Awarded to Admiral Robert Stewart Phipps Hornby (1866-1956. Obverse: Busts of King George V and Queen Mary (left): Reverse: Royal cypher 'G.R.V.' surmounted by an Imperial Crown. Below: '22 JUNE 1911'. Suspended from a blue ribbon with two central red stripes.

Robert Stewart Phipps Hornby, son of Sir Geoffrey Phipps Hornby, entered the Navy in 1879. He became a lieutenant in 1886. From 1901 to 1903 he commanded the ‘Pylades’ on the Australian Station and was promoted to captain in 1903. While commanding the ‘Diana’ in the Mediterranean, 1904 to 1906, he was involved in the Akbar boundary dispute. After commanding the ‘Glory’ in home waters from 1907 to 1908, he was appointed Captain of the ‘Vernon’ (the naval torpedo school) where he remained until 1911. He then commanded the ‘Swiftsure’, Inflexible and Monarch before being promoted to rear-admiral in 1913. He was Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station, 1914 to 1915, when he went in the ‘Glory’ to reinforce the Allied Fleet at the Dardanelles. He was invalided during this voyage for the rest of the war and was employed in torpedo work. He was involved between 1917 and 1920 in the work of several Admiralty committees, including the Submarine Committee, the Armament Personnel Committee and the Post-War Reconstruction Committee. He was promoted to admiral in 1922 on the retired list.