Distinguished Service Medal (United Kingdom)
The Distinguished Service Medal was (until 1993) a military decoration awarded to personnel of the Royal Navy and members of the other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, up to and including the rank of Chief Petty Officer, for bravery and resourcefulness on active service at sea.
The medal was established on 14 October 1914. It was the Other Ranks' equivalent to the Distinguished Service Cross, which was awarded to commissioned officers and Warrant Officers, although it ranked below that decoration in order of precedence, between the George Medal and the Military Medal. Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal are entitled to use the post-nominal letters "DSM". In 1993, the DSM was discontinued, and since then the Distinguished Service Cross has been awarded to personnel of all ranks.
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“A man’s real faith is never contained in his creed, nor is his creed an article of his faith. The last is never adopted. This it is that permits him to smile ever, and to live even as bravely as he does. And yet he clings anxiously to his creed, as to a straw, thinking that that does him good service because his sheet anchor does not drag.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)