The Gallant Young: Heroism, Audacity, And Controversy Of A Kentucky Naval Officer (Part One)
By: Joe D. Friday Jr.
Note: This is the first part of an ongoing multi-part series that will be presented once a month until completion.
Rear Admiral Lucien Young died on October 2, 1912, at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City. It seems fitting that a man who represented the heroic ideal, had a reputation for audacity and big talk, flirted with controversy, and cultivated fame and fortune would die in one of the most famous hotels in America. His passing made headlines across the nation and put him in the spotlight one last time. He probably would have been pleased with that.
Young was born on March 31, 1852, in Lexington, Kentucky. His father, Richard Boswell Young, had been a prosperous farmer but lost many of his assets during the Civil War.1 After his first wife died, Richard Young married Jane O’Neal. The couple had two sons: Franklin, born in 1850, grew up to become a prominent doctor in Lexington.2 Lucien went on to become one of the most famous naval officers of the last quarter of the 19th century.
In 1869 Kentucky congressman J. Proctor Knott nominated Lucien Young to the U.S. Naval Academy. By some accounts, Young’s academics were below average, and it was reported that his literacy and spelling performances were poor during his entrance examination.3 The record shows that over time, despite his early academic deficiencies, Young developed into a natural leader who demonstrated courage, intelligence, and decisiveness, and one who attracted attention wherever he travelled.
A few anecdotes about his academy days survive, one being about a time when Lucien and several classmates had just completed their exams. Feeling none too optimistic about their chances of passing, they engaged in some drinking. Things got out of hand, and they wound up drinking until dawn when one of the cadet midshipmen dared any member of the group to swim out into the river to an island and back against the outgoing tide. Young accepted the challenge, stripped off his clothes, and began the swim. He made it to the island and back just as the sun was breaking. As Young crawled out of the water, the academy superintendent, Admiral David Dixon Porter, happened by on his morning walk. Everyone was caught there, and Young, standing naked before the Admiral, came to attention and saluted. It took some explanation, but the admiral told the group to carry on as he turned and walked away.4 By his fourth year, Young was among twenty-nine cadet midshipmen on probation.5 Somehow, despite his academic standing, Young managed to graduate in May 1873 and was appointed a midshipman in the Navy.6
On November 10, 1873, while he was attached to USS Alaska sailing off the coast of Spain, Young witnessed a fellow sailor fall from the top main mast into the ocean. Stationed on the stern deck, Young immediately jumped into the water, recovered the injured man, and held him in the lifebuoy until a boat could be launched to bring them back on board. Alaska was steaming at about seven knots at the time, and it took several minutes to slow the ship enough to launch a boat for their rescue. Young’s act of heroism saved the man’s life. For his actions, he received a general order commendation from Secretary of the Navy George Robeson. 7 The Life Saving Benevolent Society of New York paid tribute to his bravery with the award of a gold medal. Inscribed with the society’s motto, “Vita Felicibus Ausis Servata,” (A life Saved By Successful Daring Deeds), the medal reads,
"Presented to Lucien Young for gallant conduct in leaping into the sea from the United States Steamer Alaska while under way and saving the life of a wounded seaman who had been knocked overboard from aloft. November 10, 1873.”8
His heroism received national attention when it was publicized in newspapers across the country.9
Young went from Alaska to USS Hartford where he spent approximately six months. He then transferred to USS Powhatan in December 1875. The Navy commissioned Young to the rank of Ensign in January 1876.10 Young served onboard Powhatan for a few months and then transferred to USS Huron in February 1876.11 On board Huron, Young would again find himself in dangerous circumstances, demonstrate his bravery, and firmly establish himself as a national hero.12
Huron’s captain was Commander George P. Ryan, a veteran of the Civil War and an officer with the reputation as an excellent navigator and surveyor. Ryan took Huron to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean to conduct surveys for nautical charts around many of the ports and islands. Young sailed with Huron on cruises to Mexico, St. Thomas, Venezuela, and Colombia, with several stopovers at smaller Caribbean ports. Huron returned to the U.S. by way of Mobile Bay and Key West before docking again at Norfolk in the summer of 1877.13 After a short refit in New York, Huron returned to Norfolk and then got orders to Cuba for more surveys.
Note: Please stay tuned for next month when part two will continue this multi-part series.
Notes
1 1860 United States Federal Census, Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky, 551; Lexington Weekly Press, March 24, 1862, p. 3; 1870 United States Federal Census, Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky, 25.
2 ‘Dr. F.O. Young Passes Away at Home Here,” Lexington Herald, March 30, 1931, p. 1.
3 Lexington Herald-Leader, February 6, 1910, p. 24.
4 “Gallant Lucien Young,” The Courier-Journal, (Louisville, Ky.), July 1, 1883, p. 15.
5 Register of The United States Naval Academy, 1873, Government Printing Office, 9.
6 Abstracts of Service Records of Naval Officers, Compiled 1798-1924, Lucien Young, National Archives And Records Administration, Record Group 24, NARA Catalog no. 2329232, p. 49.
7 General Order No. 186, January 4, 1874, General Orders of the U.S. Navy 1874, p. 124.
8 “The Life Saving Association,” The New York Daily Herald, January 19, 1876, p. 2.
9 “Heroism. A U.S. Midshipman Saves the Life Of A Drowning Seaman,” Brooklyn Eagle, December 15, 1873, p.1.
10 The Records of Living Officers of The U.S. Navy And Marine Corps, 1898, pp. 173-174.
11Abstracts of Service Records of Naval Officers, 49.
12 George Baber, “The Heroic Career Of A Kentucky Naval Officer,” Register of Kentucky State Historical Society, Vol. 9, No. 25, January 1911, pp. 9-13. Website: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23367156?seq=1, (Accessed November 8, 2025).
13 Logbook of the USS Huron. November 1875 – May 1876, Volume 1, National Archives And Records Administration, Record Group 24.