The Naval General Service Medal 1847 With Trafalgar Clasp Awarded To Royal Marine John BoothThe medal is correctly named to John Booth who is on the roll as serving onboard of HMS Revenge as a Royal Marine Private.There is a rectangular blank indentation to one side only - it has been examined by an expert 3rd party and their opinion is that it was being prepared for broaching but this was not completed.Replacement ribbon.~ HMS Revenge ~HMS Revenge was a 74 gun 3rd rate ship of the line launched in April, 1805. Being a large 74, she had 24 pounder cannon on her upper gun deck, rather than the usual 18's. At Trafalgar, Revenge was stationed eighth in the leeward column commanded by Admiral Collingwood, between HMS Polyphemus and HMS Swiftsure, but was signalled to sail forward in support of HMS Royal Sovereign and because of her speed she broke into the enemy column earlier than most of the other ships. She became entangled in the bowsprit of the French ship L'Aigle (74 guns), and discharged two carefully measured broadsides into her before she broke free. She received a tremendous fire and was run on board by one of the largest ships present, the Spanish Principe de Asturias (112 guns) which placed her bow across the stern of Revenge to try and board her by the bowsprit. The attack was repelled by the marines and fire from the carronade on the poop, which discharged canister shot that exploded in a hail of musket balls. In addition she had three French ships on her until HMS Dreadnought and HMS Thunderer came to her relief. 28 of her crew were killed and a further 51 wounded out of a complement of 598.After Trafalgar, Revenge reached Gibraltar on the 28th October and returned to Portsmouth in November where she was dry docked for repairs, 'she bore the marks of her bravery in the action, and the acclamation had a pleasant effect' was the comment by William Robinson. After repair she returned to service and took part in cutting out enemy ships on the French coast, the actions at the Basque Roads and in 1813 served in the Mediterranean off the coast of Spain with the Inshore Squadron. Revenge was laid up in 1849 at Sheerness and broken up in 1851.~ Naval General Service Medal ~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 1793–1840, 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. 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. Because of this delay only 1,710 were issued though 18,405 British crew served at Trafalgar.There are 2 John Booths on the NGSM roll, this one and one to an orderley entitled to the San Domingo clasp.~ Postage ~Please note that the medal postage includes full insurance, this is at the cost to ourselves and is based on 2.5% for the United Kingdom and 3% overseas.
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