William "Willie" S. Cronan (October 23, 1883 – October 22, 1959) was a boatswain's mate serving in the United States Navy during the first half of the twentieth century who was awarded the Medal of Honor for peacetime bravery in 1906.
Biography
Lt. Cmdr. William S. Cronan, USN (then Chief Gunner), 1910s
Cronan was born October 23, 1883, in Chicago, Illinois, and after joining the navy was stationed aboard the USS Bennington (PG-4) as a boatswain's mate. On July 21, 1905, the USS Bennington was in San Diego, California, when a boiler exploded. The combination of the explosion and the scalding steam killed a number of men outright and left others mortally wounded; the final death toll was one officer, EnsignNewman K. Perry and sixty-five men, making it one of the U.S. Navy's worst peacetime disasters. Nearly all of the forty-six who survived had an injury of some sort. Wounded himself, Cronan saved three of his shipmates from drowning, the third, after Cronan escaped from triage. For his actions Boatswain's Mate Cronan was awarded the peacetime Medal on January 5, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt.[1][2]
Cronan remained in the Navy after receiving the Medal of Honor. He was promoted to the warrant officer rank of gunner in 1909 and to chief gunner in 1915. During World War I, he was temporarily commissioned as a lieutenant (junior grade) but revered to Chief Gunner after the war. During World War II he was promoted to lieutenant in 1942 and to lieutenant commander in 1944. He retired with the rank of lieutenant commander at the end of 1946, having completed almost 45 years of service.
Rank and organization: Boatswain's Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 23 October 1883, Chicago, Ill. Accredited to: Illinois. G.O. No.: 13, 5 January 1906.
Citation:
Serving on board the U.S.S. Bennington, for extraordinary heroism displayed at the time of the explosion of a boiler of that vessel at San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905.[1]
