Baltic Medal 1854-5

Awarded to Admiral of the Fleet John Arbuthnot Fisher (1841-1920). Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria with a diadem, hair tied in a knot (left). Legend: 'VICTORIA REGINA'. Reverse: Britannia in a helmet holding an upright trident seated on a block ornamented with a naval gun and trophy, Russian forts of Bomarsund and Sveaborg in the distance on either side. Legend: 'BALTIC'. Exergue: '1854-1855'. Suspended from a bar and yellow ribbon edged with blue. Edge uninscribed. Mounted on a bar with six others.

Fisher began his naval career as a naval cadet on 29 July 1854 in HMS ‘Calcutta’ launched in 1831 - a teak, second-rate ship of the line commanded by James John Stopford. At the end of June 1855 during the Crimea War, she was converted for use as a store ship and made a single trip to the Baltic laden with food, clothing, guns, and ammunition. She was back at Sheerness on 10th September carrying naval invalids and other personnel . In February the following year she was sent to Plymouth to be fitted out as the flagship of Admiral Sir Michael Seymour in the East Indies. Fisher transferred to HMS ‘Agamemnon’ on 2 March 1856 and joined her in Constantinople on 19th May just as the Crimea War was ending. The ship picked up personnel and equipment from the Dardanelles and returned to England where her crew were paid off.