Medal of Honor
December 17, 1917
off the French Coast
- Rank at action
- Chief Boatswain's Mate
- Service
- U.S. Navy
- Conflict
- World War I
- Unit or command
- U.S.S. Remlik
- Presentation date
- December 31, 1918
The Citation
Sources ↓For extraordinary heroism while serving on board the U.S.S. Remlik, on the morning of 17 December 1917, when the Remlik encountered a heavy gale. During this gale, there was a heavy sea running. The depth charge box on the taffrail aft, containing a Sperry depth charge, was washed overboard, the depth charge itself falling inboard and remaining on deck. MacKenzie, on his own initiative, went aft and sat down on the depth charge, as it was impracticable to carry it to safety until the ship was headed up into the sea. In acting as he did, MacKenzie exposed his life and prevented a serious accident to the ship and probable loss of the ship and the entire crew.
Sources & record notes
General Order comparison: pending. Current-profile review does not mean that the underlying original order has been examined.
- John MacKenzie — Congressional Medal of Honor Society recipient profile ↗Congressional Medal of Honor Society · Checked 2026-09-02
current identity, service, action metadata, and citation comparison
Transcription, metadata & provenance notes
- Award ID
- MOH-AW-003391
- Transcription status
- Legacy full text · current reference profile matched
- Last source check
- 2026-09-02
- Recorded order reference (not verified against the original)
- 391
- Accredited to
- Massachusetts
- Archive transcription SHA-256
- 66e54813b21ffa8585f9655806d19d4fef672feb60d5424f9a072cb7673b3919
Legacy transcription retained without substantive editing; rendered current reference profile comparison is documented in the Phase 10 evidence snapshot.
Current official reference profile confirms identity and core action metadata; exact legacy citation text and checksum are retained; General Order comparison remains pending.