This brass cartridge case or 'gun tube' was presented to Princess Mary from the men of the HMS Lowestoft. The gun tube was fired at the German cruiser, SMS Blücher, during the Battle of Dogger Bank, an area of the North Sea, on 24 January 1915. The British success in the battle prevented a German naval raid on towns along the north east coast of England, helped in part by interception of German communications.