Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Naval General Service 1793-1840, 1 clasp, Venerable 16 Jany 1814 (Thomas Platt.) edge bruising, otherwise toned, very fine £3,000-£4,000

Thomas Platt is confirmed as a Landsman aboard H.M.S. Venerable at the capture of the French 40-gun frigates Alcmène and Iphigénie, 16-20 January 1814.

On the morning of 16 January 1814, the Venerable 74, Captain J. A. Worth, and the Cyane, Captain T. Forrest, together with the prize brig Jason, fell in with the French 40-gun frigates Alcmène and Iphigénie. The British ships immediately gave chase and, at 6.15 pm, the Venerable opened fire on the Alcmène which in turn ran the British ship on board. The Frenchman, expecting support from her consort, was left to her fate when, at 6.30 pm, Captain Worth at the head of a boarding party, hauled down the French colours. Meanwhile the Cyane and Jason, the last with two guns only, pursued the Iphigénie and, at 10.00 pm, the brig, outrunning the Cyane, gallantly opened fire on the enemy frigate until 4.30 am, when she dropped astern. The pursuit continued for the next four days when, at 8.00 am on the 20th, the Venerable came up within two miles of the Iphigénie and, after a running fight, the Frenchman fired a broadside and struck her colours. The French ships were added to the Royal Navy as the Gloire and Dunira.

Approximately 42 clasps issued for ‘Venerable 16 Jany 1814’ and 7 clasps for ‘Cyane 16 Jany 1814’.