The Naval Submarine School dedicated a memorial Friday to the first submarine and the only enlisted man from the submarine force ever to earn the Medal of Honor.

Henry Breault of Putnam locked himself inside the sinking O-5 in 1923 rather than let a shipmate perish. They were both rescued 31 hours later.

Breault later would return to the ship as an example to his shipmates, and years later would ask to remain in the Navy rather than take a medical retirement for a heart condition.

He died at the age of 41, just days before the United States entered World War II.

"That's an important part of our history, but we don't know it that well," said Capt. Arnold O. Lotring, commanding officer of the sub school. "I want our sailors to have a link with their past. And this is the Medal of Honor - this is a big deal."

Lotring said as much as submarines have changed in almost eight decades since the O-5 accident, he wants Breault to be a role model for the men who are being trained today, because he epitomized courage and selflessness.

Senior Chief Petty Officer James Anderson has assembled newspaper accounts, letters to and from Breault, and photographs of the hero and the ship that will be exhibited with the bronze plaque that was dedicated on Friday.

"It's going to be quite the nice display when we get done with it," Anderson said.

Retired Senior Chief Electrician's Mate James Christley, a submarine history expert who has advocated greater recognition of Breault for the last few years, said the location of the memorial in the auditorium at Wilkinson Hall is also appropriate.

"It'll be one of the first things the students see when they arrive for their initial briefing, and one of the last things they see when they graduate," Christley said.

Christley said all he did was bring the memory of Breault to the attention of Navy officials, and they did the rest. Besides the memorial in Groton, the Pacific submarine force has dedicated a pier at Pearl Harbor to Breault, and the town of Putnam has dedicated a footbridge over the Quinnipiac River to his memory.

Breault's actions came Oct. 28, 1923, as the submarine O-5 (SS 66) neared the Panama Canal, and was run over by the 5,000-ton steamship Abangarez. The captain passed the order to abandon ship, but Torpedoman Second-Class Henry Breault, who was making his way to the hatch, a chief electrician's mate was sleeping below and would never make it off in time.

He pulled the hatch shut from the inside and locked it, consigning himself to the same fate as the chief.

The water was only 42 feet deep, but almost eight hours passed before a crane could be brought in.

The morning after the accident the crane was in place and the cables were ready. The teams took up the slack, but the weight of the boat and the suction of trying to pull it clear was too much, and the 4-inch cable snapped. They slung another harness, but it snapped as well. Finally, on the third try, 31 hours after Breault had sealed himself in with his chief, the O-5 pulled free and lifted towards the surface.

Breault, who had served four years in the British Navy before joining the U.S. Navy in 1920, would receive the Medal of Honor in 1928 from President Calvin A. Coolidge for his selfless act.

Christley got interested in the case when he was researching submarines that were lost before World War II.

"I spent 20 years in the submarine force, and never even heard of this guy. That's just not right," Christley said. "It's not a crusade as much as I just felt we should be doing something to recognize him."