Willis W. Bradley
Willis Bradley was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy who was commissioned as an ensign in 1908. He developed as his specialty a wide knowledge of explosives and naval ordnance, studying the topics at the US Naval Postgraduate School in Newport, Rhode Island and serving as a gunnery officer in several ships. At the time the United States entered World War I Bradley was the gunnery officer in USS Pittsburgh, an armored cruiser which had been built nearly fifteen years before. Pittsburgh was the former USS Pennsylvania, and carried some of its guns in casemates, rather than turrets.
Naval ships carried saluting guns and charges for rendering honors to visiting dignitaries, other ships, and when entering or departing ports. A specified number of these charges were fired based on the salute being offered. Pittsburgh carried these charges in an after casemate, along with charges for the firing of the casemate’s guns in action. On July 23, 1917, the gun crew was in the casemate when an accident while handing one of the saluting charges led to its detonation, and a resulting fire. Bradley was in the casemate when the accident occurred.
Bradley was at first knocked out by the explosion and the concussion which resulted. Coming to his senses, Bradley immediately took action to lead all of the casemate’s gun crew out of the damaged and burning compartment. After taking a muster to ensure that the entire gun crew was accounted for he re-entered the burning compartment, which contained multiple charges, to assess the damage and extinguish the fire. Bradley managed to extinguish several of the small fires which threatened to ignite other charges, an action which prevented further explosions.
He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the casemate fire which undoubtedly could have done severe damage to Pittsburgh, including the potential destruction of the ship from a magazine explosion. Bradley recovered from the burns suffered during the incident and continued his Naval career, serving for the rest of the war and through World War II. When he finally retired from the US Navy in 1946, after forty years of service including two World Wars, he wasn’t finished with his service to his country.
In 1947 he ran for Congress from the Eighteenth District of California, winning election and serving as their Representative for the Eightieth Congress. In 1952 he ran for and won a seat in the California State Assembly, where he continued to serve until his death in 1954. Bradley’s was one of several Medals of Honor awarded to US Navy service members during the First World War. Naval officers and sailors accounted for 21 Medals of Honor during the war, and the US Marines, a branch of the Navy, accounted for another eight.