DOB/DOD: September 3, 1897 (Bridgeport, CT) – January 26, 1963 (Port Chester, NY); 65 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married Margaret “Marguerite” Maru Powers (1897-1985) on November 13, 1923, in New York City.
CHILDREN: Two sons, Tedford J. (1928-2008) and Thomas P. (1933-2017).
ENLISTMENT: April 26, 1917, in New York.
PROMOTION: Appointed to Ensign on April 22, 1918.
DISCHARGE: March 3, 1919.
SHIPS ASSIGNED TO: U.S.S. May (SP-164) and U.S.S. Noma (SP-131).
FAMILY: Born to Frank H. (1863-1935) and Alice Goodsell Cann (1872-1938). One brother, Howard G. (1895-1992). Frank was the director of Physical Education at New York University, where both Tedford and his brother Howard attended. Tedford held the AAU 1920 National Championship in 50m, 100m, and 200m freestyle. Howard was an Olympic shot putter who finished 8th in the 1920 games in Antwerp. Howard also was a college basketball and football player. He coached the NYU men’s basketball team for 35 years, retiring in 1958 with a record of 429-235, and is in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION
AWARDED FOR ACTIONS DURING: World War I
BRANCH OF SERVICE: Navy
ASSIGNED TO: U.S.S. May (SP-164)
GENERAL ORDERS: War Department, General Orders No. 366 (1918)
AGE ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT: 20
CITATION:
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Seaman Tedford Harris Cann, United States Navy, for courageous conduct while serving on board the U.S.S. May 5 November 1917, at sea between Bermuda and the Azores. Seaman Cann found a leak in a flooded compartment and closed it at the peril of his life, thereby unquestionably saving the ship.
Presentation Date and Details: Unknown date in Brest, France. Presented by Admiral Newton A. McCully.
Ensign Cann’s Medal of Honor is in the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Photo contributed by Meg Keller-Marvin, Honoree and Olympian Liaison at the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Tedford Harris Cann served as an officer in the United States Naval Reserve during World War I and earned the medal for saving his sinking ship. Cann’s swimming career began while he was still a teenager. He attended the High School of Commerce in New York City, where he was captain of the basketball and swimming teams and competed in the New York Championships. At age 17, he defeated Hawaiian swimmer Duke Kahanamoku, an event which he later declared was a greater thrill than being awarded the Medal of Honor. While a student at New York University, Cann also excelled in track and field, basketball, and football, where he played halfback as well as becoming a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. He served in the Navy Reserve during World War I, initially as a Seaman. On November 5, 1917, while he was a member of the crew of the patrol vessel U.S.S. May (SP-164), Seaman Cann voluntarily swam into a flooded compartment and repeatedly dived beneath the surface until he had located and closed the leak that endangered the ship. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for this act. In April 1918, Cann was commissioned as an ensign in the Reserves, continuing to serve on the U.S.S. May into July. He spent the rest of World War I as an officer on the U.S.S. Noma (SP-131) and left the service shortly after the conflict’s end. Cann resumed his swimming career after the war. Coached by Matt Mann, Cann swam with The New York Athletic Club and later the Detroit Athletic Club. On April 10, 1920, in Detroit, Michigan, he set the world record in the 200-meter freestyle (then called the 220-yard freestyle) with a time of 2:19.8, breaking the previous record of 2:21.6 set by Norman Ross in 1916. His record would stand until 1922 when Johnny Weissmuller swam the distance in 2:15.6. Also in 1920, Cann won the Amateur Athletic Union National Championships in the 50, 100, and 200-meter races, becoming the first person to win all three of those titles in a single year. He had qualified for and was preparing to participate in the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp when he was involved in a serious car accident. Early in the morning of May 11, 1920, Cann and two other Olympic hopefuls were in a taxicab in New York City, returning home from a late night out, when the driver crashed into an elevated railroad pillar. One of Cann’s fellow passengers was fatally injured, and Cann’s leg was broken in six places. He missed the Olympics due to his injury, which required him to use crutches for more than a year and left him with a permanent limp. Although he was never able to swim as fast as he had before the accident, Cann took up water polo with much success. He participated in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris and played with The New York Athletic Club national champion polo team up to the early 1930s. To date, he is the only Olympic water polo player – and among only a few United States Olympians – to hold a Medal of Honor. Cann died at age 65 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington County, Virginia. Four years later, in 1967, he was posthumously inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame for his accomplishments as a swimmer.
