Claus Kristian Randolph Clausen

Claus Kristian Randolph Clausen (December 9, 1869 – December 23, 1958) was an enlisted man and later an officer in the United States Navy. He received America's highest military decoration - the Medal of Honor - for actions in the Spanish-American War. Claus Kristian Randolph Clausen was born on December 9, 1869 in Denmark. Later enlisting in the Navy from the state of New York, he served on the USS New York during the Spanish American War as a Coxswain. He was one of eight volunteer crew members of the collier USS Merrimac, which Rear Admiral William T. Sampson ordered sunk to block the entrance of Santiago Harbor, Cuba. On the night of 2-June 3, 1898, during the attempt to execute this mission, Merrimac's steering gear was disabled by...