Naval General Service Medal

Product Description: This Miniature Naval General Service Medal is made from lead-free pewter. It is supplied with approximately 9cm of ribbon. The medal is mounted on an information card that is full colour with an image of HMS Victory alongside The Redoubtable on the front and has historical information about the medal and the Battle of Trafalgar on the reverse.

Information: (obverse) the Young Head profile of Queen Victoria; (reverse) Britannia with her trident, seated on a seahorse.

Instituted in 1847 and issued to surviving claimants in 1848, this medal was originally intended to cover naval engagements of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815) but was almost immediately extended to cover all naval actions from 1793-1840.

Battle of Trafalgar: On the 21st October, 1805 the combined French and Spanish fleets fought the British off Cape Trafalgar near the Spanish port of Cadiz. Nelson had arrived on the 29th September in his flagship, Victory, to take command of the British fleet. During the battle the English lost no ships but took twenty from the French and Spanish. Nelson was mortally wounded by a shot from the French ship Redoubtable.

Nelson’s tomb can be seen at St Paul’s Cathedral in London and his flagship, Victory, can be seen at the historic dockyard at Portsmouth.