World War I Medal of Honor Recipient. Raised in Alabama, GM 1 Osmond Ingram first joined the Navy in 1903 while still a teenager. He served until 1908 when he left and briefly obtained employment as a firefighter. In 1912, he rejoined the Navy. In 1917, while serving as a Gunners Mate 1st Class on the USS Cassin, he was killed when a torpedo struck the ship. Rather than running from the expected impact point of the torpedo, he had sacrificed himself by running towards it with the intent of removing high explosives from the area. He was thrown overboard and his body was never recovered. He was the first Navy sailor to be killed on a United States warship in World War I. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor with the citation reading: "For extraordinary heroism in the presence of the enemy on the occasion of the torpedoing of the Cassin, on 15 October 1917. While the Cassin was searching for the submarine, Ingram sighted the torpedo coming, and realizing that it might strike the ship aft in the vicinity of the depth charges, ran aft with the intention of releasing the depth charges before the torpedo could reach the Cassin. The torpedo struck the ship before he could accomplish his purpose and Ingram was killed by the explosion. The depth charges exploded immediately afterward. His life was sacrificed in an attempt to save the ship and his shipmates, as the damage to the ship would have been much less if he had been able to release the depth charges." In 1919 he became the first enlisted man to have a Navy ship named after him, the USS Osmond Ingram (DD-255).
World War I Medal of Honor Recipient. Raised in Alabama, GM 1 Osmond Ingram first joined the Navy in 1903 while still a teenager. He served until 1908 when he left and briefly obtained employment as a firefighter. In 1912, he rejoined the Navy. In 1917, while serving as a Gunners Mate 1st Class on the USS Cassin, he was killed when a torpedo struck the ship. Rather than running from the expected impact point of the torpedo, he had sacrificed himself by running towards it with the intent of removing high explosives from the area. He was thrown overboard and his body was never recovered. He was the first Navy sailor to be killed on a United States warship in World War I. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor with the citation reading: "For extraordinary heroism in the presence of the enemy on the occasion of the torpedoing of the Cassin, on 15 October 1917. While the Cassin was searching for the submarine, Ingram sighted the torpedo coming, and realizing that it might strike the ship aft in the vicinity of the depth charges, ran aft with the intention of releasing the depth charges before the torpedo could reach the Cassin. The torpedo struck the ship before he could accomplish his purpose and Ingram was killed by the explosion. The depth charges exploded immediately afterward. His life was sacrificed in an attempt to save the ship and his shipmates, as the damage to the ship would have been much less if he had been able to release the depth charges." In 1919 he became the first enlisted man to have a Navy ship named after him, the USS Osmond Ingram (DD-255).
Bio by: Anne Cady
Family Members
Siblings
Half Siblings
Advertisement
See more Ingram memorials in:
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
