Given the fact that the Boatswain’s Mate (BM) rating is the oldest still in existence in the U.S. Navy and that countless thousands of Sailors have served their country in that role, you might expect to see a veritable “Who’s Who of Navy Sailors” drawn from the ranks of bygone bosuns.
Surprisingly, this isn’t the case. In fact, two of history’s most famous Sailors who served as Boatswain’s Mates, Reuben James and William Wiley, are arguably most notable for the almost complete lack of contemporary accounts of their acts of bravery. Both James and Wiley served under Lieutenant Stephen Decatur during the 1804 raid he led in an attempt to recover the USS
Philadelphia, a frigate captured by Tripolitan pirates during the First Barbary War; both Sailors later had vessels named in their honor.
During the vicious fighting that ensued when Decatur’s group boarded the
Philadelphia, Decatur was grappling with a pirate when another approached with a scimitar, ready to end the lieutenant’s short (but adventure-packed) life when James interposed and took the blow instead. (James’ Naval career, much of it spent serving with Decatur, lasted until his retirement in 1836.) Details of Wiley’s role in the raid, on the other hand, are practically non-existent.
No one seriously disputes Boatswain’s Mate James’ heroism during the fighting, but differing versions of his actions make knowing what really took place something of a mystery. Early accounts had James stepping between Decatur and the pirate and taking a sword strike to the head, but a version on the U.S. Navy Web site about the man and the ships (3) that bore or bear his name says that James, “with both of his hands already wounded…did throw his hand before the cleaving blade,” which would imply James was struck in the arm or hand and not the head. This is probably closer to reality, since there are no written records of James being treated for a head wound, and another member of the raiding party, Daniel Frazier, did receive medical attention for a pretty severe head wound from a saber.
For Americans familiar with Naval history, the name
Reuben James is associated with the
Clemson-class destroyer that was the first U.S. Navy ship sunk by enemy actions in World War II. Two U.S. Navy ships have been christened
Reuben James: a World War II
Buckley-class destroyer and an
Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate launched in February, 1985. The acme in the annals of
USS Wiley, a Fletcher-class destroyer launched in February, 1944, was the destruction of Japanese naval mines en route to covering the landings of a peacekeeping force at Inchon, Korea. It was an assignment that would have earned it a place in history had it taken place in 1950 as part of General MacArthur’s offensive against North Korea; instead, the
Wiley’s Inchon visit came just six days after Japan’s formal surrender to the Allies.
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