Isaac Sapp

He jumped off the ship to save a sailor fighting to survive.

Isaac B. Sapp, also recorded as Isaiah Sapp, was born in Philadelphia in 1844 and entered the United States Navy from Pennsylvania. By December 1871 he was serving in the engineer's force of USS Shenandoah. His Medal of Honor recognised an emergency at sea during peacetime service, rather than a Civil War battle.

On 15 December the ship was at Villefranche, on the French Mediterranean coast. Seaman Charles Prince was in the water and in danger of drowning. Sapp went over the side to help him. He assisted Midshipman Miller in the rescue, joining the effort in the water rather than remaining aboard while his shipmate struggled.

The official citation identifies the ship, location and man rescued. It records that, “Jumping overboard, Sapp gallantly assisted in saving Charles Prince, seaman, from drowning” (Congressional Medal of Honor Society, official citation: https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/isaac-b-sapp). The Navy Department's contemporary general-order record also names Sapp and Miller in connection with the rescue.

His Medal of Honor was announced in February 1872, about two months after the rescue. The award belongs to the period when the Navy recognised exceptional lifesaving alongside gallantry in combat. Sapp's official listing places his service in the interval 1871–99, distinguishing the rescue from the Civil War service of other recipients.

He survived for more than forty years after the Villefranche incident. Before serving in the Navy, Sapp served in the 1st U.S. Cavalry, including at Gettysburg. He died at Newport News, Virginia, on 18 August 1913 and was buried in Hampton National Cemetery, where his grave preserves the Isaiah form of his name. His remembered achievement remains a direct act of assistance to a shipmate in immediate danger, recorded under Isaac in the Navy's award history.