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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- PEOPLE -- UNITED STATES --

Chief Boatswain Edwin J. Hill, USN, (1894-1941)

Edwin Joseph Hill was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 4 October 1894. He enlisted in the Navy in 1912 and later became a warrant officer, rising to the rank of Chief Boatswain. During the 7 December 1941 Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor, he was serving on board USS Nevada (BB-36). In the midst of the attack, he led the ship's line handling detail in casting off from the quays alongside Ford Island so that Nevada could get underway. He was killed by enemy bombs while attempting to drop anchor at the end of the battleship's brief sortie. For his heroism during the Pearl Harbor action, Chief Boatswain Hill was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

The escort ship USS Hill (DE-141), 1943-1974, was named in honor of Chief Boatswain Hill.

This page features our only view of Chief Boatswain Edwin Joseph Hill, USN.


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 49196

Chief Boatswain Edwin Joseph Hill, USN


Who was awarded the Medal of Honor, posthumously, for heroism while serving on board USS Nevada (BB-36) during the 7 December 1941 Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor.
Halftone reproduction, copied a publication.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 115KB; 480 x 765 pixels

 



Medal of Honor citation of Chief Boatswain Edwin Joseph Hill (as printed in the official publication "Medal of Honor, 1861-1949, The Navy", page 206):

"For distinguished conduct in the line of his profession, extraordinary courage, and disregard of his own safety during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, by Japanese Forces on 7 December 1941. During the height of the strafing and bombing, Chief Boatswain Hill led his men of the line-handling details of the U.S.S. Nevada to the quays, cast off the lines and swam back to his ship. Later, while on the forecastle attempting to let go the anchors, he was blown overboard and killed by the explosion of several bombs."


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 3 December 2000