From the Bridgeport (CT) Times & Evening Farmer August 10, 1916
New York, August 9 – The three great swimmers, Herbert Vollmer, Tedford H. Cann of the New York Athletic Club, and Ludy Lander, the Pacific coast champion, are now ready to leave for the long trip to Honolulu to take part in the big water carnival to be held there in September. Considerable interest attaches to the trip because it is practically a certainty that they will again measure strokes with the great Duke Kahanamoku in the coming meet. In fact, despite persistent reports that the Hawaiian wonder swimmer intends to turn professional, it is confidently believed in aquatic circles that he will now retain his amateur standing, at least until he has had a chance to again try conclusion with the New Yorkers. The latter both took his measure conclusively in this country a few weeks ago, and Duke will hardly miss the opportunity to win back his lost laurels, especially as in home waters, the advantage will be entirely on his side. Thus, the prospective clashes are looked forward to with keen anticipation. Vollmer twice lowered the 220-yard indoor world’s record last winter, and whether he wins over the Hawaiian or not, there is reason to think he will force the pace to the point of breaking open water standards, at least at the century and furlong. The previous picture shows Vollmer on the left and Cann on the right.
From the New York Times April 27, 1917
CANN BROTHERS ENLIST
Ted and Howard, Prominent Athletes, Join Naval Reserve Corps
Tedford H. Cann, the swimming champion of the New York Athletic Club, and his brother, Howard Cann, New York University’s all-around athlete, have enlisted in the Naval Reserve Corps as active members of the mosquito fleet to patrol the waters adjacent to the city. Teddy Cann is the present holder of the national 100-yeard swimming championship, and he also holds the metropolitan 100, 220, and 300-yard titles. Howard Cann is an all-around athlete and a football player. He played left halfback on the NYU team for the last two seasons and has been elected Captain of next year’s team.
From the Meriden (CT) Record-Journal March 1, 1918
MERIDEN WOMAN’S COUSIN RECEIVES MEDAL OF HONOR
Saved Vessel of the US Naval Reserve From Sinking
Tedford H. Cann, the subject of the following article from the New Yorker, a publication of New York University, is a cousin of Mrs. John G. Nagel of this city:
“Tedford H. Cann is now the proud possessor of the highest military distinction, the Medal of Honor. It was early in November that he saved a ship from sinking.
Soon after war was declared, Ted enlisted and qualified for first-class Quartermaster. He was only 19, yet he longed for the real and truer service “Over there.” Consequently, he resigned and enlisted again in the Naval Reserve and was delegated almost immediately to one of the squadrons of submarine chasers.
On November 5, 1917, the ship he was on, the U.S.S. May, flagship of the squadron, sprung a leak. Ted, at the risk of his life, located the leak and stopped it. This action was brought to the attention of Captain McCulley, commander of the squadron. He and Captain Evans of the U.S.S. May wrote to Secretary Daniels and recommended the Medal of Honor as a reward.”
From the New York Times May 12, 1920
OLYMPIC ASPIRANTS HURT IN TAXI CRASH
T.H. Cann and Two Other Swimming Champions Among the Five Victims
A. McALEENAN, JR., MAY DIE
Former Diving Title Holder Suffers a Fracture of the Skull
Tedford H. Cann, the first naval reservist to be decorated during the European war, and two other American swimming champions who expected to take part in the Olympic Games in Belgium were seriously injured early yesterday when a taxicab in which they were riding at Jackson and Second Avenues, Long Island City, struck an elevated railroad pillar. One of the champions, Arthur McAleenan, was probably fatally injured, and the driver of the taxi and a man waiting at the corner for the trolley were also badly hurt. Ted Cann is the son of the Physical Education Director of New York University and was a member of the crew of the U.S.S. May during the war. His decoration was won when his ship’s bilge was flooded with eight feet of water, and he volunteered to dive and shut off a sea cock, saving the vessel.
The injured men were:
ARTHUR McALEENAN, JR., 28, former Yale student, 13309 Broadway, at one time a national diving champion; fracture of the skull and internal injuries.
STEPHEN RUDDY, 18, 142 East Eighty-Third Street, runner-up for the 200-yard breaststroke swim title; injuries to the head, face, and body, and possible internal injuries.
TEDFORD H. CANN, 22, 2250 Loring Place, the Bronx, the present holder of the 50, 100, and 220-yard national titles; fracture of the left leg and internal injuries.
JOHN DAW, 27, 1006 First Avenue, owner and driver of the taxicab; fracture of both legs and internal injuries.
JOHN MARTIN, 25, 849 Second Avenue, Long Island City; lacerations of the face, head, and body, bruises, and contusions.
Cann, McAleenan, and Ruddy had dined with some friends early Monday evening at the New York Athletic Club, and the driver of the taxi said he answered a call to the clubhouse at 1 a.m. He first drove to a place on Lexington Avenue, as directed, and, after remaining there for a short time, proceeded across the Queensboro Bridge to Long Island City. Later, the party started to return to Manhattan, and, according to Daw, he drove down Second Avenue under the elevated train. On Second Avenue, for a distance of several blocks from Jackson Avenue, there is a sharp incline at the foot of which the accident happened. The driver asserted that he was not driving fast and that he did not see the pillar.
WEBMASTER NOTE: Arthur McAleenan died on May 15, 1920, three days after the crash.
Buried in Arlington National Cemetery, 1 Memorial Drive, Arlington, Virginia; Section 7, Lot 10118-SS. Photo by Jeff DeWitt.
END