Establishing Authority

The Navy Cross was established by Act of Congress (Public Law 253, 65th Congress), approved on February 4, 1919.

Effective Dates

The Navy Cross has been in effect since April 6, 1917.

Criteria

The Navy Cross may be awarded to any person who, while serving with the Navy or Marine Corps, distinguishes himself in action by extraordinary heroism not justifying an award of the Medal of Honor. The action must take place under one of three circumstances: while engaged in action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or, while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict in which the United States is not a belligerent party. To earn a Navy Cross the act to be commended must be performed in the presence of great danger or at great personal risk and must be performed in such a manner as to render the individual highly conspicuous among others of equal grade, rate, experience, or position of responsibility. An accumulation of minor acts of heroism does not justify an award of the Navy Cross.

Order of Precedence

The Navy Cross is worn after the Medal of Honor and before all other decorations.

Devices

Additional awards of the Navy Cross are denoted by gold stars five-sixteenths of an inch in diameter.

Designer

The Navy Cross was designed by James Earl Fraser (1876-1953).

First Recipient

The first actual recipient of the Navy Cross is unknown because intial awards were made from a lengthy list published after the First World War.

Description and Symbolism

Obverse

The Navy Cross is a modified cross patie one and a half inches wide (the ends of its arms are rounded whereas a conventional cross patie has arms that are straight on the end). There are four laurel leaves with berries in each of the re-entrant arms of the cross. In the center of the cross a sailing vessel is depicted on waves, sailing to the viewer's left. The vessel is a symbolic caravel of the type used between 1480 and 1500. Fraser selected the caravel because it was a symbol often used by the Naval Academy and because it represented both naval service and the tradition of the sea. The laurel leaves with berries refer to achievement.

Reverse

In the center of a bronze cross patie one and a half inches wide, crossed anchors from the pre-1850 period, with cables attached. The letters USN appear amid the anchors.

Ribbon

The ribbon is navy blue with a center stripe of white. the blue alludes to Navy service and the white represents the purity of selflessness.

10 USC Sec. 6242 01/26/98

TITLE 10 - ARMED FORCES Subtitle C - Navy and Marine Corps

PART II - PERSONNEL CHAPTER 567 - DECORATIONS AND AWARDS TEXT,/p>

Sec. 6242. Navy cross The President may award a Navy cross of appropriate design, with ribbons and appurtenances, to a person who, while serving in any capacity with the Navy or Marine Corps, distinguishes himself by extraordinary heroism not justifying the award of a medal of honor - (1) while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; (2) while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or (3) while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party. SOURCE (Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 389; July 25, 1963, Pub. L. 88-77, Sec. 2(2), 77 Stat. 94.) NOTES Historical and Revision Notes

Revised section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large)

6242 34 U.S.C. 356. Feb. 4, 1919, ch. 14, Sec. 3, 40 Stat. 1056; renumbered Sec. 2 and amended Aug. 7, 1942, ch. 551, Sec. 1, 56 Stat. 743.

The word "award" is substituted for the word "present" to cover the determination of the recipient as well as the actual presenting of the decoration. The words "but not in the name of Congress" are omitted, since a decoration is presented in the name of Congress only if the law so directs. The words "Navy or the Marine Corps" are substituted for the words "naval service of the United States" for clarity. To be eligible for the award, a person need not be a member of the naval service, but only serving in some capacity either with the Navy or with the Marine Corps. AMENDMENTS 1963 - Pub. L. 88-77 enlarged the authority to award the Navy cross, which was limited to those cases in which persons distinguished themselves in connection with military operations against an armed enemy, to permit its award for extraordinary heroism not justifying the award of a medal of honor, while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States, while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force, or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.