Christian Osepins

He leapt from a Navy tug and saved a shipmate from drowning.

Christian Osepins was a seaman in the United States Navy. The Army’s official Medal of Honor register records that he was born in Holland in 1858 and was accredited to New York. The surviving award record gives little detail about his early life or naval career, but it identifies the rescue that brought him national recognition.

On 7 May 1882, Osepins was serving aboard the U.S. Tug Fortune at Hampton Roads, Virginia. When Gunner’s Mate James Walters was in danger of drowning, Osepins jumped overboard and brought him to safety. The Navy’s register of Medal of Honor awards lists Osepins for this rescue and records the award under General Order No. 326, dated 18 October 1884. His action occurred during peacetime, when the Medal of Honor was awarded for exceptional acts of courage outside combat as well as for battlefield gallantry.

Osepins died on 8 October 1887 in Schiedam, in the Netherlands. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society records his burial at the cemetery on the Broersvest. Further details of his later naval service and civilian life have not been established.

Medal of Honor citation

“For jumping overboard from the U.S. Tug Fortune, 7 May 1882, at Hampton Roads, Va., and rescuing from drowning James Walters, gunner’s mate.”

Sources

1. U.S. Army, “Interim Awards 1871–1898 Medal of Honor Recipients,” entry for Christian Osepins; General Order No. 326, 18 October 1884. 2. U.S. Navy Department, Record of Medals of Honor Issued to the Officers and Enlisted Men of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, 1862–1917, “Roll of Honor,” entry for Christian Osepins.