ARTHUR G. CAFFEE, LT, USN
Arthur Caffee '04
Lucky Bag
From the 1904 Lucky Bag:
ARTHUR GILL CAFFEE
Carthage, Missouri
"General," "Slits."
One of the cutest little fellows in the battalion. Of a light and sunny disposition and pronounced brunette complexion. Sometimes mistaken for one of the Gold Dust twins. Always ready to do something for somebody else, and corners the jobs which are all work and no play. Bagley supports him because he is such an excellent foil to his own type of beauty. Devised that blissful menu for the class supper that never came off. Never does anything naughty except once in a while.
Chairman Class Supper Committee (3). Chairman Graduation Ball Committee (2). Gym. (3). Star (3). Class Foot-ball team (3, 2). Captain Class Foot-ball team (2). Class Base-ball team (3). Athletic Committee (1). Hop Committee (2, 1). Two Stripes.
ARTHUR GILL CAFFEE
Carthage, Missouri
"General," "Slits."
One of the cutest little fellows in the battalion. Of a light and sunny disposition and pronounced brunette complexion. Sometimes mistaken for one of the Gold Dust twins. Always ready to do something for somebody else, and corners the jobs which are all work and no play. Bagley supports him because he is such an excellent foil to his own type of beauty. Devised that blissful menu for the class supper that never came off. Never does anything naughty except once in a while.
Chairman Class Supper Committee (3). Chairman Graduation Ball Committee (2). Gym. (3). Star (3). Class Foot-ball team (3, 2). Captain Class Foot-ball team (2). Class Base-ball team (3). Athletic Committee (1). Hop Committee (2, 1). Two Stripes.
Loss
Arthur was lost on November 19, 1910, in an accidental explosion while testing 5" guns at Indian Head, Maryland.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
When Arthur was seven years old in July 1894, he was the mascot for the Carthage contingent. He belonged to the Boys Brigade in Carthage of which Captain McMillan was the instructor. He bunked with the company declining an invitation to sleep in the officer's quarters during summer camp.
Arthur married Mayotta Dickerson, daughter of the medical director of the Naval Academy. The marriage took place in Trinity Episcopal Church in Oakland on May 21, 1906. Their daughters were Patty and Elizabeth.
From Arlington National Cemetery:
WASHINGTON, November 19, 1910 – By the premature explosion of a 5-inch, .51 caliber gun at the Indian Head, Maryland, Proving Grounds of the Navy, four men are dead, including Lieutenant Arthur G. Caffee, who was in charge of the gun, and one man, a negro, seriously injured. The breach block of the gun, which was being tested, blew backward into the crew which was firing the gun. The explosion probably was due to a bent or fouled firing pin, which projected beyond the face of the breech plug of the gun.
The dead, in addition to Lieutenant Caffee are:
- J. L. Brown, Battery Foreman, instantly killed.
- Nelson Jackson, colored, Battery Attendant, Fatally injured and died shortly afterward
- J. J. Leary, Ordnance Man, Fatally inured and died at 11:35 a.m.
- Sidney Dyson, colored, A member of the gun crew, was seriously injured.
The Ordnance Bureau has ordered a Board of Inquiry to develop details of the accident, the only witnesses to which, so far as can be learned, were John C. Coleman and Sidney Dyson.
The gun, which was a new one from the Navy Yard Gun Factory and being tested for the first time, had already been fired twice. The accident occurred during the third round just as the breech was being closed.
Lieutenant Arthur Gill Caffee was born in Missouri, and was attached to the staff of Rear Admiral Shroeder, on the Atlantic Fleet Battleship Connecticut before he was assigned to duty at Indian Head as Inspector of Ordnance. He entered the Naval Academy in 1900. The assistants who were killed and injured were all civilians, and lived in the neighborhood of the proving grounds, 40 miles below Washington.
Lieutenant Caffee was a most competent young officer, highly regarded by his brother officers, and had been in charge of the proving of guns at Indian Head since April, because of his abilities in ordnance. He was born at Carthage, Missouri, in 1882, entered the Naval Academy in 1900, graduating in 1904. He served two years on the USS Nebraska, was promoted from Ensign to Lieutenant in April 1909, and was on the USS Connecticut last year as aide to Rear Admiral Schroeder, Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet. Lieutenant Chaffee had his home at Indian Head and when the accident occurred his young wife and little daughter were within sound of the charge by which he lost his life.
Lieutenant Caffee had been on duty at the proving grounds since last April. He resided on the reservation with his wife and one child. His body will probably be interred in the Arlington Military Cemetery.
