Henry Breault

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Henry Breault (October 14, 1900 – December 5, 1941) was a United States Navy submariner who received the Medal of Honor for his heroism aboard the submarine USS O-5 (SS-66).

Breault was born in Putnam, Connecticut. He joined the British Royal Navy at age 16 during World War I, then later joined the U.S. Navy in 1920. He served as a torpedoman on the submarine USS O-5.

On October 28, 1923, the O-5 collided with the steamer Abangarez near the Panama Canal and sank quickly. Breault was in the torpedo room. When he saw that a fellow crew member, Chief Brown, was trapped below, he went back below to help. The two men fought for 31 hours in a flooded submarine, closing a vital hatch and trying to escape as the bow sank deeper. Divers and salvage crews eventually raised the submarine, and Breault and Brown were found alive.

For his bravery, Breault was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Calvin Coolidge on March 8, 1924. He became the first submariner to receive the Medal of Honor, and he remains the only enlisted submariner to earn it for actions aboard a submarine.

Breault continued to serve in the Navy, rising to Torpedoman’s Mate First Class. He served on the destroyer USS Truxtun in 1939 and was stationed at Submarine Base New London in 1940. He died of a heart condition on December 5, 1941, in Newport, Rhode Island, at the age of 41. He is buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Putnam, Connecticut.