ARTHUR E. LOESER, LCDR, USN
Arthur Loeser '27
Lucky Bag
From the 1927 Lucky Bag:
Arthur Edward Loeser
Rochester, New York
"Art" "Kid"
YOU will always find Art near the water. First it was the Atlantic near Railway, New Jersey, where he was born, and Jersey City, whose schools gave his keen mind its first training. Later it was Lake Ontario, where for two years he attended Rochester College, playing hard at football, track and his favorite, swimming. Art doesn't know what an idle moment is; outside of those long study hours his time and energies have been devoted to football, lacrosse, and his water sports, swimming, water polo, and crew.
When it comes to women, Art says that they are entirely out of the picture, and yet when the Superintendent gave the "A" squad their annual reception Art had the fairest little lady present. He also wields a wicked banjo and his reputation of being a "player" at beach parties followed him even as far south as Crabtown.
What his heart thinks his tongue speaks, and when once he sets his mind on anything he carries it through with a great zest. At this transit from learning to doing we see a four-square man ever giving his all to each phase and problem of life that confronts him, and always willing to take his share of the load. Life has given no more to Art than you or me—perhaps less—but his indomitable spirit and tireless efforts in striving to attain ideals have brought him to the top in studies, in athletics, and into the hearts of those who know him.
Football: A Squad (3) B Squad (2) Navy Numerals (3) Class Numerals (2); Swimming: A Squad (3, 1) Plebe Team Navy Numerals (4, 3); Soccer: Class (4) Class Numerals (4); Water Polo: A Squad (3) Navy Numerals (3); Mandolin Club (3, 2, 1); Star (4, 3).
Arthur Edward Loeser
Rochester, New York
"Art" "Kid"
YOU will always find Art near the water. First it was the Atlantic near Railway, New Jersey, where he was born, and Jersey City, whose schools gave his keen mind its first training. Later it was Lake Ontario, where for two years he attended Rochester College, playing hard at football, track and his favorite, swimming. Art doesn't know what an idle moment is; outside of those long study hours his time and energies have been devoted to football, lacrosse, and his water sports, swimming, water polo, and crew.
When it comes to women, Art says that they are entirely out of the picture, and yet when the Superintendent gave the "A" squad their annual reception Art had the fairest little lady present. He also wields a wicked banjo and his reputation of being a "player" at beach parties followed him even as far south as Crabtown.
What his heart thinks his tongue speaks, and when once he sets his mind on anything he carries it through with a great zest. At this transit from learning to doing we see a four-square man ever giving his all to each phase and problem of life that confronts him, and always willing to take his share of the load. Life has given no more to Art than you or me—perhaps less—but his indomitable spirit and tireless efforts in striving to attain ideals have brought him to the top in studies, in athletics, and into the hearts of those who know him.
Football: A Squad (3) B Squad (2) Navy Numerals (3) Class Numerals (2); Swimming: A Squad (3, 1) Plebe Team Navy Numerals (4, 3); Soccer: Class (4) Class Numerals (4); Water Polo: A Squad (3) Navy Numerals (3); Mandolin Club (3, 2, 1); Star (4, 3).
Loss
Arthur was lost when USS Atlanta (CL 51) was destroyed on November 13, 1942 during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. The ship was scuttled following damage from Japanese torpedoes and gunfire from USS San Francisco (CA 38).
Other Information
From Wikipedia:
Arthur Edward Loeser (born 17 April 1903 in Rahway, New Jersey); appointed to the United States Naval Academy on 15 August 1923; and commissioned ensign on 2 June 1927.
After serving from 1927–29 in the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3), from 1929–32 in the destroyer Hopkins (DD-249), in the cruiser Rochester (CA-2) in 1932, in the gunboat Asheville (PG-21) in 1933, and in Chicago (CA-29) in 1934, Loeser completed two years of postgraduate work at the Naval Academy. Two years in the battleship Mississippi (BB-41) were followed by two in Sampson (DD-394) as engineering officer. From June 1940 to August 1941 he served with Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Bath, Maine.
On 2 September 1941 Lieutenant Commander Loeser reported aboard light cruiser Atlanta (CL-51) as engineering officer. Lieutenant Commander Loeser was killed in action on 13 November 1942 when enemy torpedoes crippled Atlanta in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Arthur graduated from East High school in 1918. He was on the swim and track teams and played right halfback on the soccer team. Class Prophecy: won the world’s diving contest. In his summers, he was a lifeguard at Seneca Park.
At the University of Rochester, he was a member of Delta Upsilon and played left tackle on the football team.
Arthur, who never married, was a member of the Elks and a sojourner of the Masonic Lodge. His father Oscar was a foreman at Bausch and Lomb Optical Company. His mother was Florence, and his sister was Bertha. His brothers were Oscar, an aeronautical engineer at Lakehurst, and Edward, an attorney.
From the Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York, June 9, 1927 via researcher Kathy Franz:
The men who can say, “We’re in the navy now,” are the happiest and luckiest in the world, in the opinion of Ensign Arthur E. Loeser, who paid a flying visit yesterday to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Oscar E. Loeser . . .
Ensign Loeser was the first Rochester boy appointed to Annapolis by Representative Meyer Jacobstein. . . . [he] hopes to go into the navy air service after taking two years of post graduate work in aeronautical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“It’s a hard life, but an interesting one,” he said yesterday, as he lounged luxuriously in civilian clothes for almost the first time in four years. “There are no worries over where next year’s tuition is coming from, and we see most of the world on our summer cruises.
