Guy W . S . Castle Guy W . S . Castle ( February 8 , 1879 – August 10 , 1919 ) was an officer of the United States Navy who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the United States occupation , of Veracruz , Mexico , in 1914 . Birth and education . Guy Wilkinson Stuart Castle was born in Portage , Wisconsin , on 8 February 1879 or 8 February 1880 . He was appointed a naval cadet at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis , Maryland , on 20 May 1897 . While at the Naval Academy , Castle was nicknamed " Hoot , " " Pub , " or " Jim , " and came to be nicknamed " the Great Stone Face . " He graduated from the Naval Academy on 7 June 1901 . Early career , 1901 - 1903 . Castle reported to the receiving ship on 29 June 1901 . Detached on 31 July 1901 to proceed to the Asiatic Station on board a United States Army Transport , he departed on 1 August 1901 . Ultimately , he reported to armored cruiser on 6 September 1901 , but served in her only for a little over a month , being detached to battleship on 11 October 1901 . His title changed from naval cadet to midshipman on 1 July 1902 , Castle was ordered detached from " Kentucky " on 21 July 1902 to the gunboat , then to the gunboiat , reporting to " Vicksburg " on 30 July 1902 at Chefoo , China . Over the ensuing months , " Vicksburg " " showed the flag " and conducted training , steaming from Chinese to Korean , Japan ese , and Philippine ports . Tensions between Japan and Russia occasioned " Vicksburg " s being dispatched to Chemulpo , Korea , where she arrived on 30 December 1903 to protect American interests there . Chemulpo , 1904 . Castle ' s promotion to ensign , retroactive to 7 June 1903 , occurred on 5 February 1904 , the same day that Japan and Russia broke off diplomatic relations . Soon thereafter , on 8 February 1904 , the Japanese declared war upon Russia , beginning the Russo - Japanese War ; that day , a fleet commanded by Japanese Rear Admiral Uriu Sotokichi arrived off Chemulpo , then landed troops . The following morning , the Japanese issued a challenge to the two Russian warships in port , the steel - hulled protected cruiser " Variag " and the gunboat " Koretz " , neither of which knew war had been declared , that the Japanese would attack the Russians where they lay unless they stood out of port by noon to do battle . The Russian ships began clearing for action at 9 : 00 a . m . , then gamely stood out , to the cheers of the neutrals , the Japanese opening fire at about 11 : 50 a . m . Within a half hour , " Variag " and " Koretz " retired toward Chemulpo , the Japanese ceasing fire at 12 : 40 to avoid endangering neutral shipping . " Variag " , badly damaged and afire , had suffered heavy casualties ; British , French , and Italian warships sent boats with medical personnel to lend assistance . " Vicksburg " sent a whaleboat to do likewise . Castle ' s participation in that endeavor of mercy prompted " Variag " s commanding officer to present his personal sword to the young ensign in gratitude . Surface ship duty , 1904 - 1907 . " Vicksburg " returned to the United States on 29 June 1904 , arriving at Bremerton , Washington , to be decommissioned . Detached from " Vicksburg " on 15 July 1904 , Castle returned home with 30 days leave , upon the expiration of which he was to await orders to sea . On 12 August 1904 , he received orders to the protected cruiser , and reported aboard her on 22 August 1904 . Detached on 28 October 1905 , he reported to store ship on 30 October 1904 , becoming her navigator on 21 November 1904 , then her senior engineer on 1 February 1906 . On 11 August 1906 , he received simultaneous promotions to Lieutenant , junior grade and lieutenant . Submarine duty , 1907 - 1909 . Detached to command submarine ( " a cross between a Jules Verne fantasy and a humpbacked whale [ sic ] , " as one junior contemporary , Ensign Chester W . Nimitz , later described early submarines ) on 22 February 1907 , reporting for that duty on 23 February 1907 and assuming command upon her recommissioning at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn , New York . He received additional duty as commanding officer of on 23 August 1907 . Detached from " Plunger " to " continue other duties " ( perhaps to devise means related to the envisioned transfer of " submarine torpedo boats " to the Asiatic Station as deck cargo on board colliers ) on 24 December 1907 , he then received orders to temporary duty at the Bureau of Navigation , reporting there on 25 April 1908 , upon completion of which he was to travel to Mare Island Navy Yard at Vallejo , California , where he would have duty in connection with submarine . He reported on 13 May 1908 , only to be detached on 1 July 1908 to travel to the Asiatic Station for duty with a draft of men , taking passage on 6 July 1908 . He reported for duty on 4 August 1908 in connection with fitting out submarines and " Shark " , both of which had been transported to Cavite Navy Yard on Luzon in the Philippine Islands as deck cargo on board the collier . Battleship duty , 1909 - 1910 . Relieved on 9 July 1909 with new orders , Castle returned to the United States on 20 August 1909 , reporting to battleship on 12 October 1909 to serve as her senior engineer officer . When " Ohio " was