The death of Lieutenant Talbot closed a career of unusual promise, and in it the Navy lost a brilliant and beloved member. A skillful sailor, an accomplished officer, and a Christian gentleman, his self-sacrifice has arrested the attention of his comrades and will remain an example to the Service which in life his virtues adorned and whose highest qualities were illustrated in the crowning heroism of his death. His comrades of humbler rank will not be forgotten; with him they faced the dangers of the lonely ocean and offered their lives with his to save their shipwrecked messmates, and no one can estimate how much of danger and suffering, perhaps death, was saved through the courage and endurance of the sole survivor of that gallant boat's crew.
II
The following is a list of the officers and crew of the Saginaw as it appeared on the pay-roll at the time she was wrecked; I feel that I should name them all in recognition of a comradeship in suffering never to be forgotten where each one performed his duty unflinchingly:—
Officers
Montgomery Sicard, lieutenant commander.
John G. Talbot, lieutenant.
J.K. Cogswell, Perry Garst, and A.H. Parsons, ensigns.
George H. Read, passed assistant paymaster.
James Butterworth, passed assistant engineer.
H.C. Blye, passed assistant engineer (in charge of contractor's party).
John J. Ryan, C.D. Foss, Herschel Main, and Jones Godfrey, second assistant engineers.
George H. Robinson, master's mate.
Petty Officers
Peter Francis, quartermaster.
Nicholas Barton, quartermaster.
Thomas Hayes, sailmaker's mate.
John Lane, boatswain's mate.
James Foschack, gunner's mate.
J.M. Logan, yeoman.
William Halford, coxswain.
Samuel A. Thompson, master at arms.
Charles Hale, paymaster's yeoman.
A.E. Myfinger, cabin steward.
Solomon Graves, cabin cook.
Joseph Ross, wardroom steward.
George D. Wauchoss, wardroom cook.
Henry B. Clark, third-class apothecary.
William Edman, ship's cook.
Henry Wallace, steerage steward.
L. McCabe, steerage cook.
First-class firemen, Francis Scott, Lorenzo Coburg, George White.
Second-class fireman, George Hubert.