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Navy Cross#United States Navy

{{Short description|U.S. Naval Service medal for valor}}

{{About|the United States Navy award for valor|other awards named "Navy Cross"|Navy Cross (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox award

|name=Navy Cross

|image=Navy Cross.png

|image_size=150px

|caption=

|presenter=United States Department of the Navy{{Cite web |url=https://awards.navy.mil/awards/webdoc01.nsf/(vwDocsByID)/DL060927142728/$file/1650.1H.pdf |title= Navy and Marine Corps awards manual|access-date=2018-01-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918020113/https://awards.navy.mil/awards/webdoc01.nsf/(vwDocsByID)/DL060927142728/$file/1650.1H.pdf |archive-date=2010-09-18 |url-status=dead }}

|type=Service cross medal

|eligibility= Marines and naval sailors of the United States

|awarded_for=Extraordinary heroism in combat

|status=Currently awarded

|established= Act of Congress (Public Law 65-253), approved on February 4, 1919.

|firstawarded=1919

|lastawarded=

|total_awarded=c. 5,400 (as of December 2017){{Cite web |title=Recipients of the Navy Cross |website=valor.militarytimes.com |url=http://valor.militarytimes.com/search.php?medal=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171209094326/http://valor.militarytimes.com:80/search.php?medal=3 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2017-12-09}}

|total_awarded_posthumously=

|total_recipients=

|individual=

|higher=Medal of Honor

|same= {{Plain list|

}}

|lower=Department of Defense: Defense Distinguished Service Medal
Department of Homeland Security: Homeland Security Distinguished Service Medal

|image2=File:Navy Cross ribbon.svg

|caption2=Service ribbon

}}

The Navy Cross is the United States Naval Service's second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force.SECNAVYINST 2006, 1650.1H, P. 2--22&23 The medal is equivalent to the Army's Distinguished Service Cross, the Air and Space Forces' Air Force Cross, and the Coast Guard Cross.

The Navy Cross is bestowed by the Secretary of the Navy and may also be awarded to members of the other armed services, and to foreign military personnel while serving with the U.S. Naval Service. The Navy Cross was established by Act of Congress (Public Law 65-253) and approved on February 4, 1919.

History

The Navy Cross was instituted in part due to the entrance of the United States into World War I. Many European nations had the custom of decorating heroes from other nations, but the Medal of Honor was the sole U.S. award for valor at the time.{{cite web|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/heritage/awards/decorations/navy-cross2.html|title=The Navy Cross|date=January 17, 2018|publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command|access-date=August 28, 2018}} The Army instituted the Distinguished Service Cross and Distinguished Service Medal in 1918, while the Navy followed suit in 1919, retroactive to 6 April 1917. Originally, the Navy Cross was lower in precedence than the Medal of Honor and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, because it was awarded for both combat heroism and for "other distinguished service." Congress revised this on 7 August 1942, making the Navy Cross a combat-only decoration that follows the Medal of Honor in order of precedence. Since the medal was established, it has been awarded more than 6,300 times. It was designed by James Earle Fraser. Since the 11 September 2001 attacks the Navy Cross has been awarded 47 times, with two of them having the name of the recipient held in secret.{{cite news |last=Brook |first=Tom Vanden |date=5 December 2016 |title=Navy secretary recommends two Medals of Honor |url=https://www.navytimes.com/articles/navy-secretary-recommends-two-medals-of-honor |newspaper=NavyTimes |access-date=30 December 2016 }} One of those secret awardings was due to Marine Gunnery Sergeant Tate Jolly's actions during the 2012 Benghazi attack.{{cite news |last=Scarborough |first=Rowen |date=25 January 2014 |title=Delta Force commando who saved 'numerous lives' in Benghazi {{sic|sei|ge|hide=y}} honored |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/25/delta-force-commando-awarded-second-highest-milita/ |newspaper=Washington Times |access-date=1 January 2017 }}
{{cite news |last=Brook |first=Tom Vanden |date=16 May 2016 |title=Navy SEALs' secret medals reveal heroism over last 15 years |url=https://www.navytimes.com/story/veterans/2016/05/16/navy-seals-medals-secret-awards/84433626/ |newspaper=NavyTimes |access-date=1 January 2017 }}

Criteria

The Navy Cross may be awarded to any member of the U.S. Armed Forces while serving with the Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard (when a part of the Department of the Navy) who distinguishes themselves in action by extraordinary heroism not justifying an award of the Medal of Honor. The action must take place under one of three circumstances:

  1. In combat action while engaged against an enemy of the United States; or,
  2. In combat action while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or,
  3. In combat action while serving with friendly foreign forces, who are engaged in armed conflict in which the United States is not a belligerent party.

The act(s) to be commended must be performed in the presence of great danger, or at great personal risk, and must be performed in such a manner as to render the individual's action(s) highly conspicuous among others of equal grade, rate, experience, or position of responsibility. An accumulation of minor acts of heroism does not justify an award of the Navy Cross.

As originally authorized, the Navy Cross could be awarded for distinguished non-combat acts, but legislation of 7 August 1942 limited the award to acts of combat heroism. Past Navy Cross awards for merit, such as to 9th Chief of Naval Operations Fleet Admiral Ernest King, were unaffected by the change in criteria.

