Henry Breault

United States Navy Medal of Honor recipient (1900–1941)

Henry Breault (14 October 1900 – 5 December 1941) was a United States Navy submarine sailor who received the Medal of Honor for his actions while serving aboard the submarine O 5. He was the first submariner and he remains the only enlisted submariner to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions aboard a United States submarine.

Henry Breault was born in Putnam, Connecticut, on 14 October 1900. During World War I he enlisted in the British Royal Navy at sixteen years of age and, after serving under the White Ensign for four years, joined the U. S. Navy in 1920. On 28 October 1923, Torpedoman Second Class Breault was a member of the crew of O 5 when that submarine was sunk in a collision in the Panama Canal. Though he could have escaped, Breault chose to assist a shipmate and remained inside the sunken submarine until both were rescued more than a day later. For his "heroism and devotion to duty" on this occasion, Henry Breault was awarded the Medal of Honor. He received his Medal of Honor from President Calvin Coolidge, in ceremonies at the White House, Washington, D. C., on 8 March 1924.

The Commanding Officer of the O 5, LT Avery, began the award process, initially recommended Breault for a Navy Cross. Avery submitted his recommendation on 19 November 1923, citing Article 1709 of the 1920 Navy Regulation Book as a reference. The recommendation reads:1. In view of the extraordinary heroism displayed by Breault, H., TM2c, when the O 5 was sunk in collision with the S. S. ABANGAREZ, it is earnestly recommended that the above named man be awarded the Navy Cross. 2. The following is a history of the extraordinary heroism displayed by Breault:

At 6:24 on the morning of October 28, the O 5 collided with the S. S. ABANGAREZ, and sank in less than one minute. Breault at the time of the collision was in the torpedo room. As soon as the collision occurred he went up the torpedo room hatch and looked out on deck. Upon his arrival at the top of the hatch he saw the boat was sinking very fast and instead of jumping overboard as a number of the crew had already done, thereby trying to save his own life, he went back to the torpedo room, closed the torpedo room hatch on himself, and the assisted Brown, another member of the crew who had been trapped in the boat, to close the water tight door between the forward battery compartment and the torpedo room. By the time this door was closed the boat had sunk in forty feet of water with every compartment flooded except the torpedo room. Breault and Brown remained trapped in this compartment until they were rescued thirty one hours later by the salvage party. During this time their efforts were concentrated on stopping leaks between the forward battery and the torpedo room. 3. The conduct displayed by Breault by casting all personal safety aside when he saw that the O 5 was sinking fast and going below to close the torpedo room hatch and even closing same while water was coming into the compartment showed that his devotion to duty was of the highest order. The Commanding Officer therefore earnestly recommends that he be awarded a Navy Cross in recognition of this action, so in keeping with the best traditions of the Navy. Avery forwarded his recommendation to the Commander of Submarine Division Eight, R. H. English. English reviewed it and added the Commander of the Submarine Force, A. Bronson to the recommendation. They both concurred with Avery's assessment on 23 November 1923, and forwarded their recommendations to the Control Force Commander, RADM Montgomery M. Taylor. Taylor felt Breault was more deserving, Taylor's recommendation reads:The Commander Control Force is of the opinion that the unusual heroic conduct of Breault and his devotion to duty, particularly in that he almost surely saved Brown's life at the risk of his own and in that his devotion to duty saved a [considerable] loss of Government property, deserves recognition. Accordingly, it is requested that Breault be recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honor. While Taylor was not the originator, his recommendation to award the Medal of Honor superseded all other recommendations and changed the nature of the award. Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby concurred with Taylor's assessment that awarding a Medal of Honor was merited ordered General Order No. 125 to be drafted.

Breault remained in the Navy after receiving the Medal of Honor and was promoted to Torpedoman's Mate First Class. He was assigned to the destroyer USS Truxtun on 15 September 1939. While serving in Truxtun he participated in convoy escorts as part the Neutrality Patrol while the United States was a neutral power in the early stages of World War II. He was transferred to Submarine Base New London on 4 September 1940. He was still on active duty when he died of a heart condition on 5 December 1941 at the Newport Naval Hospital in Newport, Rhode Island. He is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in his hometown of Putnam, Connecticut.