decommissioned a little over two months later , Castle received orders on 23 December 1909 to report without delay to battleship for duty as her senior engineer officer , going on board " New Jersey " on 26 December 1909 . He remained on " New Jersey " until detached on 6 August 1910 . Shore duty , 1910 - 1913 . After detaching from " New Jersey " , Castle traveled to Pittsburg , Pennsylvania , to be the assistant to the inspector of material , Carbon Steel Works , reporting on 10 August 1910 . More shore duty followed , at his " alma mater " , when he arrived at the United States Naval Academy on 26 August 1910 , where he would remain for almost three years , a period of time punctuated by additional temporary duty on board battleship during the midshipmen ' s summer cruise of 31 May 1911 to 11 September 1911 , and in Philadelphia with the Brigade of Midshipmen on 25 November 1912 . Duty aboard USS " Utah " , 1913 - 1916 . Detached from the Naval Academy on 7 June 1913 , he arrived on board battleship on 11 June 1913 to take up his duties as her ordnance officer . Medal of Honor at Veracruz , 1914 . Less than a year later , as tensions flared between the United States and Mexico , Castle commanded " Utah " s bluejacket landing battalion ( consisting of 17 officers and 367 enlisted men ) , which landed at Veracruz on 21 April 1914 as part of the First Seaman Regiment . During the fighting that day and the next , Castle ' s conduct proved exemplary as he " exhibited courage and skill " in leading his men , " in seizing the Customs House [ one of the principal objects of the landing ] he encountered for many hours the heaviest and most pernicious concealed fire of the entire day 21 April 1914 , but his courage and coolness under trying circumstances was marked . . . " For his " distinguished conduct in battle , " he received the Medal of Honor . Shore duty , 1916 - 1918 . Commissioned lieutenant commander on 15 September 1914 , retroactive to 1 July 1914 , Castle left " Utah " on 11 May 1916 , reporting to the Bureau of Steam Engineering in Washington , D . C . , on 13 May 1916 . After serving as senior member of a board " to determine space and weight of various material features of submarine [ s ] to be built " on 20 July 1916 , he later participated in the deliberations of the board that investigated and reported on the classification and standardization of motors on board ships on 21 November 1916 . After a brief tour of temporary duty with Rear Admiral William S . Sims , during which he took passage in torpedo boat , Castle served on a board that evaluated " devices and plans connected with submarine warfare . " On 31 August 1917 , Castle received temporary promotion to commander . Commanding officer , USS " Martha Washington " , 1918 - 1919 . Ultimately , Castle ' s " urgent request " for World War I sea duty bore fruit . The Armistice with Germany that ended hostilities World War I , however , occurred on 11 November 1918 , a week before his detachment from the Bureau of Steam Engineering on 18 November 1918 with orders to report to the receiving ship at New York Navy Yard . Arriving there on 22 November 1918 , he relieved Captain Kenneth G . Castleman as commanding officer of the troop transport . Under Castle ' s command , " Martha Washington " conducted seven round - trip voyages to French , British , or Dutch ports , with New York City ; Hampton Roads , Virginia , or Charleston , South Carolina , serving as the eastern termini . Suicide . On 4 August 1919 , " Martha Washington " departed New York City bound for Brest , France , on the first leg of a voyage that was ultimately to take her to Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire . On the evening of 10 August 1919 , when Castle did not arrive at the scheduled time for dinner , his orderly and cabin steward found the door to the bathroom in his cabin locked . When repeated calls and knocking failed to arouse a response from within his cabin , the orderly and cabin steward summoned the ship ' s senior surgeon and a captain ' s mate , who forced the door . They found Castle dead on the floor of a self - inflicted gunshot wound . He had placed his wife ' s photograph inside his shirt over his heart and a picture of his two sons on the shelf in the bathroom opposite the mirror . " During the voyage , " " Martha Washington " s chronicler has written , " no unusual actions of the Commanding Officer caused anyone to suspect that he contemplated such an action and his death was a great shock to both his officers and men . . . Captain Castle was held in the highest esteem by the officers and men of this vessel , who sincerely mourn his death , with his bereaved family . " Burial . Castle was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington , Virginia . Medal of Honor citation . Medal of Honor citation : Namesake . A United States Navy destroyer to be named in Commander Castle ' s honor , , was authorized on 9 July 1942 , and her keel laid on 11 July 1945 . With the end of World War II in August 1945 , construction was terminated on 11 February 1946 and she was delivered in a partially completed status to the 3rd Naval District on 15 August 1946 . She was stricken from the Navy List on 2 November 1954 and sold incomplete for scrapping on 29 August 1955 .