The Naval Gold Medal was awarded between 1793 and 1815 to senior officers 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 ...

for specified actions. Two different sizes were struck. 22 large medals were awarded to

flag officers A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countries ...

( admirals),

commodores Commodores are an American funk and soul band, which were at their peak in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s. The members of the group met as mostly freshmen at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1968, and signed with Motown in ...

and captains of the fleet. 117 smaller medals were awarded to captains.Ribbons and Medals, page 54 As a separate medal was awarded for each action, it was possible for a recipient to receive and wear more than one.Medals Yearbook, page 122 Awards of the gold medal were discontinued after 1815, as would-be recipients became eligible for the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

on its enlargement to three classes.

Appearance

* Size: The large medal has a diameter of , and the small medal . Medals were mounted in a gold frame, glazed on both sides. * Obverse: Britannia holding a spear and standing on the prow of an ancient galley, being crowned with a laurel wreath by a figure of Victory. Behind is an oval shield charged with the Union Flag.Battles and Medals, pages 32-33 * Reverse: Engraved with the rank and name of the recipient, and the event and date for which the medal was awarded. The large medal has a surround of a wreath of oak and laurel. * Ribbon: White with dark blue edges, wide for the large medal and for the small. In 1847, this ribbon was used for the Naval General Service Medal. * Suspension: Large medals had a ring suspension for wear around the neck. Small medals were worn on the left chest by way of a straight bar suspender, normally from a buttonhole. Six of the large medals awarded for the

Glorious First of June The Glorious First of June (1 June 1794), also known as the Fourth Battle of Ushant, (known in France as the or ) was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic ...

were presented suspended from a gold chain.

Awards

Following the Battle of the

1794, the Naval Gold Medal was instituted to reward those admirals and captains who had been conspicuous for courage in that action, as well as those who might distinguish themselves on future occasions. In spite of representations made by Lord Nelson, no medal was authorised for the Battle of Copenhagen, due to concerns that it may offend the Danes. Recipients surviving until 1847 were entitled to apply for the Naval General Service Medal with the appropriate clasps.Observer Book of British Awards, pages 72-73 Gold Medals were issued by the Admiralty for the following actions. Only selected captains received a medal for the

, otherwise all captains or acting captains were recipients.

Some notable recipients

Only three Naval officers earned three gold medals:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Vol 12, page 673 * Sir

Edward Berry Rear Admiral Sir Edward Berry, 1st Baronet, KCB (17 April 1768 – 13 February 1831) was an officer in Britain's Royal Navy primarily known for his role as flag captain of Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson's ship HMS ''Vanguard'' at the Battle of ...

. Received three small gold medals, for the battles of

the Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest riv ...

Trafalgar Trafalgar most often refers to: * Battle of Trafalgar (1805), fought near Cape Trafalgar, Spain * Trafalgar Square, a public space and tourist attraction in London, England It may also refer to: Music * ''Trafalgar'' (album), by the Bee Gees Pl ...

and

San Domingo Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and t ...

. *

Lord Collingwood Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood (26 September 1748 – 7 March 1810) was an admiral of the Royal Navy, notable as a partner with Lord Nelson in several of the British victories of the Napoleonic Wars, and frequently as ...

. Received small gold medals for the battles of the

and St Vincent, and a large gold medal for

. * Viscount Nelson. Awarded three large medals, for the battles of

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...

and posthumously for

. Other selected awards are listed below: Large Gold Medal * Viscount Duncan. Commanded British fleet at Camperdown * Alexander Hood. Vice Admiral at the

Earl Howe Earl Howe is a title that has been created twice in British history, for members of the Howe and Curzon-Howe family respectively. The first creation, in the Peerage of Great Britain, was in 1788 for Richard Howe, but became extinct on his ...

. Commanded British fleet at the

* John Jervis, Earl of St Vincent. Commanded British fleet at St Vincent Small Gold Medal *

William Bligh Vice-Admiral William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was an officer of the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The mutiny on the HMS ''Bounty'' occurred in 1789 when the ship was under his command; after being set adrift i ...

, As captain of , during the

Battle of Camperdown The Battle of Camperdown (known in Dutch as the ''Zeeslag bij Kamperduin'') was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797, between the British North Sea Fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Batavian Navy (Dutch) fleet under Vice-Admiral ...

, he captured Vrijheid, commanded by Vice-Admiral

Jan Willem de Winter Jan Willem de Winter (French: Jean Guillaume de Winter, 23 March 1761 – 2 June 1812) was a Dutch admiral during the Napoleonic Wars. Biography Early life De Winter was born in Kampen and entered naval service at a young age. He disting ...

Philip Broke Sir Philip Bowes Vere Broke, 1st Baronet (; 9 September 1776 – 2 January 1841) was a distinguished officer in the British Royal Navy. During his lifetime, he was often referred to as "Broke of the ''Shannon''", a reference to his notable comm ...

. As captain of , he captured

USS Chesapeake USS ''Chesapeake'' may refer to: *, a 38-gun frigate in commission from 1800 to 1813 *USS ''Chesapeake'', a sloop renamed in 1799 while still under construction, launched in 1799, and sold in 1801 *USS ''Chesapeake'', a bark which served as a tra ...

during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

* Sir James Gambier. Commanded on the

* Sir Edward Hamilton. As captain of , he recaptured * Sir Charles Knowles. Commanded at St Vincent * William Mounsey. As captain of HMS ''Bonne Citoyenne'', he captured the French frigate ''Furieuse'' * George Murray. Commanded at St Vincent *

Thomas Pringle Thomas Pringle (5 January 1789 – 5 December 1834) was a Scottish writer, poet and abolitionist. Known as the father of South African poetry, he was the first successful English language poet and author to describe South Africa's scenery, nati ...

. Commanded on the

* Sir Michael Seymour. As captain of , he captured the French frigate ''Thétis'' *

Robert Stopford Robert Wright Stopford, (20 February 1901 – 13 August 1976) was a British Anglican bishop. Early life and education Stopford was born in Garston, Merseyside (then in Lancashire), and educated at Coatham School in Redcar and Liverpool Colle ...

. Commanded at

* Charles Tyler. Commanded at Trafalgar

References

Bibliography

* Dorling, H. Taprell, ''Ribbons and Medals'', (1956), A. H. Baldwin & Son * Joslin, Edward C, ''Observer Book of British Awards and Medals'', (1973), Frederick Warne & Co * Joslin, Litherland and Simpkin (eds), ''British Battles and Medals'', (1988), Spink * * Mussell, J (ed), ''Medals Yearbook 2016'', (2015), Token Publishing. * Contains (pp. 295–302) a complete list of medals awarded between 1793–1847. * ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (2004) Oxford University Press. Contains biographies of most recipients of the Naval Gold Medal. * {{British campaign medals British campaign medals Decorations of the Royal Navy