Badge of a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order awarded to Admiral of the Fleet Sir Frederick Doveton Sturdee (1859-1925). Badge: Obverse: White enamelled, silver gilt Maltese cross of eight points, in the centre of which on a crimson oval is the cypher 'VRI' in gold encircled by a blue enamel riband inscribed: 'VICTORIA'. in gold surmounted by an Imperial crown. Inscription on reverse: 'C103'. Suspended from a neck ribbon of dark blue edged with red/white/red stripes. Sturdee was made an M.V.O. in 1903 and a Commander of the order in 1906.

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee was the son of Captain Frederick Ranney Sturdee, RN. He entered the Royal Navy on 15 July 1871. At the beginning of World War I, Vice-Admiral Sturdee was serving as Chief of Naval War staff under Prince Louis of Battenberg. His tenure was marked by the loss of HMS 'Aboukir', Cressy' and 'Hogue' and the defeat of the Battle of Coronel. His old enemy, the new First Sea Lord, Sir John Fisher re-appointed Sturdee Commander in Chief, South Atlantic and South Pacific. He destroyed the German squadron led by Maximilian, Count von Spee off the Falkland Islands on 8 December 1914, avenging von Spee’s earlier victory over the British. Sturdee was granted a baronetcy for this service and commanded the 4th Battle Squadron at Jutland in 1916. He was promoted Admiral in 1917 and to Admiral of the Fleet in 1921 on his retirement.
In later life he became president of the Society for Nautical Research and was active in the campaign to preserve HMS ‘Victory’.