“After the summer course in aviation, which all graduates are required to take, I expect to return to Rochester for five weeks leave, the first long vacation I’ve had since I entered Annapolis. Then I report to Philadelphia for a cruise to Australia on the U. S. S. Saratoga, the new aircraft carrier that is one of the most powerful ships in the fleet.”
Despite an illness of six months in his last year at the naval academy, Ensign Loeser was commissioned the seventy first man in his class with an average of 83 for his four years work. Up to the time he was taken ill last year, he had one of the best averages in his class, but his chances for a Phi Beta Kappa standing were spoiled by the six months he spent in the naval hospital.
The former swimming and diving champion of Rochester and a member of the football, track, and swimming teams of the University of Rochester, where he studied for two years before entering Annapolis, Ensign Loeser was prominent in various forms of athletics at the academy. He played water polo, football, and lacrosse, was one of the star swimmers, and a member of the Mandolin Club. All these activities were cut short by his illness, however, which was partly the result of an injury received in playing football.
His wife was listed as next of kin.
His memorial is at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Philippines.
Remembrances
From Atlanta's Ordeal:
Especially concerned with his crew of engineers who were sealed below decks in the firerooms and engine rooms, Atlanta’s chief engineer, LCdr Arthur Loeser, had arranged for topside talkers to keep him abreast of what was going on outside while he relayed a running commentary via loudspeakers from his station in the forward engine room. Thus, the engineering staff throughout the cruiser was listening as Lieutenant Commander Loeser described the first seconds of the gunnery exchange—"We’re really putting rounds into them!"
…
The vanguard Japanese destroyer captains, drilled to perfection in their navy’s highly aggressive torpedo tactics, exploited their initial immediate advantage and supplemented the gunfire with several salvos of their deadly 24-inch Long Lance torpedoes.
Crewmen in blind engineering spaces throughout the ship heard LCdr Arthur Loeser’s mike open once again. Loeser said, "Ah . . ." and the entire world fell in. Loeser’s voice was stilled in mid sentence—and forever.
The first Japanese torpedo to find any target struck Atlanta on the port side, nearly amidships and exactly in the center of her forward engine room. In addition to killing virtually everyone on the forward engine room, the detonation blasted a hole in the overhead and killed nearly everyone manning a damage-control station in the crew’s mess. The shock of the massive detonation lifted the light cruiser right out of the water.
Photographs
From his high school yearbook, 1918
From his 1923 University of Rochester photo, in the Democrat and Chronicle on June 17, 1923
From the Democrat and Chronicle on June 8, 1934
Namesake
USS Loeser (DE 680) was named for Arthur; the ship was sponsored by his widow.
The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.
The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.
The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.
January 1928
April 1928
July 1928
October 1928
January 1929
April 1929
LT LaRue Lawbaugh '20
LT James Carney '21
LT Francis Bridget '21
LT John Jones '21
LTjg William Davis '22
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24
LTjg Hubert Waters '25
LTjg Creighton Lankford '25
July 1929
LT LaRue Lawbaugh '20
LT James Carney '21
LT John Jones '21
LTjg William Davis '22
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24
LTjg Walter Dey '24
LTjg Hubert Waters '25
October 1929
January 1930
April 1930
October 1930
January 1931
April 1931
July 1931
October 1931
January 1932
April 1932
October 1932
January 1933
April 1933
July 1933
October 1933
April 1934
LTjg Oliver White '30 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 10S)
July 1934
LCDR Albert Rooks '14
LCDR Charles Cecil '16
LT Paul Register '21
LT William Gray '21
LT George Brooke '21
LT Howard Healy '22
LT Edward Metcalfe '22
LT Eugene Elmore '22
1LT Charles Kail '23
LTjg William Graham, Jr. '25
October 1934
LCDR Albert Rooks '14
LCDR Charles Cecil '16
LT Paul Register '21
LT William Gray '21
LT George Brooke '21
LT John French '22
LT Howard Healy '22
LT Edward Metcalfe '22
LT Eugene Elmore '22
January 1935
LCDR Albert Rooks '14
LCDR Charles Cecil '16
LT Paul Register '21
LT William Gray '21
LT George Brooke '21
LT John French '22
LT Howard Healy '22
LT Edward Metcalfe '22
LT Eugene Elmore '22
April 1935
LCDR Albert Rooks '14
LCDR Charles Cecil '16
LT Paul Register '21
LT William Gray '21
LT George Brooke '21
LT John French '22
LT Howard Healy '22
LT Edward Metcalfe '22
LT Eugene Elmore '22
LTjg Heywood Edwards '26
October 1935
CDR Samuel Moore '13
LT William Gray '21
LT John French '22
LT Howard Healy '22
LT Edward Metcalfe '22
LT Eugene Elmore '22
LT Richard Gingras '25
LTjg Ralph Hickox '27
January 1936
CDR Samuel Moore '13
LT William Gray '21
LT John French '22
LT Howard Healy '22
LT Edward Metcalfe '22
LT Eugene Elmore '22
LT Richard Gingras '25
LTjg Ralph Hickox '27
April 1936
CDR Samuel Moore '13
LT William Gray '21
LT John French '22
LT Howard Healy '22
LT Edward Metcalfe '22
LT Eugene Elmore '22
LT Richard Gingras '25
LTjg Ralph Hickox '27
July 1936
January 1937
April 1937
September 1937
January 1938
July 1938
January 1939
October 1939
June 1940
November 1940
April 1941
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
