b. ? d. ?
DATE OF AM ACTION: 28/04/1888 off Iceland.
Very little is known about the life of Robert Gray, other than he was the son of Captain David Gray, and received his AM in a private ceremony from the Provost of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire on 11th April 1889.
AM CITATION:
On the 28th April 1888, about 10PM, the “Eclipse” was in latitude 70 8 N, longitude 6 12 W, when a seaman, named George Pressley, fell overboard. A life buoy and lines were immediately thrown to him, and the ship’s boat was cleared as soon as possible. Pressley got hold of a line, and was being dragged along under the water, where another seaman, named ROBERT GRAY, jumped into the sea with a line around his arm, got hold of Pressley, and kept him up as well as he could until both of them were rescued by the ship’s boat. The sea was intensely cold and covered with ice, and the high waves caused the vessel, which was making considerable headway, to raise the men out of the water, and then dip them under for some time, and both were very much exhausted when picked up.
BURIAL LOCATION: UNKNOWN.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: PRIVATELY HELD.