The Baltic Medal 1854 - 1855

    Instituted April 1856 for award to those that served with the  Naval deployment to the Baltic during the Crimean war. This is mainly a Royal Navy and Royal Marines1 medal although 106 medals were issued to a Royal Engineer contingent present.
    Description: In Silver, 36mm diameter with an ornate swivelling suspension. Obverse; the diademed head of Queen Victoria and the legend VICTORIA REGINA. Reverse; Britannia holding a trident and seated on a plinth. In the background a coastal seascape depicting the forts of Bomarsund 2  and Sveaborg. The dates 1854 - 1855 are in exergue. The engravers signatures  "W. Wyon RA" (Obverse) is on the bust truncation, and  "L.C. Wyon" (reverse) is within the exergue.
   Naming : Issued unnamed apart from the medals to the Royal Engineers which were impressed in roman capitals. Many recipients of unnamed medals had their medals privately engraved (and hence turn up in various contemporary engraved styles similar to the Crimea War medals.)

Ribbon; yellow with blue edges.

Notes
1 Also awarded to some of the French. ( In addition to the official medal a French unofficial striking was also produced on a thinner flan without the engravers signatures)
2 An (offsite) image of Bomarsund under attack is here

 
 

Baltic Medal

 

The Royal Navy Baltic Fleet 1854

 

above "The Fleet in the Baltic"

an engraving from the "History of the War with Russia" ( Author Henry Tyrrell)

 

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