disguised as women, carrying a stuffed parrot for added verisimilitude. While the U-boat closed in to attack, the remaining crew on board the Q-ship would open fire. On 7 June 1917, a U-boat fired a torpedo at the ‘Pargust’. A panic party was sent away and the U-boat closed in - when she was about 50 yards from the ‘Pargust’, her commander gave the order to fire and the submarine was blown out of the water. The Victoria Cross was awarded to the whole ship - the men were allowed to nominate one officer and one rating by ballot to receive the medal and Lt Stuart and Seaman William Williams were chosen.

Stuart was born in 1886 and was the son, grandson and great grandson of seamen. His father was a master mariner and the family lived in Liverpool where Stuart attended Shaw Street College. He went to sea as an apprentice in 1902 on board the barque ‘Kirkhill’ and later joined the Allan Line which was taken over by Canadian Pacific in 1915. Stuart became a probationary Sub-Lieutenant Royal Naval Reserve in 1914 and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1916. He commanded the destroyer HMS ‘Opossum’ and in 1917 was awarded the United States Navy Cross while commanding the Q-ship ‘Tamarisk’. He had come to the aid of the US destroyer ‘Cassin’ after she had been torpedoed by a U-boat towing her back to harbour. Stuart was promoted Lieutenant Commander RNR in 1918. After the war, he returned to work for the Canadian Pacific Line but still remained an officer in the RNR and was promoted to Captain in 1935. He retired from CPR in 1951 where he had risen to the rank of Commodore in 1934. He became general manager of the company from 1938 until his retirement. Captain Stuart died in 1954. The Museum also holds the following medals awarded to Captain Stuart: Distinguished Service Order (MED1256), Reserve Officers’ Decoration (MED1257), 1914/15 Star (MED1258), British War Medal (MED1259), Victory Medal (MED1260), George VI Coronation Medal (MED1261), Elizabeth II Coronation Medal (MED1262) and Navy Cross USN (MED1263).

The medal comprises a bronze Maltese Cross fitted with a loop, ring and a blue ribbon suspended from a bar of ornamental laurel leaves by a V. In the centre of the obverse face is a Royal Crown surmounted by a lion, crowned passant, guardant, both within a ribbon, together with the inscription, ‘FOR VALOUR’. The reverse is inscribed, ‘LIEUT. R.N.STUART, D.S.O. ROYAL NAVAL RESERVE’, along with the date, ‘7 JUNE 1917’. The medal is complete with the fitted case of issue.