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Medal of Honor Recipient

John Lafferty / John Laverty

U.S. Navy · U.S. Civil War / Interim 1871 - 1899

MOH-RC-002466Source-based record

The awards

Representative medal image: early Navy star design and striped ribbon. Not a portrait or a photograph of this recipient’s own medal.
Award 1 · Navy Medal of HonorAction-era reference: 1864
Representative medal image: early Navy star design and striped ribbon. Not a portrait or a photograph of this recipient’s own medal.
Award 2 · Navy Medal of HonorAction-era reference: 1881

Portrait not yet available. Representative medals shown.

About these images

Award 1. Presentation date is not usable for design selection. This is an action-era reference; a later presentation or replacement medal may differ.

Award 2. Presentation date is not usable for design selection. This is an action-era reference; a later presentation or replacement medal may differ.

Medal imagery and historical designs →

Award 1 · First Medal of Honor

May 25, 1864

Roanoke River, North Carolina, USA

Rank at action
Fireman
Service
U.S. Navy
Conflict
U.S. Civil War
Unit or command
U.S.S. Wyalusing

The Citation

Sources ↓
Served on board the U.S.S. Wyalusing and participated in a plan to destroy the rebel ram Albemarle in Roanoke River, 25 May 1864. Volunteering for the hazardous mission, Lafferty participated in the transfer of two torpedoes across an island swamp and then served as sentry to keep guard of clothes and arms left by other members of the party. After being rejoined by others of the party who had been discovered before the plan could be completed, Lafferty succeeded in returning to the mother ship after spending 24 hours of discomfort in the rain and swamp.
Separately preserved current-source wording

Captured from the linked current recipient source; it is not a new comparison with an original General Order.

First Award: Served on board the U.S.S. Wyalusing and participated in a plan to destroy the rebel ram Abemarle in Roanoke River, 25 May 1864. Volunteering for the hazardous mission, Lafferty participated in the transfer of two torpedoes across an island swamp and then served as sentry to keep guard of clothes and arms left by other members of the party. After being rejoined by others of the party who had been discovered before the plan could be completed, Lafferty succeeded in returning to the mother ship after spending 24 hours of discomfort in the rain and swamp.

Sources & record notes

General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.

  1. John Lafferty / John Laverty — current Society profile ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-08-30

    current identity, service, action metadata, and citation comparison

  2. John Lafferty / John Laverty — Congressional Medal of Honor Society ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-08-30

    official Society identification of John Lafferty and John Laverty as one of the 19 two-time Medal of Honor recipients, with separate first and second awards

Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
Award ID
MOH-AW-002477
Transcription status
Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
Last source check
2026-08-30
Recorded order reference (not verified against the original)
45
Later or highest recorded rank
First Class Fireman
Accredited to
Pennsylvania
Archive transcription SHA-256
9fec252d76f06a943db15630fdae7b569f977ea93af4a3d04a17600e6da27f49

Legacy transcription retained without substantive editing; rendered current reference profile variants documented in the Phase 10 evidence snapshot.

The inherited rank-1 Society candidate was confirmed by substantive comparison of identity, service, rank, unit or command, action context, and citation; candidate rank or successful rendering alone was not treated as verification. The current evidence expands or normalizes the inherited display name John Lafferty to John Lafferty / John Laverty; both forms remain preserved. Documented aliases or alternate identity forms remain attached to the controlled identity: Laverty, John, Lafferty, John. The action rank Fireman remains distinct from the later or highest rank First Class Fireman. The controlled canonical unit or command is U.S.S. Wyalusing; the current structured profile renders U.S.S. Wyalusing, and the inherited wording Not documented remains preserved as a separately attributed variant. The current authoritative evidence controls the action date as 1864-05-25 and classifies the action under U.S. Civil War; the inherited unnormalized date and conflict values remain preserved. The controlled historical action place is Roanoke River, North Carolina, USA; the current structured place Roanoke River, North Carolina, USA and the complete inherited geocoder value Roanoke River, North Carolina, USA remain preserved. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society identifies the two differently spelled award profiles as the first and second awards of one sailor. The two imported identities are therefore consolidated under one canonical recipient while both legacy recipient IDs, both legacy award rows, both names, both citations, both source-row checksums, and both current profiles remain distinct and fully traceable. The inherited full citation remains canonical and checksum-protected; current rendered wording is preserved separately where transcribed. No underlying General Order was examined, so the exact-order gate remains pending and no General Order verification is claimed.

Award 2 · Second Medal of Honor

September 14, 1881

Callao Bay, Peru

Rank at action
First Class Fireman
Service
U.S. Navy
Conflict
Interim 1871 - 1899
Unit or command
U.S.S. Alaska

The Citation

Sources ↓
Serving on board the U.S.S. Alaska at Callao Bay, Peru, 14 September 1881. Following the rupture of the stop-valve chamber on that vessel, Laverty hauled the fires from under the boiler,
Separately preserved current-source wording

Captured from the linked current recipient source; it is not a new comparison with an original General Order.

Second Award: Serving on board the U.S.S. Alaska at Callao Bay, Peru, 14 September 1881. Following the rupture of the stop-valve chamber on that vessel, Laverty hauled the fires from under the boiler.

Sources & record notes

General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.

  1. John Lafferty / John Laverty — current Society profile ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-08-30

    current identity, service, action metadata, and citation comparison

Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
Award ID
MOH-AW-002483
Transcription status
Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
Last source check
2026-08-30
Recorded order reference (not verified against the original)
326
Accredited to
California
Archive transcription SHA-256
00e72d22c319c6c4f959f55d51b13f6d7f47ae57368a031f343bc748a8e50fe1

Legacy transcription retained without substantive editing; rendered current reference profile variants documented in the Phase 10 evidence snapshot.

The inherited rank-1 Society candidate was confirmed by substantive comparison of identity, service, rank, unit or command, action context, and citation; candidate rank or successful rendering alone was not treated as verification. The current evidence expands or normalizes the inherited display name John Laverty to John Lafferty / John Laverty; both forms remain preserved. Documented aliases or alternate identity forms remain attached to the controlled identity: Lafferty, John, Laverty, John. The controlled canonical unit or command is U.S.S. Alaska; the current structured profile renders U.S.S. Alaska, and the inherited wording Not documented remains preserved as a separately attributed variant. The current authoritative evidence controls the action date as 1881-09-14 and classifies the action under Interim 1871 - 1899; the inherited unnormalized date and conflict values remain preserved. The controlled historical action place is Callao Bay, Peru; the current structured place Callao Bay, Peru and the complete inherited geocoder value Jorge Chavez International Airport (LIM), s/n Av Elmer Faucett, Callao 07031, Peru remain preserved. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society identifies the two differently spelled award profiles as the first and second awards of one sailor. The two imported identities are therefore consolidated under one canonical recipient while both legacy recipient IDs, both legacy award rows, both names, both citations, both source-row checksums, and both current profiles remain distinct and fully traceable. The inherited full citation remains canonical and checksum-protected; current rendered wording is preserved separately where transcribed. No underlying General Order was examined, so the exact-order gate remains pending and no General Order verification is claimed.

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