The Naval Ordnance Bureau has been trying for a long time to find some safety device applicable to guns of this caliber, but so far without success, and if the Gun Captain fails to obey the rule to pass his hand over the face of the breech lock before it is closed to detect any improper projections of the firing pin, then just such an accident as occurred today may happen any time, it is said.
Every precaution ordinarily is taken to protect the firing crews from the failure of the gun under test. It is required that after loading the gun the crew shall retire to a bombproof in its rear and discharge the piece by electricity. The trouble in this case lay in the fact that the gun was discharged before the crew had finished loading it. The brass shell containing the powder and the projectile had been inserted in the piece and the breech box had swung on its hinge.
But before the heavy screw threads had interlocked, the projecting firing pin struck the primer on the head of the shell and exploded the charge which blew backwards, tearing off the breech and killing or fatally wounding the crew.
From Find A Grave:
The name of Arthur Gill Caffee was listed for 6 years as living hero in the record of the Navy Department.
The young Missouri officer just out of the United States Naval Academy disobeyed the commands of his superior officers April 18, 1904 to go to the rescue of 32 officers and men who lost their lives in the explosion in the after turret of the battleship Missouri.
Although the after turret had flooded neck high with the fire hose, Caffee flung insubordination to the winds and plunged himself in the death chamber of his battleship.
He fought about the water in an effort to find some men whom the spark of life still lingered. Caffee was overcome with water and it was necessary to send volunteers to his rescue.
Congress later recognized Caffee's heroism by voting him medals. Caffee's superior officers never preferred charges of insubordination because Caffee risk his life for his fellow men.
Arthur was survived by his wife, their three-year-old daughter, an unborn daughter, his parents, a brother, and father-in-law.
He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery; his headstone reads: "Do not bother with me anymore, Doctor. Look after the others."
Remembrances
From his granddaughter on January 31, 2020:
When he died, he was the father of one daughter, Patty Elana Caffee, and my own mother was in utero, born after his death in Washington, DC. His lovely young widow was Mayotta Dickinson Caffee, and the child she bore after his death was my mother, Betty June Caffee, who of course never knew her father. There were no male children. I would love to be in touch with anyone who is interested in knowing more about my grampa. I know that he is buried at Arlington. His young widow, from a Navy family herself, went abroad after the birth of their second daughter, but returned to the USA when rumblings of WWI could be heard in Germany. They relocated to California where they were surrounded by her family, three brothers and her dear father, naval officers all. My granny was born at Mare Island in San Francisco Bay and she enjoyed saying "I grew up on a battleship."
Letters Home
From The Pittsburg Headlight on January 28, 1909 via Kathy Franz:
(The following are extracts from letters from Ensign Arthur Caffee, formerly of this city, with the American battleship fleet now on its way around the world.)
U.S. S. Nebraska, at sea, en route Manila to Colombo:-We passed through Singapore strait this forenoon, so are now nearly half way to Colombo.
On Monday I was on the entertainment detail. In the afternoon the captain took Laning, Knox, Barker and me up to Manila in one of the ship's steamers.
First we went to the Army and Navy club, where we left our suit cases, and then we went to attend a reception at the Germinal cigar factory.
Elaborate preparations had been made and it was very enjoyable.
This is one of the largest cigar and cigarette establishments in the world. We were taken around and shown every detail of tobacco raising, cultivation, treatment and final process or being made up into the smokables. We saw the boxes put together, and the packages made up until the product was ready to go into the show саses.
A Philippino band, orchestra and choir were in attendance to discourse music in different parts of the buildings.
We had our photographs taken, so I suppose we will be appearing on cigar boxes ere long, with Henry Clay, Robert Mantel, General Arthur and other notables.
A luncheon was served, and when we left were given souvenir boxes of cigars, Manila straw hats and Manila fans.
Seeing Manila
After this function was over, Halsey Barker and I chartered a victoria and went for a drive on the Luneta and listened to the concert given by the Constabulary band. The Luneta presented a brilliant sight, thronged as it was, with people. The illumination was beautiful.The Constabulary band is one ot the best I have ever heard. Everyone in Manila turns out in the evening, and either walks or drives about the Luneta, where one of the military bands plays each day.
We had dinner at the club, where we were joined by Ned Bruce; later on Bagley, Smead, Claud Jones and others of my class appeared so that we had quite a reunion.
After dinner we had to go out to Fort McKinley, where the fleet was given a ball by the army officers stationed in and about Manila. I did not dance and remained only a short time. I went back to town and met Bruce who took me to the St. Andrew's ball. This is given once a year in Manila by the people of Scottish descent.
