Mercantile Marine War Medal

 

World War I.

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

The Mercantile Marine War Medal was a British Empire campaign medal presented for service during World War I. The medal was instituted in 1919 by the Board of Trade of the United Kingdom and was awarded to members of the Merchant Navy who were eligible for the British War Medal and had undertaken one or more voyages through an officially recognised war or danger zone during the course of World War I.

 

 

The medal is circular, 36mm in diameter and was struck in bronze. The obverse of this medal bears the un-crowned effigy of King George V facing left, with the inscription; ‘GEORGIVS V BRITT: OMN: REX ET IND: IMP:’

 

The reverse depicts a merchant ship ploughing her way through stormy seas, an enemy submarine sinking and a sailing vessel in the background. The base of the reverse has the inscription; ‘FOR WAR SERVICE | MERCANTILE MARINE | 1914 - 1918’ in three lines. Around the edge of the rim is a laurel wreath.

 

The ribbon suspender is a straight economy non-swivelling type, which is riveted to the medal.

 

The details of the recipient of the medal can be found on the rim of the medal indented in capital letters.

 

 

 

The ribbon is 32mm wide and is coloured green, white (thin middle stripe), and red (represent starboard and port running lights with the masthead steaming light in the centre.

 

 

None were authorised for this medal.

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

 

* It should be noted that the values quoted above reflect the average price that a medal dealer may expect to sell this medal for - please see the ‘things you should know’ web page for more details about valuing medals.

 

** The individual medal value will vary considerably based on the recipient’s details.

 

 

This section contains information on:-

 

- The War In The Atlantic Ocean.

- The War In The Mediterranean Sea.

 

The War In The Atlantic Ocean - The Atlantic U-boat Campaign of World War I was the naval campaign fought by German U-boats in Atlantic waters - the seas around the British Isles, the North Sea, and the coast of France.

 

Initially the U-boat campaign was directed against the British Grand Fleet. Later U-boat fleet action was extended to include action against the trade routes of the Entente Powers. This campaign was highly destructive, and resulted in the loss of nearly half of Britain's merchant marine fleet during the course of the war.

 

The campaign and the Allied response are also known as the Battle of the Atlantic. To counter the German submarines, the allies moved shipping into convoys guarded by destroyers, blockades such as the Dover Barrage and minefields were laid and aircraft patrols monitored the U-boat bases.

 

The U-boat campaign was not able to cut off supplies before the US entered the war in 1917 and in later 1918, the U-boat bases were abandoned in the face of the Allied advance.

 

The tactical successes and failures of the Atlantic U-boat Campaign would later be used as a set of available tactics in WWII in a similar U-boat war against the British Empire.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

The War In The Mediterranean Sea - The Mediterranean U-boat Campaign in the Mediterranean Sea was fought by Austria-Hungary and German Empire (with some support by the Ottoman Empire) against the Allies during World War I.

 

It was characterised by the ability of the Central Powers to raid with near impunity during the first years of the war, causing substantial shipping losses, until the introduction of the convoy system allowed the Allies to drastically cut their losses from 1917 onwards.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.