Johannes J. Johannessen

He faced a boiler emergency aboard the Iowa with great valor

Johannes J. Johannessen was born on May 13, 1872, in Bodo, Norway. He served in the U.S. Navy as a chief watertender aboard USS Iowa.

On January 25, 1905, while Iowa was at sea, the manhole plate of Boiler D blew out. Johannessen's conduct during the emergency earned the Medal of Honor. The official citation recognizes extraordinary heroism but does not specify the movements he made, whom he assisted, or the injuries involved. Those details cannot be established from the cited recipient record alone.

His award was accredited to Yokohama, Japan, and was not posthumous. Johannessen died on November 14, 1915. He was buried at Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. His Medal of Honor records exceptional courage during a dangerous engineering emergency in naval service.

Official Medal of Honor citation: Serving on board the U.S.S. Iowa for extraordinary heroism at the time of the blowing out of the manhole plate of Boiler D on board that vessel, 25 January 1905.