Unknown Colonial Medals of Char. Vizeadmiral Heinrich Sass

[Kriegsmarine Admiral]

Once again, I kindly ask for help regarding the two colonial medals that are visible on the medal bar. The photos are not the best, but I hope they will help at least a little bit.

Here is some info about his career that might me useful in determining what the medals are:

- First Officer, Torpedo Training Ship "Blücher" (01 October 1896-30 September 1898)

- First Officer, Battleship "Wörth" (01 October 1898-30 September 1899)

- Torpedo Director, Imperial Shipyard Kiel (01 October 1899-27 September 1902)

- Commandant, Light Cruiser "Niobe" (28 September 1902-06 April 1903; 30 June 1903-30 September 1903)

- Journey Home from St. Thomas/Central America (01 October 1903-30 October 1903)

- Commandant, Light Cruiser "Gazelle" (31 October 1903-03 August 1904)

 

My guess for the second medal on the medal bar is: China-Denkmünze in Stahl (China Medal in Steel - for non-active participants)

Reason: During the Boxer Rebellion (2 November 1899 – 7 September 1901) he was the Torpedo Director at the Imperial Shipyard in Kiel and didn't actively participate. Also, the ribbon above the medal looks like the ribbon of the China Medal (yellow stripe in the middle and black stripes at the edges).

 

My guess for the third medal on the medal bar is: Kolonial-Denkmünze (Colonial Medal), no Clasps visible above it.

Reason: While he was the Commandant of the "Niobe", we know he was posted somewhere in Central America, because we can see he was returning to Germany from St. Thomas. It would appear that he didn't participate in the Venezuelan crisis of 1902–1903. The following info from Wikipedia: "The Navy initially planned on sending "Niobe" to reinforce the squadron participating in the naval blockade of Venezuela of 1902–1903, but the incident concluded before she could be sent. Instead, on 1 March, she joined the cruisers of I Scouting Group for her second trip to Norway." That's why he doesn't have the „Venezuela 1902/03“ Clasp above the Colonial Medal.

The second reason is the ribbon above this medal that seems to have vertical lines (like the Colonial Medal), and not horizontal lines like the Südwestafrika-Denkmünze (South West Africa Medal).

 

First medal on the medal bar is the Preußisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz, the fourth is the Kaiser Wilhelm-Centenarmedaille 1897 and the last one is the Portugiesischen Ritterorden von Avis.

 

Please tell me what you think.

For anyone interested, here is the list of his awards I compiled so far:

-Königlich Preußischer Roter Adler-Orden 2. Klasse mit Eichenlaub (22. 01. 1911)
-Königlich Preußischer Kronen-Orden 2. Klasse mit dem Stern (21. 01. 1912)
-Königlich Preußische Kaiser Wilhelm-Centenarmedaille 1897
-Königlich Preußischer Roter Adler-Orden 3. Klasse mit der Schleife
-Königlich Preußischer Roter Adler-Orden 4. Klasse
-Königlich Preußisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz
-Ehrenoffizierskreuz des Großherzoglich Oldenburgischen Haus- und Verdienstordens des Herzogs Peter Friedrich Ludwig
-Offizierskreuz des Portugiesischen Ritterordens von Avis
-Kaiserlich Russischer St. Stanislaus-Orden 2. Klasse mit dem Stern

Many thanks in advance for any help!