The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Commander William Faulkner Amsden, United States Navy, for exceptionally distinguished service in the line of his profession in Command of the U.S.S. BARRY in making the trip of 11,000 miles from Manila, Philippine Islands to Gibraltar, under very unfavorable weather conditions, during the Summer of 1917, the southwest monsoon being then at its height, and arriving in the Mediterranean with his vessel in readiness for immediate participation in the operations against enemy submarines in the Mediterranean and later in the Atlantic. Also as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. BALCH.