Naval General Service Medal Totally Explained

Everything about The Naval General Service Medal totally explained

The Naval General Service Medal (NGSM) was a campaign medal approved in 1847, for issue to officers and men of the Royal Navy.
   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 (although the maximum awarded to one man was seven). 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. 20,933 medals were awarded in total - most with a single clasp.
   The final date for submitting claims was 1 May 1851. The medal was awarded only to surviving claimants; next of kin couldn't 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.
   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".

Clasps

Some of the most notable actions include:

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 1809Further Information

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