This is a Naval General Service Medal, established by the British government in AD 1849 to honour officers and crew of the Royal Navy who served between AD 1793 and AD 1840. The medal was awarded with specific clasps, which indicated the ship, engagement, or campaign in which the recipient participated. In total, there are 232 distinct clasps.
The Naval General Service Medal miniature version features the commonly used early portrait of Queen Victoria, showing her youthful left-profile bust. Surrounding the bust are the words “VICTORIA REGINA” (Queen Victoria), reflecting the style of medals from the early years of her reign. Notably, this miniature omits the “1848” year mark found on official versions, likely due to the jeweller or craftsman’s reuse of a different mould or oversight during production.
The reverse depicts Britannia, the personification of Britain, seated sideways on a hippocampus (a mythical sea creature with a horse’s forequarters and a fish-like tail). Britannia is portrayed holding a trident in her left hand, symbolising maritime power, and a laurel branch in her right hand.
This miniature Naval General Service Medal is equipped with a swivel straight bar suspension with shoulders that attaches to its ribbon. While the official ribbon for this medal features a white base with dark blue stripes, the ribbon on this miniature adopts the lemon-yellow base with pale blue stripes design from the Baltic Medal.
The ribbon is adorned with a “SYRIA” clasp, indicating the recipient’s participation in the AD 1840 military operations to aid the Ottoman Empire in suppressing the rebellion of Muhammad Ali Pasha, the Governor of Egypt. This specific action culminated in November AD 1840 and was pivotal in reasserting Ottoman control in the region with British naval support.
At the top of the ribbon, a rectangular plaque bears the phrase “THE HARD PORT SEA” on its reverse. This nautical term, translating to “hard to port” or a command to turn the ship’s rudder fully to the left.
Between AD 1839 and AD 1841, following the Napoleonic Wars, Muhammad Ali Pasha, who had seized control of Egypt, engaged in the Second Turco-Egyptian War with the Ottoman Empire over the control of Syria. In this conflict, Britain chose to support the Ottoman Empire. On November 3, AD 1840, the British Royal Navy bombarded the Egyptian forces occupying the city of Acre, forcing Muhammad Ali to enter negotiations. Ultimately, Egypt agreed to withdraw from Syria and return the captured Ottoman fleet, in exchange for the Ottoman Empire recognising the hereditary rule of Muhammad Ali’s descendants over Egypt.
