The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Ensign Daniel Augustus Joseph Sullivan, United States Navy (Reserve Force), for extraordinary heroism as an officer of the U.S.S. Cristabel in conflict with an enemy submarine on 21 May 1918. As a result of the explosion of a depth bomb dropped near the submarine, the Cristabel was so badly shaken that a number of depth charges which had been set for firing were thrown about the deck and there was imminent danger that they would explode. Ensign Sullivan immediately fell on the depth charges and succeeded in securing them, thus saving the ship from disaster, which would inevitably have caused great loss of life.