Solid half-basket hilted sword, which belonged to Deputy Inspector of Hospitals and Fleets Walter Bowden (active 1887-1894). The hilt of the sword consists of a gilt solid half-basket guard with raised bars and a crown and anchor badge. There is a folding flap on the inside of the guard with a hole to engage on the stud on the top locket. The sword has a lion's-head pommel and back-piece, the mane extending one-third of the length of the back-piece. The white fish-skin grip is bound with three gilt wires.

The slightly curved, flat-backed Wilkinson steel blade is engraved on the obverse at the shoulder with a proof mark, and a crown over a foul anchor motif with further decoration above and below. The reverse of the blade is engraved with the words 'BILNEY & ASHDOWNE, LION TERRACE, PORTSEA', and decorated with the Royal arms with supporters and motto just above the shoulder, with further decoration above and below. The rest of the decoration on the blade is unusual and includes a sea serpent and a naval crown. The black leather scabbard has two gilt lockets with rings and a chape. The mounts are engraved with threads and scrolls, as well as a honeysuckle ornament on the chape.

Deputy Inspector of Hospitals and Fleets Walter Bowden (active 1887-1894) became a Surgeon on the 28th February 1887 and was promoted to the rank of Staff Surgeon on the 28th February 1899. He became Fleet Surgeon on the 28th February 1903 and retired as Deputy Inspector of Hospitals and Fleets on the 27th February 1908. On the 26th May 1894 he was made a D.S.O. for his involvement in the Gambia Expedition in 1894. He also served in World War I.