Medal of Honor
August 29, 1916
off Santo Domingo City, Santo Domingo
- Rank at action
- Machinist
- Service
- U.S. Navy
- Conflict
- Interim 1915 - 1916
- Unit or command
- U.S.S. Memphis
- Presentation date
- August 1, 1932
The Citation
Sources ↓For extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession while serving on board the U.S.S. Memphis, at a time when that vessel was suffering total destruction from a hurricane while anchored off Santo Domingo City, 29 August 1916. Machinist Willey took his station in the engineer's department and remained at his post of duty amidst scalding steam and the rush of thousands of tons of water into his department as long as the engines would turn, leaving only when ordered to leave. When the boilers exploded, he assisted in getting the men out of the fireroom and carrying them into the engineroom, where there was air instead of steam to breathe. Machinist Willey's conduct on this occasion was above and beyond the call of duty.
Sources & record notes
General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.
- Charles H Willey — current Society profile ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-08-26
current identity, service, action metadata, and citation comparison
Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
- Award ID
- MOH-AW-000559
- Transcription status
- Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
- Last source check
- 2026-08-26
- Entered service at
- Massachusetts
- Archive transcription SHA-256
- 0076a9815a9a51caedf960c3abc0c7b30f009c6d74099497e6a73944d57f0adb
Legacy transcription retained without substantive editing; current rendered profile variants documented in the Phase 10 evidence snapshot.
The current official profile confirms the Navy identity, U.S.S. Memphis assignment, Interim 1915–1916 classification, action date, and shipboard action place. The source-rendered repeated Santo Domingo wording is preserved separately.