George S . Rentz George Snavely Rentz ( July 25 , 1882 – March 1 , 1942 ) was a United States Navy chaplain who served during World War I and World War II . For selfless heroism following the loss of in the Battle of Sunda Strait , he was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross — the only Navy Chaplain to be so honored during World War II . Personal history . Born in Lebanon , Pennsylvania , George Rentz was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity , and he received his undergraduate degree from Gettysburg College in 1903 , which was at the time known as Pennsylvania College , and then graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary . He was ordained in 1909 and for the next eight years served as a Presbyterian minister for the Presbytery of Northumberland , as well as pastoring churches in Pennsylvania and New Jersey . Upon the entry of the United States in World War I , he was appointed acting chaplain with the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade and assigned to the 11th Marine Regiment in France , where he served until 1919 . Rentz attained the rank of Commander in 1924 . As chaplain , he served aboard , , , and his final duty station , " Houston " . During his military career , Rentz also served at the Marine Barracks in Port Royal , South Carolina , Naval Air Station Pensacola , Florida , and Naval Air Station San Diego , California . Commander Rentz transferred from the " Augusta " to the " Houston " in 1940 when it relieved " Augusta " as the flagship of the Asiatic Fleet . Rentz was a crew favorite , even going so far as to ignore regulations and dispense nips of alcohol as needed to the exhausted sailors . Sinking of the USS Houston . During a Japanese attack on " Houston " at the Battle of Makassar Strait on February 4 , 1942 , Commander Rentz spurned cover and circulated among the crew of the anti - aircraft battery , keeping up their spirits . It was noted that , when crew members at the guns " … saw this man of God , walking fearlessly among them , they no longer felt alone . " In the Flores Sea , during this attack , " Houston " took a direct hit that disabled turret III and killed 48 men . Less than a month later , " Houston " and the Australian light cruiser HMAS " Perth " ( D29 ) were directed to proceed to Ceylon , where they were supposed to attack Japanese naval supply lines . En route , the two ships unexpectedly encountered a Japanese invasion force , resulting in the encounter now known as the Battle of Sunda Strait . Though outnumbered by the Japan ese convoy , both ships persisted . In the ensuing melee one of the Japanese destroyer s fired a spread of torpedo es that passed by the allied cruisers and sunk four of their own troopships . In the end , the Japanese forces proved too much for the wounded " Perth " and " Houston . " The final attack on these two cruisers sank first " Perth " and then " Houston " shortly before midnight on March 1 , 1942 . Eyewitness accounts of heroism . It was during the abandonment of the sinking " Houston " that Commander Rentz entered the water and attained partial safety along with other crewmembers on a destroyed airplane ' s float . Seeing extreme overcrowding and the fact that the pontoon was taking on water , he attempted to relinquish his space and lifejacket to wounded survivors nearby . He declared " You men are young , I have lived the major part of my life and I am willing to go . " According to " Houston " survivor Private Jim Gee , no one would oblige the generous , fearless chaplain . Each time Rentz attempted to leave he was brought back by his shipmates . He ultimately relinquished his lifejacket to Seaman First Class Walter L . Beeson , who recounts that Rentz " told me his heart was failing him ; told me he couldn ' t last much longer . " Following a brief prayer , the Chaplain gave the lifejacket to Beeson , who refused to put it on . Rentz kicked away from the float and disappeared . Gee recalled " No one realized what had happened . It ' s just one of those things that one minute he ' s there , and the next minute . . . he wasn ' t . " When Beeson realized that Rentz was gone , he put on the lifejacket . For these actions , Rentz was posthumously awarded the United States Navy ' s second highest award for valor , the Navy Cross . Chaplain Rentz had less than one year to serve before retiring . He was one of 800 men who perished out of the original crew of 1 , 168 aboard " Houston " . Of the 368 crew members who made it to shore and were captured by the Japanese , 77 would die in captivity . 291 survived to the end of the war . Namesake . The is named in his honor .