WWII submarine's Jolly Roger flag sells for £13,000 at auction

The flag was made from scraps of material by petty officer Sharp (pictured on the right in the back row), he was awarded The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM)

A Jolly Roger pirate flag from a World War Two Royal Navy submarine has sold at auction for £13,000.

The flag, which has been stored in a loft in Weymouth, Dorset, for more than 40 years, was made by Petty Officer Sharp aboard HMS Unbroken.

It was sold by his grandson Gordon Sharp, who said he hoped it would "go to a museum so other people can see it".

The flag was auctioned at the Tank Museum in Bovington.

The white bars signify merchant ships and the red bars represent warships sunk by the submarine

When the flag came to light in the loft, Mr Sharp said: "I didn't know what it was at first - it was incredible to be holding a bit of history in your hand.

"It was made from scraps of material onboard the submarine. It's quite large so I'm not sure where he kept it on such a small submarine, perhaps he used it as a pillow."

Unbroken spent much of the war in the Mediterranean operating out of Malta

Dorchester-based auction house Duke's said: "The stars and cannon represent four merchant vessels sunk with the deck gun.

"The white bars signify merchant ships and the red bars warships.

"The daggers show that Unbroken undertook four 'Cloak and Dagger Operations'."

The submarine was loaned to the Soviet Navy in 1944, returned in 1949 and scrapped in 1950.