Raymond E. Davis

Courage after a warship boiler explosion

Raymond Erwin Davis earned the Medal of Honor for extraordinary heroism aboard USS Bennington after a boiler exploded in San Diego harbor on July 21, 1905. Serving as a quartermaster third class in the United States Navy, he was recognized for his conduct during the shipboard disaster.

Born in Mankato, Minnesota, on September 19, 1885, Davis received the award for a peacetime naval action. The official citation recognizes his heroism without describing a particular rescue or individual task.

Davis died on September 9, 1965, and is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Seattle, Washington. His Medal of Honor preserves the memory of courage during one of the Navy’s serious early twentieth-century accidents.

Medal of Honor citation

Serving on board the U.S.S. Bennington, for extraordinary heroism displayed at the time of the explosion of a boiler of that vessel at San Diego, Cal., 21 July 1905.