Guy W. S. Castle
Guy was born in Portage, Wisconsin on the 8th of February, 1879 and he attended the US Naval Academy on the 20th of May, 1897. After graduating in June of 1901, he reported to the USS Independence and then received assignments on the USS Brooklyn and the USS Kentucky. Guy was a Midshipman on board the USS Vicksburg in 1903 when it arrived at ports in Korea, Japan, and the Philippines when tensions between Russia and Japan were high. He was promoted to Ensign the same day that the two countries broke off diplomatic relations and three days later the Russo-Japanese War began. The USS Vicksburg sent a whaleboat with personnel to lend assistance to the Russian cruiser Variag, which had been damaged and suffered casualties from Japanese attacks in the Chemulpo Bay, Korea. Guy’s actions that days saw him receive the personal sword of the Variag’s commanding officer out of gratitude.
By the August of 1906, Guy had been promoted to Lieutenant and was assigned to submarine duties, first on board the USS Plunger and then on the USS Shark. In July of 1909, he returned to above water duties, this time on board the USS Ohio and serving as the senior engineer officer of the battleship. Guy continued this role onto the USS New Jersey after the Ohio was decommissioned and later was assigned to be the assistant inspector of material at Carbon Steel Works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in August of 1910. Although I cannot find why, he did have a three year stint back at the Naval Academy in 1910 and he was later assigned for duty on board the USS Utah in 1913. Guy was still a Lieutenant when the Utah deployed to support the Mexican Campaign and he was the battleship’s ordnance officer. He commanded the ship’s Bluejacket landing battalion and it was his actions there that would earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:
For distinguished conduct in battle, engagements of Vera Cruz, 21 and April 22, 1914. Eminent and conspicuous in command of his battalion, Lt. Castle was in the fighting of both days, and exhibited courage and skill in leading his men through action. In seizing the customhouse, he encountered for many hours the heaviest and most pernicious concealed fire of the entire day, but his courage and coolness under trying conditions were marked.
Guy was promoted to Lieutenant Commander on the 15th of September, 1914 and received the Medal of Honor on the 4th of December, 1915. He then reported to the Bureau of Steam Engineering in Washington DC and took part in the investigations of classification and standardization of motors on board ships. Guy received a temporary promotion to Commander and he had submitted an urgent request for sea duty during World War 1. Unfortunate for him, the Armistice was signed seven days before his orders would send him to the New York Navy Yard to relieve the commanding officer of the USS Martha Washington.
Guy commanded seven round trips to French, British, and Dutch ports until his death on the 10th of August, 1919. He had not reported for dinner and his bathroom door was found to be locked with no answer and when the ship’s senior surgeon reported and the door forced open, they found Guy with a self inflicted gun shot wound and a photo of his wife over his heart. There were no unusual actions that led anyone to suspect this action so it was a shock to the entire crew. He and his wife Harriet had two sons, John (who also joined the Navy, served in World War 2, and reached the rank of Lieutenant Commander) and Guy Jr. Guy Wilkinson Stuart Castle was 40 when he died and he is buried with his wife in Arlington National Cemetery: Section 3, Site 4345 SS.
