John E. Murphy

John Edward Murphy (May 3, 1869 – April 9, 1941) was a United States Navy sailor and a recipient of America's highest military decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Spanish-American War. Murphy enlisted in the U.S. Navy from New York and served in the battleship USS Iowa (BB-4) as a coxswain during the Spanish-American War. Coxswain Murphy was one of eight volunteer crew members of the collier USS Merrimac (1898), which Rear Admiral William T. Sampson ordered sunk to block the entrance of Santiago Harbor, Cuba. On the night of June 2/3, 1898, during the attempt to execute this mission, Merrimac's steering gear was disabled by enemy gunfire, and she sank without obstructing navigation. Her crewmen were rescued by the...