Naval General Service Medal

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Naval General Service Medal
Obverse (top left) and reverse (top right) of the medal. Ribbon: 32mm, white with dark blue edges.
Awarded by United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Type	Campaign medal
Eligibility	Royal Navy.
Awarded for	Campaign service.
Campaign	Naval Actions 1793-1840.
Description	Silver disk, 36mm diameter.
Clasps	231 authorised, not all issued.
Statistics
Established	1847
Total awarded	20,933

The Naval General Service Medal (NGSM) was a campaign medal approved in 1847, for issue to officers and men of the Royal Navy.^[1]

The NGSM was retrospectively awarded for various naval actions during the period 1793 to 1840, a period including the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, and the Anglo-American War of 1812. Each battle or action covered by the medal was represented by a clasp on the ribbon; 231 were sanctioned ^[2] (although the maximum awarded to one man was seven).^[3] The medal covered a variety of actions, from ship to ship skirmishes all the way to major fleet actions such as the Battle of Trafalgar. The medal was never issued without a clasp.

A point to note is that the medal was only awarded to surviving claimants; one had both to have survived until 1847 and then to actively apply for it. A combination of factors, from general illiteracy to limited publicity for the new medal meant that very many did not. There are substantially fewer medals issued when compared with the number of men who served during this period; frequently the number of claimants for individual clasps was reckoned in single figures - for ten clasps, there were no claimants.^[4] 20,933 medals were awarded in total - most with a single clasp.^[5]

The final date for submitting claims was 1 May 1851.^[6] The medal was awarded only to surviving claimants; next of kin could not apply for a medal on behalf of a deceased relative. However, the medal was awarded to next of kin of those claimants who had died between the date of their application and the date of presentation.^[7]

This medal and its army counterpart, the Military General Service Medal, were amongst the first real British campaign medals, the first to be issued to all ranks just for "being there".

[edit] Clasps

Some of the most notable actions include:

[edit] Unissued Clasps

Carysfort 29 May 1794
Mosquito 9 June 1795
Telegraph 18 March 1799
Wolverine 13 Sepr 1799
Beaver 31 March 1804
Ann 24 Novr 1807
Thistle 10 Feby 1810
Arrow 6 April 1811
19 April Boat Service 1807
25 July Boat Service 1809^[8]

[edit] References

^ Although a handful of awards were made to officers and men of the British Army, present on board HM's ships at qualifying actions , British Battles and Medals, p34.
^ British Battles and Medals, p33.
^ Two men were awarded medals with seven clasps, four men qualified for six clasps, and fourteen men qualified for five clasps. (Medals Yearbook 2005, p128.)
^ British Battles and Medals, p33
^ Medal Yearbook 2005, p128
^ British Battles and Medals, p34.
^ British Battles and Medals, p34.
^ Two entirely separate actions were commemorated by a clasp of this date. The first was a skirmish off Guadaloupe involving HMS Fawn, the second was an action in the Gulf of Finland involving four ships: HMS Cerberus, HMS Minotaur, HMS Princess Caroline, and HMS Prometheus. There were no claimants for the former action, that involving HMS Fawn.

[edit] Bibliography

Mackay, J and Mussell, J (eds) - Medal Yearbook - 2005, (2004), Token Publishing.
Joslin, Litherland, and Simpkin (eds), British Battles and Medals, (1988), Spink