=The Official Medal.=--It was not until June 1st, 1847, that it was made known by a General Order that Her Majesty Queen Victoria had commanded that a medal should be struck, not only to commemorate the battle of Trafalgar, but to recognise the services rendered by her fleets and armies from 1793 to 1815. The medal was ready for distribution in January 1849, and later the naval services for which it might be awarded were extended to 1840. The admitted claims totalled 20,900. [Illustration: (Reverse.) NAVAL GENERAL SERVICE MEDAL.] [Illustration: SULTAN'S MEDAL FOR ACRE.] [Illustration: (Obverse.) NAVAL GENERAL SERVICE MEDAL.] =The Naval General Service Medal.=--Two hundred and thirty bars were issued with the medal, which bore upon the obverse the bust of Queen Victoria, as on the Military General Service medal, and the legend VICTORIA REGINA, with the date +1848+ below, and on the reverse a figure of Britannia seated upon a sea-horse holding in her right hand a trident, and in the left an olive branch. The medal, by Wyon, is suspended by a straight clasp from a white ribbon with blue edges, and the recipient's name is impressed upon the edge of the medal in Roman capitals of the same character as those used for the M.G.S. medal. Officers and warrant officers only had their rank described, and in the arrangement of the bars the first action was placed nearest the medal. Although so many bars were issued with the medal, six is the most awarded to any one man. Dr. Payne has in his collection two with five bars; one awarded to Thos. Hewitt, midshipman, for 1 JUNE 1794--12 OCTR 1798--4 FEB BOAT SERVICE 1804--CENTAUR 26 AUGT 180'--ALGIERS, and another awarded to Capt. (afterwards Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas) Ussher, Kt., C.B., K.C.H., illustrated facing page 284, which also includes 1 JUNE 1794--REDWING 7 MAY 1808--REDWING 31ST MAY 1808--MAGALA 29TH APRIL 1812--2 MAY BOAT SERVICE 1813. This is a particularly rare set of bars, for only seven of the second were issued, five of the third, seven of the fourth, and forty-nine of the fifth. BARS GRANTED WITH THE NAVAL GENERAL SERVICE MEDAL WITH THE NAMES OF THE ACTIONS THEREON NYMPH, 18 June 1793. 4 issued. Capture of the French frigate "Cleopatre." Captain E. Pellew, who commanded the "Nymph," was knighted. CRESCENT, 20 Oct. 1793. 12 issued. Capture of the French frigate "Reunion," which was added to the British Navy under the same name. ZEBRA, 7 March 1794. 2 issued. Running the "Zebra" sloop alongside the bastion of Fort Royal at Martinique, and storming and capturing the fort. CARYSFORT, 29 May 1794. None issued. Recapture of the "Caster." 1 June 1794 ("The Glorious First of June"). 576 issued. Defeat of the French fleet by Lord Howe, capture of 6 sail of the line and 1 sunk. 58 vessels (for list of principal vessels engaged see page 279). ROMENY, 17 June 1794. 2 issued. Capture of French frigate "Sybille."