Naval General Service Medal (1847)
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<table class="infobox" style="width: 315px; border-spacing: 2px; text-align: left; font-size: 90%;"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" style="background-color: rgb(176, 196, 222); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Naval General Service Medal</th> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%; line-height: 1.5em;">
Ribbon: 32mm, white with dark blue edges.</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: rgb(176, 196, 222); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Awarded by United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding-right: 1em; font-weight: bold;">Type</td> <td>Campaign medal</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding-right: 1em; font-weight: bold;">Eligibility</td> <td>Royal Navy.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding-right: 1em; font-weight: bold;">Awarded for</td> <td>Campaign service.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding-right: 1em; font-weight: bold;">Campaign</td> <td>Naval Actions 1793–1840.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding-right: 1em; font-weight: bold;">Description</td> <td>Silver disk, 36mm diameter.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding-right: 1em; font-weight: bold;">Clasps</td> <td>231 authorised, not all issued.</td> </tr> <tr> <th colspan="2" style="background-color: rgb(176, 196, 222); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Statistics</th> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding-right: 1em; font-weight: bold;">Established</td> <td>1847</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding-right: 1em; font-weight: bold;">Total awarded</td> <td>20,933</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
The Naval General Service Medal (NGSM) was a campaign medal approved in 1847, for issue to officers and men of the Royal Navy. (A handful of awards were made to officers and men of the British Army, present on board HM's ships at qualifying actions.) William Woyan was the designer. Admiral Thomas Bladen was one of the members of the board that authorized the medal.
The NGSM was retrospectively awarded for various naval actions during the period 1793–1840, 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. The medal was never issued without a clasp, 231 of which were sanctioned.<sup id="cite_ref-British33_1-0" class="reference"></sup>The clasps covered a variety of actions, from boat service to ship to ship skirmishes all the way to major fleet actions such as the Battle of Trafalgar.
Sir John Hindmarsh and Admiral of the Fleet, Sir James Alexander Gordon were awarded medals with seven clasps, the most awarded to any individual. Four men qualified for six clasps, and fourteen men qualified for five clasps<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference">.</sup>
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.<sup id="cite_ref-British33_1-1" class="reference"></sup>20,933 medals were awarded in total—most with a single clasp<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference">.</sup>
The final date for submitting claims was 1 May 1851 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.<sup id="cite_ref-British_Battles_and_Medals.2C_p34_4-1" class="reference"></sup>
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".
Background to the War with Syria.
Syrian War
The war was the climax of the long power-struggle between the Ottoman Empire and the wily, aggressive Pasha of Egypt, Mehmet Ali, which had reached a point of crisis that threatened to destabilize the whole of the Levant Near East.
On June 29, 1839 an invading Turkish army was destroyed in Syria by Mehmet's general Ibrahim Pasha at the Battle of Nezib, putting him in possession of the whole of Syria, which threatened to place Constantinople itself and the rule of the entire Eastern Mediterranean within his grasp. A few days after the battle the Ottoman Sultan, Mahmud II, died, leaving his Empire in the hands of his 16-year-old heir Abdülmecid. Meanwhile the Turkish fleet had defected to Mehmet Ali. Britain, Russia and Austria were all pledged to support the tottering Turkish Empire and to force Mehmet Ali (who had the support of France and Spain) to withdraw from Syria.
Although the new Sultan's ministers moved to resolve the crisis by offering to cede the rule of Syria to Mehmet, the British, Austrian and Russian ambassadors forced them to rescind this offer and stand firm against him. There was even a possibility of war with France, who looked to Mehmet's success to increase its sphere of influence in the Near East.
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<table class="infobox" style="width: 315px; border-spacing: 2px; text-align: left; font-size: 90%;"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" style="background-color: rgb(176, 196, 222); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Naval General Service Medal</th> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%; line-height: 1.5em;">
Ribbon: 32mm, white with dark blue edges.</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: rgb(176, 196, 222); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Awarded by United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding-right: 1em; font-weight: bold;">Type</td> <td>Campaign medal</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding-right: 1em; font-weight: bold;">Eligibility</td> <td>Royal Navy.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding-right: 1em; font-weight: bold;">Awarded for</td> <td>Campaign service.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding-right: 1em; font-weight: bold;">Campaign</td> <td>Naval Actions 1793–1840.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding-right: 1em; font-weight: bold;">Description</td> <td>Silver disk, 36mm diameter.</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding-right: 1em; font-weight: bold;">Clasps</td> <td>231 authorised, not all issued.</td> </tr> <tr> <th colspan="2" style="background-color: rgb(176, 196, 222); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Statistics</th> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding-right: 1em; font-weight: bold;">Established</td> <td>1847</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding-right: 1em; font-weight: bold;">Total awarded</td> <td>20,933</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
The Naval General Service Medal (NGSM) was a campaign medal approved in 1847, for issue to officers and men of the Royal Navy. (A handful of awards were made to officers and men of the British Army, present on board HM's ships at qualifying actions.) William Woyan was the designer. Admiral Thomas Bladen was one of the members of the board that authorized the medal.
The NGSM was retrospectively awarded for various naval actions during the period 1793–1840, 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. The medal was never issued without a clasp, 231 of which were sanctioned.<sup id="cite_ref-British33_1-0" class="reference"></sup>The clasps covered a variety of actions, from boat service to ship to ship skirmishes all the way to major fleet actions such as the Battle of Trafalgar.
Sir John Hindmarsh and Admiral of the Fleet, Sir James Alexander Gordon were awarded medals with seven clasps, the most awarded to any individual. Four men qualified for six clasps, and fourteen men qualified for five clasps<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference">.</sup>
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.<sup id="cite_ref-British33_1-1" class="reference"></sup>20,933 medals were awarded in total—most with a single clasp<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference">.</sup>
The final date for submitting claims was 1 May 1851 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.<sup id="cite_ref-British_Battles_and_Medals.2C_p34_4-1" class="reference"></sup>
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".
Background to the War with Syria.
Syrian War
The war was the climax of the long power-struggle between the Ottoman Empire and the wily, aggressive Pasha of Egypt, Mehmet Ali, which had reached a point of crisis that threatened to destabilize the whole of the Levant Near East.
On June 29, 1839 an invading Turkish army was destroyed in Syria by Mehmet's general Ibrahim Pasha at the Battle of Nezib, putting him in possession of the whole of Syria, which threatened to place Constantinople itself and the rule of the entire Eastern Mediterranean within his grasp. A few days after the battle the Ottoman Sultan, Mahmud II, died, leaving his Empire in the hands of his 16-year-old heir Abdülmecid. Meanwhile the Turkish fleet had defected to Mehmet Ali. Britain, Russia and Austria were all pledged to support the tottering Turkish Empire and to force Mehmet Ali (who had the support of France and Spain) to withdraw from Syria.
Although the new Sultan's ministers moved to resolve the crisis by offering to cede the rule of Syria to Mehmet, the British, Austrian and Russian ambassadors forced them to rescind this offer and stand firm against him. There was even a possibility of war with France, who looked to Mehmet's success to increase its sphere of influence in the Near East.
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