Name: Owen Francis Patrick Hammerberg
Rank: Boatswain’s Mate Second Class
Branch: U.S. Navy
Accredited To: Michigan
Born: 31 May 1920, Daggett, Michigan
Place: West Loch, Pearl Harbor
Summary of Action
On 17 February 1945, during salvage and recovery operations at West Loch, Pearl Harbor, two Navy divers became trapped beneath the wreckage of a sunken LST buried under 40 feet of water and 20 feet of mud. Steel debris shifted unpredictably in the murky depths, and the risk of additional cave-ins was constant.
Fully aware of the deadly danger, Boatswain’s Mate Second Class Owen F. P. Hammerberg immediately volunteered to attempt their rescue.
Descending into the pitch-black water, he tunneled through shifting mud and twisted metal, forcing a path with jet nozzles. He reached the first trapped diver, freed him from the wreckage, and painstakingly cleared fouled lines so the man could reach the surface alive.
Exhausted after hours of labor in crushing darkness, Hammerberg refused to stop. Determined to save the second diver, he pressed deeper beneath the buried hull. Just as he reached a position above the trapped man, another cave-in occurred. A heavy section of steel pinned Hammerberg across his shipmate, shielding the man beneath from further injury while bearing the full, crushing weight himself.
Eighteen hours after he first entered the water, Hammerberg succumbed to his injuries — but both divers were saved.
His calm judgment, professional skill, and utter disregard for his own safety preserved the lives of his comrades at the cost of his own.
Medal of Honor Citation
HAMMERBERG, OWEN FRANCIS PATRICK
Rank and organization: Boatswain’s Mate Second Class, U.S. Navy.
Born: 31 May 1920, Daggett, Mich.
Accredited to: Michigan.
Citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a diver engaged in rescue operations at West Loch, Pearl Harbor, 17 February 1945. Aware of the danger when 2 fellow divers were hopelessly trapped in a cave-in of steel wreckage while tunneling with jet nozzles under an LST sunk in 40 feet of water and 20 feet of mud, Hammerberg unhesitatingly went overboard in a valiant attempt to effect their rescue despite the certain hazard of additional cave-ins and the risk of fouling his lifeline on jagged pieces of steel imbedded in the shifting mud. Washing a passage through the original excavation, he reached the first of the trapped men, freed him from the wreckage and, working desperately in pitch-black darkness, finally effected his release from fouled lines, thereby enabling him to reach the surface. Wearied but undaunted after several hours of arduous labor, Hammerberg resolved to continue his struggle to wash through the oozing submarine, subterranean mud in a determined effort to save the second diver. Venturing still farther under the buried hulk, he held tenaciously to his purpose, reaching a place immediately above the other man just as another cave-in occurred and a heavy piece of steel pinned him crosswise over his shipmate in a position which protected the man beneath from further injury while placing the full brunt of terrific pressure on himself. Although he succumbed in agony 18 hours after he had gone to the aid of his fellow divers, Hammerberg, by his cool judgment, unfaltering professional skill and consistent disregard of all personal danger in the face of tremendous odds, had contributed effectively to the saving of his 2 comrades. His heroic spirit of self-sacrifice throughout enhanced and sustained the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country.
