Non-substantive badge for a Leading Torpedo Man. The badge is of red wool embroidered on a blue wool ground.

A non-substantive badge indicated a specialism or qualification rather than a rank. Ratings would have worn this badge on the right arm. In 1860, gunnery ratings were given an embroidered badge which featured a gun on a crossed rifle and cutlass. By 1885, when the torpedo had been invented, men were trained in the use of both weapons which led to the introduction of a badge that featured a crossed torpedo and gun. The weapon in which they were principally trained was on the front – for example, in this badge the torpedo is to the front, indicating that while the wearer would have been trained in the use of both guns and torpedoes, his proficiency was in the latter. The crown and star indicate that he was a leading torpedo man. These badges were revised in 1890.