b. 03/05/1859 Ryde, NSW, Australia. d. 29/11/1912 Sydney, Australia.
DATE OF MOH ACTION; 07/10/1884 Foochow, China.
Belpitt was born on May 3, 1859, in Ryde, New South Wales, Australia. By October 7, 1884, he was serving in the U.S. Navy as Captain of the Afterguard on the USS Monocacy. On that morning, while Monocacy was at Fuzhou, China, he jumped overboard and rescued a Chinese man whose canoe had capsized. For this action, Belpitt was awarded the Medal of Honor.
Belpitt later returned to Australia, he died on 29 November 1912 at Rookwood, NSW and was buried at Rookwood Catholic Cemeteries and Crematoria on 2 December 1912.
MOH CITATION;
On board the U.S.S. Monocacy, Foochow, China, 7 October 1884. Jumping overboard from that vessel on the morning of this date, Belpitt sustained, until picked up, a Chinaman who had been thrown into the water by the capsizing of a canoe.
BURIAL LOCATION: ROOKWOOD CEMETERY, ROOKWOOD, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA.
MORTUARY 2 AREA N GRAVE 1236.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.