Date Instituted: 1847.

Campaign: Naval battles and boat actions 1793-1840.

Description: The obverse of this medal bears the head of Queen Victoria with the inscription 'VICTORIA REGINA' while the reverse depicts Britannia riding a seahorse and holding a trident. The swivelling suspender is plain and straight.

Metal: Silver.

Size: 36mm.

Clasps: Some 230 different clasps exist for the medal with the most commonly encountered listed below:

Fleet Actions - '1 JUNE 1794', '14 MARCH 1795', '23 JUNE 1795', 'ST VINCENT', 'CAMPERDOWN', 'NILE', '12 OCTBR 1798', 'EGYPT', 'COPENHAGEN', 'GUT OF GIBRALTER', 'TRAFALGER', '4 NOVR 1805', 'ST DOMINGO', 'MARTINQUE', 'BASQUE ROADS', 'GUADALOUPE', 'JAVA', 'ST SEBASTIAN', 'ALGIERS', 'NAVARINO' and 'SYRIA'.

Ship Actions - 'MARS 21 APRIL 1798', 'LION 15 JULY 1798', 'ACRE 30 MAY 1799', 'LONDON 13 MARCH 1806', 'CURACAO 1 JANY 1807', 'STATELY 22 MARCH 1808', 'SHANNON AND CHESAPEAKE', 'GLUCKSTADT 4 JANY 1814' and 'GAIETA 24 JULY 1815'.

Boat Service - '16 JULY 1806', '1 NOVR 1809', '28 JUNE 1810', '29 SEPR 1812', '8 AP AND MAY 1813', '2 MAY 1813', '8 APRIL 1814', '24 MAY 1814' and '14 DECR 1814'.

Ribbon: White with darl blue edges.

Naming: Impressed Roman captial letters.

Comments: Instituted in 1847 for naval actions between 1793 and 1840. As with the Military General Service Medal veterens had to claim the medal, many of them long after the action for which it was earned. As a result many who would have been entitled had since died so few medals were issued in camparison to the numbers that took part in the actions.

Further Reading:

• Nil.