Wear

The Navy Cross originally was the Navy's third-highest decoration, after the Medal of Honor and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. On 7 August 1942, Congress revised the order of precedence, placing the Navy Cross above the Distinguished Service Medal in precedence. Since that time, the Navy Cross has been worn after the Medal of Honor and before all other awards.

Additional awards of the Navy Cross are denoted by gold or silver 5/16 inch star affixed to the suspension and service ribbon of the medal. A gold star would be issued for each of the second through fifth awards, to be replaced by a silver star which would indicate a sixth award. To date no one has received more than five awards.

Description and symbolism

; Medal

Obverse:

The medal is a modified cross pattée one and a half inches wide. The ends of its arms are rounded whereas a conventional cross patée has arms that are straight on the end. There are four laurel leaves with berries in each of the re-entrant arms of the cross. In the center of the cross, a sailing vessel is depicted on waves, sailing to the viewer's left. The vessel is a symbolic caravel of the type used between 1480 and 1500. Fraser selected the caravel because it was a symbol often used by the Naval Academy and because it represented both naval service and the tradition of the sea. The laurel leaves with berries refer to achievement.

Reverse:

In the center of the medal, a bronze cross pattée, one and a half inches wide, are crossed anchors from the pre-1850 period, with cables attached. The letters USN are evident amid the anchors.

The earliest version of the Navy Cross (1919–1928) featured a more narrow strip of white, while the so-called "Black Widow" medals awarded from 1941 to 1942 were notable for the dark color due to over-anodized finish. The medal is similar in appearance to the British Distinguished Service Cross.

; Service Ribbon

The service ribbon is navy blue with a center stripe of white identical to the suspension ribbon of the medal. The blue alludes to naval service; the white represents the purity of selflessness.

Notable recipients

{{see also|List of Navy Cross recipients for World War II|List of Navy Cross recipients for the Korean War|List of Navy Cross recipients for the Vietnam War}}

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=Non-U.S. recipients=

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  • Nikolai Basistiy, Soviet Union (Soviet Navy, 1943)
  • Gordon Bridson, New Zealand (Royal New Zealand Navy, 1943)
  • Campbell Howard Buchanan, New Zealand (Royal New Zealand Navy, 1943) {{cite web |url=https://rnzncomms.org/buchanan/ |website=RNZN Communicators Association |title=O/7366 Leading Signalman Campbell Howard Buchanan Navy Cross (US), MiD, RNZNVR }}
  • Ernesto Burzagli, Italy (Royal Italian Navy, 1919)
  • Harold Farncomb, Australia (Royal Australian Navy, 1945)
  • Israel Fisanovich, Soviet Union (Soviet Navy, 1944)
  • Donald Gilbert Kennedy, New Zealand (British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defence Force, 1945)
  • Seizō Kobayashi, Japan (Imperial Japanese Navy)
  • Émile Henry Muselier, France (Free French Naval Forces, 1919)
  • Peter Phipps, New Zealand (Royal New Zealand Navy, 1943)
  • Ronald Niel Stuart, first Royal Navy officer to receive both the American Navy Cross and the British Victoria Cross (Royal Navy, 1927)
  • Ivan Travkin, Soviet Union (Soviet Navy, 1942)
  • Tran Van Bay, South Vietnam (Army of the Republic of Vietnam, 1967)
  • Nguyen Van Kiet, South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam Navy, 1972)
  • {{ill|Mikhail Vasilyevich Greshilov|ru|Грешилов, Михаил Васильевич}},{{cite web |url=https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/5947 |title=M. V. G. Greshilove (sic) |website=Military Times |access-date=2014-06-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714231449/http://projects.militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/recipient.php?recipientid=5947 |archive-date=2014-07-14 |url-status=live }} Soviet Union (Soviet Navy, 1944)

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See also

Notes

{{Reflist}}

References

  • {{cite web|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/medals/navcross.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991012193747/http://history.navy.mil/medals/navcross.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 12, 1999|title=Navy Cross|work=Service Medals and Campaign Credits of the United States|publisher=United States Navy|access-date=July 10, 2007}}
  • {{cite journal|last1=Dear|first1=Murray|title=A Weekend's Leave in Auckland|journal=Naval History|date=April 2015|volume=29|issue=2|pages=46–47|publisher=U.S. Naval Institute|location=Annapolis, Maryland}}
  • {{cite book|last=Larzelere|first=Alex|year=2003|title=The Coast Guard in World War I: An Untold Story|publisher=Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=978-1-55750-476-0}}

Further reading

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20110722185231/http://doni.daps.dla.mil/Directives/01000%20Military%20Personnel%20Support/01-600%20Performance%20and%20Discipline%20Programs/1650.1H.PDF SECNAVINST 1650.1H 2006 2–22 Page 57]

External links

{{Commons category}}

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20120121032125/http://www.gruntsmilitary.com/navycr.shtml Navy Cross – Criteria, Background, and Images]

{{US navy department decorations|state=expanded}}

{{James Earle Fraser}}

{{Authority control}}

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Category:Awards and decorations of the United States Coast Guard

Category:Awards and decorations of the United States Marine Corps

Category:Awards and decorations of the United States Navy

Category:Awards established in 1919

Category:Courage awards

Category:Works by James Earle Fraser (sculptor)