Louis Williams

He twice leapt into the sea to save shipmates from drowning.

Louis Williams was the name under which Ludwig Andreas Olsen served in the United States Navy. Born in Norway in 1845, he emigrated and joined the Navy from California in 1870. As a sailor aboard USS Lackawanna, he twice risked his life to rescue shipmates from drowning, earning two Medals of Honor for separate peacetime actions.

On 16 March 1883, while Lackawanna was at Honolulu in the Kingdom of Hawaii, a landsman named Thomas Moran fell into the water. Williams jumped overboard and rescued him. His Medal of Honor citation recognized the rescue, which took place in the harbor rather than during combat.

A second rescue followed on 13 June 1884 at Callao, Peru. William Cruise fell overboard from Lackawanna, and Williams went into the water to save him. The action earned a second Medal of Honor. The Navy’s historical record and Congressional Medal of Honor Society list these as two independent awards, both presented in 1884. Together, the rescues made Williams one of the small number of sailors recognized twice for lifesaving rather than battle action.

His highest recorded rate was Captain of the Hold, an enlisted shipboard rating rather than a commissioned captain’s rank.

Williams was born in Christiana (now Oslo), Norway, and was accredited to California for his U.S. service. He died in Brooklyn, New York, on 20 February 1886, aged about 40, and was buried at Cypress Hills National Cemetery. The two Medal of Honor citations preserve a brief but striking record of his repeated willingness to enter the water when a fellow sailor was in peril.

Citation summary: Williams received the Medal of Honor for two separate rescues aboard USS Lackawanna: saving landsman Thomas Moran at Honolulu on 16 March 1883, and rescuing William Cruise at Callao, Peru, on 13 June 1884.