When it was established in December 1861, the Navy Medal of Honor was only intended for enlisted men of the Navy and Marine Corps; officers would have to wait a further 54 years before being made eligible. The original provisions of the medal (the first decoration authorized by Congress to be worn on the uniform) contained a scant few words which opened the window of opportunity for it to be awarded for lifesaving at sea:

'. . . which shall be bestowed upon such petty officers, seamen, landsmen and marines as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action and other seamanlike qualities . . .'[emphasis added]

Over a decade passed before Congress created the Gold and Silver Lifesaving Medals on June 20, 1874. As of 1880, along with several awards to civilians, one Gold Medal and two Silver Medals had been bestowed upon naval personnel (one officer and two enlisted men respectively).

By this date, at least 55 Navy Medals of Honor were awarded for non-combatant heroism. The first ones had gone to seven sailors of the USS Rhode Island (including one posthumous award), who were engaged in saving the lives of men from the USS Monitor. The historic ironclad was sinking during a heavy gale off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, on Dec. 30, 1862. In the history of the Medal of Honor, approximately 185 awards were made to the Navy and five to the Marine Corps for non-combatant heroism.

The Army Medal of Honor was approved by President Lincoln only six months after its naval counterpart and it too was originally intended to recognize 'gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities' among enlisted soldiers. However, there were two striking differences regarding the Army award: (1) In March 1863, Congress passed an amendment to make Army officers eligible, and (2) In the history of the Army Medal of Honor, only three have ever been awarded for services other than combat heroism. One was given to Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh, US Army Air Corps Reserve, in 1928, and another recipient was retired Major General Adolphus W. Greely, who received the medal in 1935, "For his life of splendid public service" (as engraved on the reverse).

One incident that resulted in the award of the Medal of Honor which truly combined extreme bravery and 'seamanlike qualities' was born from the actions of Boston native George Willis, Coxswain on the Canadian steam sealer Tigress.



In May 1873, under a civilian crew, the Tigress found some survivors from the US North Polar Expedition ship Polaris, after they had drifted for many months on an ice floe. Subsequently chartered by the US Navy in August, the Tigress went on another rescue mission to the Arctic, in search of additional Polaris survivors. Her captain, Commander James A. Greer, found papers and instruments in a camp previously occupied by members of the expedition and was told by natives that some Polaris survivors began making their way south in June, in small boats constructed from the wreckage of their vessel.

Greer crisscrossed the ice-strewn waters, looking for the boats, or whaling vessels that might have picked up the survivors. Fields of moving ice stretched across the water and hundreds of building-sized icebergs lumbered about—the combination was a powder keg for disaster. During the first week of September, the Tigress forced her way into Cumberland Sound, Baffin Island, where she remained for two weeks to repair the damage caused by the repeated pounding of the ice.

By the time Greer brought his command back out into the Davis Strait, what little daylight remained was fading with the approach of the Arctic winter. Before the Tigress could get clear of the streaming pack ice, a fresh northeaster blew up and menaced the ship. Greer ploughed her into the ice, backed off and under full speed surged forward again and again, ramming the white barrier. The wind steadily increased and the Tigress protested against the ice grinding against her sides.

Having broken out into open water, there was no time for rest and self-congratulation—silent, unseen leviathans prowled in the darkness. But the Tigress also struggled against the increasingly larger waves, cascading torrents along her decks: a storm at sea is an awesome thing to behold—the fury of Poseidon surging up from the depths and churning the ocean wave. This was the scene just south of the Arctic Circle on the night of Sept. 22, 1873, between Baffin Island and Greenland's western shore.

With the gale at its height, the whole ship's company was on deck (excepting Chief Engineer Melville's engine room crew), desperately holding onto lifelines or the weather rail. The Tigress was lying as close to the wind as possible and her engines roared to keep her there; the spanker was half-furled, with only a reefed staysail forward.

As the monstrous seas thundered over the ship, apprehensive eyes turned upward to see the fore topgallant sail flap furiously, high above the deck. If the rogue spread of canvas caused the foremast to go by the board, the cold churning sea would devour the vessel and her 44 souls.

Coxswain Willis realized someone must act quickly and he struggled along a lifeline to the mainmast, where executive officer Lieut. Commander Henry C. White received a salute from the determined petty officer. White was well aware of the danger posed by the errant sail, but no man was to be ordered aloft during the gale: he hoped good luck might carry them through. However, Willis harboured no such feelings and asked to be assigned the task. Though White beamed at the sailor's devotion, he refused his request. More determined than ever, Willis insisted on going without orders and hauled himself forward to the weather shrouds.



Twice thrown back by the wind and sea, Willis finally reached the ratlines, and nimble-footed, he gained the foretop. He then cautiously pulled himself up the topgallant mast shrouds until he reached the yard. Inching his way out to the end of the weather yard on foot ropes, he slowly tamed the violent sail. At any moment, the wind or the rolling ship could have flung Willis into the frothing sea—without any hope of salvation. Bent over the yard, he clawed, tugged and lashed the spread of frosty canvas, never faltering. In less severe weather, the task required the efforts of several experienced sailors.

When Willis signalled the men on deck, they brailed up the canvas and slowly he furled the sail until he reached the mast. The Coxswain repeated his exploit on the leeward yard with the other half of the bucking fore topgallant sail, on equally tenuous swaying foot ropes.

After regaining the mast, Willis paused so long to rest, that one of the officers far below believed he was too fatigued to reach the deck and proffered $50 to any Jack Tar who would go aloft and rig a boatswain's chair to bring him down. Alas, the saviour of the Tigress and her crew did not attract a rescuer among his shipmates. At length, Coxswain Willis recovered his strength and after carefully working to the windward side, made his way to the deck.

The Tigress continued her search for the survivors until October 16, when she was forced to put into St. John's, Newfoundland, for coal. It was then learned that the remaining Polaris survivors had been rescued and were in Scotland. Two weeks later, the vessel left port and arrived back in New York on November 9, where her civilian crew regained possession of what could have been christened the "White Tigress".



Acknowledgements

Ms. Heidi Myers, Navy Department Library (Naval Historical Center)
Naval Medal of Honor, type 1, with first style ribbon and fouled anchor (1862-1888)—D. Boyce
USS Tigress—Library of Congress
Willis voluntarily furling the sails alone—Deeds of Valor

References

Arctic Exploration and Development c. 500 b.c. to 1915 An Encyclopaedia, by Clive Holland (Garland Publishing, Inc., New York & London; 1994)

The Call of Duty, by John E. Strandberg and Roger James Bender (R. James Bender Publishing, San Jose, CA; 1994)

Deeds of Valor From Records in the Archives of the United States Government. How America's Heros Won the Medal of Honor (two volumes), W.F. Beyer and O.F. Keydel (editors) (Perrien-Keydel Co., Detroit, MI; 1906 edition)

Letter from Commander James A. Greer, USS Tigress, to Secretary of the Navy George M. Robeson (Toigtut Sound, Greenland, Oct. 4, 1873) (Annual Report to the Secretary of the Navy for 1873)

Narrative of the North Polar Expedition of the U.S. Ship Polaris, Captain Charles Francis Hall Commanding, Rear-Admiral C.H. Davis, USN (editor) (Government Printing Office, Washington; 1876)

Naval Historical Center (www.history.navy.mil/photos/pers-us/uspers-w/g-willis.htm)

Navyhistory.com (www.historycentral.com/NAVY/Steamer/tigressIII.html)

The Sea Shall Not Have Them, by Evans E. Kerrigan (Medallic Arts Publishing Co., Norton Heights, CT; 1971)

copyright 2007 Glenn Stein, FRGS