Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (1830)

Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (1830)
Medal to RICHARD SPARLING, Serjeant Royal Marines, H.M.S. VESTAL, 22 Years
Awarded by the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and King of Hanover
Country	United Kingdom
Type	Military long service medal
Eligibility	Naval ratings
Awarded for	Selected ratings after 21 years service and good conduct
Status	Discontinued in 1847
Statistics
Established	14 August 1831
First awarded	20 November 1830
Last awarded	27 November 1847
Total awarded	Approximately 740
Order of wear
Next (higher)	Medal for Long Service and Good Conduct (Military)
Equivalent	Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (1848)
Next (lower)	Medal for Meritorious Service (Royal Navy 1918-1928)
Ribbon Bar

The Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (1830) of the United Kingdom was introduced in 1830 and ratified by King William IV in 1831. It could only be awarded to selected Navy ratings after altogether 21 years of service and good conduct. The medal remained in use until 1847, when it was replaced by the Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (1848).

The Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (1830), formally instituted on 24 August 1831 by King William IV, the "Sailor King", was first awarded on 20 November 1830. Since the medal was created for award to Navy ratings, its institution was historic considering that ratings had never, up to that time, been considered worthy of a medal for any reason. The medal remained in use until 1847, ten years into the reign of Queen Victoria. The last award was on 27 November 1847, before it was replaced by the Naval Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (1848).

The medal could be awarded to selected Royal Navy and Royal Marines ratings after altogether 21 years of service and irreproachable behaviour, counted from the man’s twentieth birthday for Navy ratings and from his eighteenth for Marines. Service was usually non-continuous as a result of the then current enlistment practice.

Before 1853 and when the country was not at war, the Royal Navy was a part-time establishment, commissioned officers excepted. In the case of ratings, only a few seamen gunners were allowed to enlist full-time from 1832, when they were offered renewable five-year or seven-year engagements, while all other ratings were casually enlisted.

A rating, referring to the seaman's rate or task on the ship, was enlisted onto a ship's complement when the ship was commissioned. The medal was awarded according to a quota system to only a few selected and qualified ratings of a ship's company, with the number of awards based on the total complement of the ship, and only when the ship was decommissioned and its ratings paid off at the end of a period of time, usually a minimum of three years. Along with the medal, a recipient was paid a gratuity of £15 for petty officers or sergeants Royal Marines, and £5 for seamen and marines.

As a result of the quota system for award, only a small number of medals could be awarded each time a ship was decommissioned. In general, about one in one hundred ratings of a ship's complement, upon recommendation by the Captain, was awarded the medal upon decommissioning. Many eligible men who had the time qualification did not receive the medal if the ship they had been serving on was too small to justify medals for all of its qualified ratings and many recipients were therefore considered lucky if they managed to receive the medal. During the eighteen years it was in use, only approximately 740 of these medals were awarded.