The Navy Cross was instituted in part due to the entrance of the United States into World War I . Many European nations had the custom of decorating heroes from other nations , but the Medal of Honor was the sole U.S. award for valor at the time . The Army instituted the Distinguished Service Cross and Distinguished Service Medal in 1918 , while the Navy followed suit in 1919 , retroactive to 6 April 1917 . Originally , the Navy Cross was lower in precedence than the Medal of Honor and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal , because it was awarded for both combat heroism and for " other distinguished service . " Congress revised this on 7 August 1942 , making the Navy Cross a combat-only decoration that follows the Medal of Honor in order of precedence . Since the medal was established , it has been awarded more than 6,300 times . It was designed by James Earle Fraser . Since the 11 September attacks the Navy Cross has been awarded 47 times , with two of them having the name of the recipient held in secret . One of those secret awardings was due to actions during the 2012 Benghazi attack
2012 Benghazi attack
2012 Benghazi attack
Navy Cross