George Frederick Phillips

Phillips was born to Andrew and Elizabeth Ross Phillips, both natives of Ireland. He began his professional life as a mechanic for the Intercolonial Railway in Moncton. Phillips later worked on liners for the Mallory Steamship Company between New York and Texas.

Phillips went to Galveston, Texas, where he joined the United States Navy in March 1898.[1]

During the Spanish–American War he was aboard a ship that made its way to the entrance to the harbor at Santiago de Cuba. There, the USS Merrimac, a 3362-ton collier, was supplying coal to U.S. warships. On June 3, 1898, in a daring attempt to bottle up the Spanish cruiser squadron, the Merrimac was scuttled inside the entrance of Santiago Harbor in an attempt to block the passage of the Spanish fleet headed by Admiral Cervera.[2] Under heavy fire from the Spanish shore batteries, Machinist First Class Phillips displayed extraordinary heroism throughout this operation. He and seven of his fellow sailors were captured as prisoners of war and were released a month later with American victory.

In recognition of his valor, on November 2, 1899, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest United States military decoration.

Phillips was discharged from the Navy in August 1903, and died in 1904 at the age of 42 in Cambridge, Massachusetts; his body was returned home to Canada where he was interred in the Fernhill Cemetery in his hometown of Saint John, New Brunswick.

Rank and organization: Machinist First Class, U.S. Navy. Born: March 9, 1864, Coles Island, New Brunswick, Canada. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 529, November 2, 1899.

Citation:

In connection with the sinking of the U.S.S. Merrimac at the entrance to the harbor of Santiago de Cuba 2 June 1898. Despite heavy fire from the Spanish shore batteries, Phillips displayed extraordinary heroism throughout this operation.

• List of Medal of Honor recipients
• List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Spanish–American War

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

• "Chief Machinist George F. Phillips, USN, (1862-1904), Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy". Archived from the original on July 26, 2010. Retrieved September 29, 2010.