A Glorious 1st of June Naval General Service Medal to Landsman Michael Kinsale

A Glorious 1st of June Naval General Service Medal to Landsman Michael Kinsale, H.M.S. Valiant, two clasps, 1 June 1794, 23rd June 1795 (MICHL KINSALE.). Good very fine or better.

At the seminal action of June 1st 1794, Admiral Lord Howe's fleet essayed a departure from the Naval doctrine of the day, by turning toward the enemy line and engaging at close quarters. Although Howe's orders were imperfectly executed by his captains, the British inflicted a convincing tactical defeat on the French.

The 74-gun HMS Valiant was built at Chatham and launched in 1758. With a main armament of 30-24pdrs., she was -like all the other '74's' - a mainstay of the fleet throughout the second half of the 18th century. Her long service life involved several major refits, the last of which was completed in March 1794, just in time for her to see action at the Glorious First of June, the first fleet action of the French Revolutionary War. Acquitting herself well under Captain Thomas Pringle, she participated in the next major action against the French, at the Isle de Groix, on 23rd June 1795, before being sent to the West Indies the following year. After two lively encounters there, both of which resulted in enemy vessels captured or destroyed, she came home in 1799 and was laid up that autumn for use as a lazarette. Surviving another quarter-century, she was finally broken up in 1826 after a career spanning almost seventy years.