The Baltic Medal was a

campaign medal A campaign medal is a military decoration which is awarded to a member of an armed force who serves in a designated military operation or performs duty in a geographical theater. Campaign medals are very similar to service medals but carry a high ...

approved on 6 June 1856, for issue to officers and men of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

, and

Royal Sappers and Miners The British Army during the Victorian era served through a period of great technological and social change. Queen Victoria ascended the throne in 1837, and died in 1901. Her long reign was marked by the steady expansion and consolidation of the Br ...

who served between March 1854 and August 1855 in the Baltic Sea operations against Russia in the

Baltic theatre of the Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

, or

Åland War The Åland War ( fi, Oolannin sota, sv, Åländska kriget) is the Finnish term for the operations of a British-French naval force against military and civilian facilities on the coast of the Grand Duchy of Finland in 1854–1856, during the Crime ...

. The medal primarily covered naval actions but was also awarded to 106 men of the Royal Sappers and Miners who were landed to place demolition charges against Russian fortifications at Bomarsund and Sveaborg.Joslin, Litherland, and Simpkin (1988), pp.126-127.

Description

* A circular silver medal, in diameter.Mussell (2014), p.144. * Obverse: The diademed head of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

with the legend VICTORIA REGINA, designed by

William Wyon William Wyon (Birmingham 1795 – 29 October 1851), was official chief engraver at the Royal Mint from 1828 until his death. Biography Wyon was born in Birmingham and, in 1809, was apprenticed to his father, Peter Wyon who was an engraver a ...

.Larimore, The Baltic Medal (2003). * Reverse: A seated figure of Britannia holding a trident with the fortresses at Bomarsund and Sveaborg behind. Above is the word BALTIC and below the dates 1854-1855. Designed by

Leonard Charles Wyon Leonard Charles Wyon (23 November 1826 – 20 August 1891) was a British engraver of the Victorian era most notable for his work on the gold and silver coinage struck for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887 and the bronze coinage of ...

. * Clasps: None were authorised. * Ribbon: The wide ribbon is yellow with light blue edges, reversing the colours of the

Crimea Medal The Crimea Medal was a campaign medal approved on 15 December 1854, for issue to officers and men of British units (land and naval) which fought in the Crimean War of 1854–56 against Russia. The medal was awarded with the British version of th ...

ribbon. * Naming: Issued unnamed, except for the 106 medals awarded to Royal Sappers and Miners, which had the recipient's name and unit impressed on the rim of the medal in block Roman capitals. Some naval recipients had their medals privately engraved.

References

Bibliography

* * Mussel, J (ed) - ''Medal Yearbook - 2015'', (2014), Token Publishing. * Joslin, Litherland, and Simpkin (eds), ''British Battles and Medals'', (1988), Spink * {{British campaign medals British campaign medals Crimean War