Howard Walter Gilmore (September 29, 1902 – February 7, 1943) was a submarine commander in the United States Navy who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his self-sacrifice during World War II.

During his first, on 5 July 1942 Growler attacked three enemy destroyers off Kiska, sinking one and severely damaging the other two, while narrowly avoiding two torpedoes fired in return, for which Gilmore received the Navy Cross.

[4] The submarine continued to take a heavy toll on shipping on its fourth war patrol, and during the night of 6–7 February 1943, it approached a convoy stealthily for a surface attack.

Perhaps inadvertently, Growler hit the Japanese adversary amidships at 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph), heeling the submarine 50 degrees, bending 18 feet (5.5 m) of its bow sideways to port, and disabling the forward torpedo tubes.

Simultaneously, the Japanese crew began a burst of machine gun fire at Growler's bridge, killing the junior officer of the deck and a lookout,[5] while wounding Gilmore himself and two other men.

As the rest of the bridge party dropped down the hatch into the conning tower, the executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Arnold Schade — shaken by the impact and dazed by his own fall into the control room — waited expectantly for his captain to appear.

For sacrificing himself to save his ship, Commander Howard Gilmore was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, "the second man of the submarine force to be so decorated.

Gilmore daringly maneuvered to avoid the crash and rammed the attacker instead, ripping into her port side at 11 knots and bursting wide her plates.

The Growler dived; seriously damaged but under control, she was brought safely to port by her well-trained crew inspired by the courageous fighting spirit of their dead captain.