Henry Breault, the nation’s only enlisted submariner to receive the Medal of Honor, is pictured on March 8, 1924. (Library of Congress)
Putnam, Conn. (Tribune News Service) — The nation’s only enlisted submariner to receive the Medal of Honor lies in a grave in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Putnam, Conn.
“He did something that everybody in the military questions whether they would do,” Brian Maynard, the past commander of American Legion Post 13 said. “You hope that if that situation arose, you would, but everybody always questions, ‘Would you?’ and Henry Breault did.”
In 1923, when a Navy submarine started to sink near the Panama Canal, Breault sacrificed his only means of escape to ensure that his shipmate would have a chance at survival. After a 31-hour rescue operation, both men made it out of the wreckage alive.
Today, more than a century after President Calvin Coolidge awarded Breault the Medal of Honor in 1924, a coalition of more than 2,000 men and women across the country are petitioning the U.S. Navy to name a Virginia-class submarine in Breault’s honor.
On Saturday, March 8, 101 years to the day after Breault’s award, the town is placing a spotlight on the nationwide effort with “Henry Breault Day” in Putnam during a ceremony planned for noon at Veterans Park.
“He was the first submariner and to this day is the only enlisted submariner to ever have received the Medal of Honor,” said Maynard, one of the founding members of the Henry Breault Association. “For Putnam, it’s a remarkable honor, because there’s no other town that can claim this.”
Breault’s story started in Putnam, where he was born on Oct. 14, 1900, but his legacy was solidified off the coast of Panama on Oct. 28, 1923, when a commercial steamship struck the USS O-5.
Less than a minute after the collision, the O-5 sank. But before the submarine descended into the water, Breault had a choice.
Instead of jumping overboard to safety through the access hatch, Breault closed the hatch, went back into the torpedo room where his shipmate was trapped, and sealed the chamber’s watertight door shut. Had he escaped and left the hatch open, those who remained on board would have died from the flooding.
“He made a split-second decision based on the fact that he hadn’t heard that they were abandoning ship,” said Ryan Walker, an adjunct naval history professor at the United States Naval Community College and the author of “The Silent Service’s First Hero,” a book on Breault’s life. “His action saved the life of (Lawrence) Brown, and likely another guy named Charles Butler, who managed to self-escape in a different compartment.”
Walker was 20 years old when he first learned Breault’s story in enlisted submarine school.
“It was the first time I understood what being a submariner meant,” Walker said. “He represents, in my mind, the entire submarine force and the duties we expect of submariners.”
When the O-5 sank, Walker said, the Navy had no established escape or rescue procedure for submarines. He said it was hours before a diving team tapped on the hull of Breault’s chamber in search of survivors.
“The only way to escape that (the Navy had) tried was through the torpedo tubes,” Walker said. “One person can go in the torpedo tubes, and they could essentially flood the tube and let them swim out by opening the door. But crucially, one person would have had to stay behind to do that. So at some point, Breault and Brown look at each other and say, ‘It’s either both of us or neither of us are going to make it out of there.’ So they guess they had about 48 hours of oxygen (and) they decided to wait it out.”
As they waited, Walker said, a battery explosion ignited an electrical fire in an adjacent chamber.
“They must have literally felt they were boiling alive in the already tropical waters,” Walker said.
It took 31 hours to complete the rescue. Walker said barges carried the submarine through the Panama Canal, where divers could clear the wreckage and pull the vessel to the surface. The winch snapped three times before rescuers successfully lifted Breault and Brown’s chamber.
“When they raised … they asked both of them, ‘How did you guys make it?’ And Lawrence Brown said, ‘Breault is the reason I made it. Breault saved my life,’” Walker said.
After 30 minutes, Walker said, Breault was taken away to a hyperbaric chamber for Caisson’s disease, also known as “the bends” or decompression sickness.
“He almost died,” Walker said. “I firmly believe that’s why he had a young life. … He died in 1941 at 41 years of age, because he never probably fully recovered.”
After earning the Medal of Honor for his bravery and sacrifice on that day, Walker said, Breault went on to receive the Yangtze Service Medal and served in China during a “period of time where China was not a safe place to be.”
By 1935, Walker said, Breault was disqualified from submarine service after failing an eye exam.
“He spends the rest of his career trying to get back on a submarine,” Walker said. “(When) he gets someone to sign off that he’s requalified for submarine duty, he heads out to the lovely New London Submarine Base, … he gets to the medical examination, … and they say, ‘This man belongs in the hospital.’”
Breault was sent to a Naval hospital in Newport, R.I. Walker said medical records show Breault was experiencing severe chest pain and had difficulty breathing.
“On Dec. 5, 1941, the autopsy report says he was sweeping the passageway, he said he had a good amount of sleep, and suddenly while he was sweeping, he just keeled over dead,” Walker said. “They believe his heart gave out.”
Walker said Breault was largely lost to history until 2000, when the Navy launched an effort to incorporate Breault into the nation’s submarine heritage.
Walker said there’s a pier at Pearl Harbor named in his honor and a plaque in Wilkinson Hall at the submarine base in Groton, but “there’s never been a Naval vessel named in his honor.”
Walker’s petition to name a Virginia-class submarine the USS Henry Breault has amassed nearly 2,200 signatures from across the country, including communities in New York, Vermont, California and Washington, where Breault once lived.
“We just have a huge opportunity here to show unified support for the submarine force from multiple states and the entire nation,” Walker said. “This isn’t just one person’s idea, this is 2,000 people’s idea.”
Walker said Breault personifies the principles of “ship, shipmate, self,” and the “fighting spirit of the Navy” in the Sailor’s Creed.
“When faced with a tremendous situation, Breault chose above all to do everything in his power for the ship and the shipmates before worrying about himself, at great risk to himself, and probably to his detriment,” Walker said. “He did everything he could to make sure his friends, and the people on board would have a fighting chance, and there’s something to be said about that.”
“Breault’s action — that is the fighting spirit. And to embody that in a submarine, I think it would be great for the Navy’s recruitment, for retention, and for recognizing how important its personnel are to the mission,” Walker said.
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