Torpedoman Second Class Henry Breault Award

The Naval Submarine League Torpedoman Second Class Henry Breault Award for Submarine Professional Excellence recognizes E6 and below personnel (Active or Reserve) for achievement, contribution, specific action or consistent performance, which best exemplifies the traditional spirit embodied in the Submarine Force.

Read about Torpedoman Second Class Henry Breault

2022 Breault Award Winner:

MMN1 (SS) Nathaniel W. Fawley, USN

for outstanding professional performance as Acting Machinery Division Leading Petty Officer on USS JOHN WARNER (SSN 785).

Petty Officer Fawley was hand-selected to serve as an Acting Leading Petty Officer for four months due to an unfilled billet. He seamlessly directed all personnel, maintenance, training, and qualifications during the ship’s compressed schedule. He supervised complex repairs involving a ship’s service turbine generator servo-control valve and the emergency propulsion motor. He led the ship to successfully execute the recent European Theater deployment, emergent drydocking, and five Operational Reactor Safeguards Examinations, in which he served as a key drill-team member. The ship achieved the highest score possible on an unmatched four examinations in a row. Petty Officer Fawley had a profound Command-wide impact as the Command Career Counselor. He re-enlisted fifty sailors. JOHN WARNER won the Retention Excellence Awards in 2019, 2020, and 2021 through his efforts. Petty Officer Fawley displays a keen ability to understand the concerns of the crew at the deck plates, translates them to actionable recommendations, and provides them to Command leadership for implementation.

Nuclear Machinist’s Mate First Class Nathaniel W. Fawley is most deserving of recognition by the Naval Submarine League to receive the Torpedoman Second Class Henry Breault Award for Submarine Professional Excellence.

Torpedoman Second Class Henry Breault

Henry Breault was born in Putnam, Connecticut, on 14 October 1900. He enlisted in the British Royal Navy at sixteen years of age and, after serving under the White Ensign for four years, joined the U.S. Navy. On 28 October 1923 Torpedoman 2nd Class Breault was a member of the crew of USS O-5 (SS-66) when that submarine was sunk in a collision. Though he could have escaped, Breault chose to assist a shipmate, and remained inside the sunken submarine until both were rescued more than a day later. For his “heroism and devotion to duty” on this occasion, Henry Breault was awarded the Medal of Honor. Following twenty years of U.S. Navy service, Henry Breault became ill with a heart condition. He died at the Naval Hospital at Newport, Rhode Island, on 4 December 1941.