- William Ahern (Medal of Honor recipient)
William Ahern was a sailor in the
United States Navy who was awarded theMedal of Honor for valor during an engineering crisis that threatened his ship.Biography
Ahern was born in
Ireland in 1861 and entered the Navy inNew York . OnJuly 1 ,1897 he was serving aboard "USS Puritan " as a Watertender when the crown sheets on one of her boilers collapsed. Ahern entered the fire room with his face and arms wrapped in wet cloths, crawling over the other boilers to close a valve disconnecting the boiler from the remaining boilers, preventing further damage.Medal of Honor citation
Rank and organization: Watertender, U.S. Navy. Born: 1861, Ireland. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 482, 1 November 1897.
Citation:
:On board the U.S.S. Puritan at the time of the collapse of one of the crown sheets of boiler E of that vessel, 1 July 1897. Wrapped in wet cloths to protect his face and arms, Ahern entered the fireroom, crawled over the tops of the boilers and closed the auxiliary stop valve, disconnecting boiler E and removing the danger of disabling the other boilers.
References
*cite web
url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/int1871-98.html
title=Medal of Honor Recipients Interim 1871-1898
accessdate=2007-12-25Persondata
NAME= Ahern, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=United States Navy Medal of Honor recipient
DATE OF BIRTH=
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=
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