Conspicuous Gallantry Medal awarded to John Sheppard.

Sheppard was serving on the battleship HMS ‘St Jean d’Acre’ during the Crimean War. In 1855 he devised a plan to paddle into Sebastopol harbour by night, fix an explosive with a timed fuse to the hull of a Russian warship and then escape by means of a canvas duck punt he had invented for the purpose. Two attempts were made without success – nevertheless Sheppard was Mentioned in Despatches and presented with both the Victoria Cross and the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal.

John Sheppard was born 22 September 1817 in Kingston upon Hull. He is first recorded in the Navy in 1840 as an Ordinary Seaman. He retired with the rank of Boatswain First Class in 1870. He died 17 December 1884 and is buried in Padstow Cemetery. The Museum also holds the following medals awarded to him: Victoria Cross (MED2357), Baltic Medal 1854–55 (MED2359), Crimean Medal, one bar Sebastopol (MED2360), Badge of the Legion d' Honneur, 5th Chevalier (MED2362), Sardinian Medal 'Al Valore Militare' (MED2363), Turkish Medal for the Crimea (MED2364) and China Medal, bar Canton 1857 (MED2361).

The medal is made of silver and has on the obverse the head of Queen Victoria wearing a diadem, her hair tied in a knot, with the legend: ‘VICTORIA REGINA’. On the reverse is the royal crown above a laurel wreath tied with a bow enclosing the inscription, ‘FOR CONSPICUOUS GALLANTRY’. Inscribed on the edge of the medal is the inscription: ‘J Shepperd Bs Mate H.M.S. St Jean d’Acre 15July-16 Aug 1855’.