Austin Denham
{{short description|United States Medal of Honor recipient}}
{{Infobox military person
|name = Austin Denham
|image =
|caption =
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1850|9|29}}
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1948|6|3|1850|9|29}}
|birth_place = England
|death_place = Burbank, California, US
|allegiance = United States
|branch = United States Navy
|serviceyears = c. 1864–1912
|rank = Seaman First Class
|unit = {{USS|Kansas|1863|6}}
|battles =
|awards = Medal of Honor
}}
Austin Denham (September 29, 1850 – June 3, 1948) was a United States Navy sailor and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor.
Biography
Born on September 29, 1850, in England, Denham immigrated to the United States at age 12. He lived in New York City and enlisted in the Navy as soon as he was old enough. By April 12, 1872, he was serving as a seaman on the {{USS|Kansas|1863|6}}. On that day, he helped rescue several men who were in danger of drowning after their boat capsized in heavy surf. For this action, he was awarded the Medal of Honor three months later, on July 9, 1872.
Denham's official Medal of Honor citation reads:
On board the U.S.S. Kansas near Greytown, Nicaragua, 12 April 1872. Displaying great coolness and self-possession at the time Comdr. A. F. Crosman and others were drowned, Denham, by heroism and personal exertion, prevented greater loss of life.
Denham retired from the Navy in 1912 as a seaman first class, after a 48-year career. He died in Burbank, California, on June 3, 1948, of a heart attack. Aged 97 at his death, he was the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient at the time.
See also
{{Portal|Biography}}
References
{{Reflist|refs=
{{Hall of Valor|224|accessdate=September 17, 2010}}
|title = Austin Denham
|newspaper = The New York Times
|location = New York
|date = June 5, 1948
|page = 15 }}
|title = Medal of Honor recipients - Interim Awards, 1871–1898
|work = Medal of Honor citations
|publisher = United States Army Center of Military History
|date = August 5, 2010
|url = http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/int1871-98.html
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071214024925/http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/int1871-98.html
|url-status = dead
|archive-date = December 14, 2007
|accessdate = September 17, 2010}}
}}
Further reading
- {{Cite book
|accessdate=October 9, 2010
|url=https://archive.org/details/reportsexplorat02deptgoog
|title=Reports of explorations and surveys for the location of a ship-canal between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, through Nicaragua. 1872-'73
|author=Crosman, Alexander F.
|author2=Hatfield, Chester|author3= Lull, Edward Phelps
|publisher= Government Printing Office, United States Navy
|year=1874
|pages=[https://archive.org/details/reportsexplorat02deptgoog/page/n14 10]–11
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denham, Austin}}
Category:English emigrants to the United States
Category:United States Navy sailors
Category:United States Navy Medal of Honor recipients