Hanger, which is said to have belonged to Captain Maurice Suckling (1725-1778) and Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758-1805). The hilt consists of a gilt brass, straight stirrup guard of trapezoid section. The guard leads from the pommel via a horizontal cross at the stool to a short upturned quillon with a disc shaped finial. The guard is engraved with the words 'Capt Suckling Comg. HMS Triumph'. The bone grip is decorated with a reeded motif, and swells to the mid-point. A single strip of lightly engraved thread decoration encircles the cushion pommel. Around the mid-point of the grip is a gilt brass annulet the reverse bearing an oval plaque decorated with a crown over a foul anchor and a strip of decoration similar to those on pommel and the ferrule. The annulet is engraved with the words 'To Horatio Midsm Nelson'. The curved, flat-backed steel blade has a false edge slightly over 230mm long. The blade is entirely plain and shows no signs of ever having been decorated. The scabbard is missing.

The legend connected with this sword is that it was the weapon, which Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson was wearing on the 25 July 1797 during the boat attack on Santa Cruz, and that it was the sword presented to him by his uncle Captain Maurice Suckling. However there is no evidence that this sword ever belonged to either Nelson or Suckling. The engraved legends are probably early 19th century in date. The hilt fits the blade badly and it is reasonable to assume that they were not made originally to form a single sword. The blade may well be that of an Infantry hanger of the second half of the 18th century whereas the hilt is later (not before 1790). The guard does not match the restrained and attractive decoration of the pommel, annulet and ferrule, which may conceivably be associated itself. Nevertheless, in general terms this type of weapon must have been very common at sea at the end of the 18th century and during the early years of the 19th century.