|
|
Photo Courtesy of HomeOfHeroes.com |
|
ADVERTISEMENT |
|
In the opening battle of the Spanish-American war Commodore Dewey entered Manila Bay on April 30 with his fleet of 9 vessels. Shortly after noon the following day the battle with the Spanish fleet was over and Dewey anchored his ships near the city, with the exception of the USS Petrel, which was sent to destroy the remaining Spanish gunboats. Franz Itrich volunteered to lead a group of 7 sailors who, in a whaleboat, boarded and burned the remaining enemy vessels. Itrich carefully planned each boarding and the setting of fires fore and aft to utterly destroy what remained of the Spanish vessels Don Juan, Cuba, Luzon, Duero and Velasco. Itrich chose to preserve the transport Manila which carried 350 tons of coal, 35 head of cattle, 45 barrels of wine and a large supply of light artillery ammunition. The supplies carried were transferred to American control and the Manila was converted to an American gunboat. |
|
Franz Itrich was the first American to perform a Medal of Honor action during the Spanish-American War. |
Medal Of Honor Feature Sites |
||||
History  |
Citations |
Photos |
Living Heroes |
In Memory |
|
If you don't see links to
additional MOH Photos at LEFT, CLICK HERE. |
||||
| Copyright © 1999-2014 by
HomeOfHeroes.com 2115 West 13th Street - Pueblo, CO 81003 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED If you reproduce the above photograph, please credit: HomeOfHeroes.com |
HomeOfHeroes.com now has more than 25,000 pages of US History for you to view.