We did not dance but sat on the side lines and looked on. It was very interesting, most of the dances and costumes were Scottish.
I did not go back to the ship until late, and next morning, Tuesday, we got under way at eight o'clock.
Anderson '03, who has been out here on Admiral Harber's staff, joined us Monday. We have, besides him, two new mess mates-Whitlock '01, and Woodson '05. Anderson goes to the first division, Whitlock to the engine room and Woodson comes to my battery as junior officer.
Starting for Home Celebrated.
Tuesday night Dr. Berryhill gave the mess a long promised dinner. He said, last year, that if the pay bill passed, he would give the mess a dinner. He gave it to welcome our new members and to celebrate our starting for home. The captain was a guest, and we had a few speeches. I toasted the new members.Thursday 10th:-We are now well along on the last leg of this run, and are going across the mouth of the Bay of Bengal.
A Case of Small Pox.
A case of small pox developed on board the Georgia, so last night she left the fleet and proceeded to Columbo at full speed. The case must have been contracted in Manila, and will go to back up the stand the admiral took against allowing the men liberty there. The Manila papers were very bitter in the attacks they made on his restrictions there.We have been having strenuous drills and manoeuvers every day, so that the time is not hanging heavy on our hands.
Men Perishes In Sea.
Night before last the New Jersey lost two men overboard as they were skylarking. One was picked up safely but the other must have been struck by the screw, for no trace of him could be found.During the forenoon today there was a battle between the first squadron and the second. Conditions of actual battle were simulated in detail as far as possible. We spend most of our time cleared for action now-a-days. The results from our recent target practice and from the various manoeuvers on the cruise have upset a great many of the accepted ideas on fleet battle practice and tactics. When one well directed salvo will put a ship hors de combat, an action cannot last long, once the range is obtained, and opposing admirals will be wary of approach. Instead of using the conventional battle range of from four to six thousand yards, this morning we manoeuvered at from eight to twelve thousand.
Anxious to Hear From Home.
Friday 11th:—We have slowed down to eight knots in order that we may not reach Columbo before Sunday. We would like to go in as soon as possible, get our mail, hear some news of the world and have more time to coal and get the ship cleaned up. Our latest mail from home is now more than two months old.This morning we drilled the landing party. It is made up of one company of marines, two companies of blue jackets, a section of artillery, and the usual special details of pioneers, messmen, ammunition party, signal men, etc. I command the second company of bluejackets.
I have been doing a lot of studying lately. My examination for promotion may come at any time after the fleet's return. This time I have four more subjects, tactics and strategy, electrical engineering, military and international law. To these are added the old stand-bys, engines, boilers, ordnance, navigation and seamanship.
A Dally "Work-Out."
About all the ward-room and junior officers have adopted a scheme whereby we hope to keep in physical trim for the "fifty mile walk."An hour before dinner, a net is spread on the quarter deck, and then we play baseball, pass around the "medicine ball" and top of with a mile run. We have been doing this for over a week and all hands feel much benefitted already. We intend to keep it up until we arrive at Hampton Roads.
Tuesday the 15th:—We arrived off Columbo Sunday morning. The ships were then taken inside the breakwater by pilots one at a time and moored to buoys, bow and stern. There are forty-three berths inside the breakwater and at present, eighteen are occupied by the vessels of this fleet and auxillaries.
On arrival here I completed 29,554 miles of travel since the first of the year. We found the Georgia already coaling. We began coaling early yesterday morning and finished at half past four o'clock this morning.
Plenty Doing at Columbo.
There is a program of balls, dinners, etc. laid out each day during our stay here. Each day a party of officers and men is taken by rail to Kandy, about seventy miles inland, I hope to go on Thursday. So far I've not been ashore, but those who have are very enthusiastic over the place.
We were made very happy upon arrival by the receipt of mail from home up to the middle of November.
Our last few days at sea were marked only by a continuance of the delightful calm, cool, weather we have had since leaving Manila. It was the most enjoyable of any portion of the cruise, so far.
I have not read anything for an age, and as for bridge or other games, we never have time for them.
We are rejoicing over the fact that two more coalings, one at Port Said and one at Negro Bay, will put us in home waters.
Will Try to See Cairo.
While we are at Suez or Port Said I am going to try to get leave for couple of days to go up to Cairo. It is a trip of only a few hours and it may be a long time before I have another such opportunity.It is 1:10 a.m. and several of the ships are hard at it getting their coal aboard. I can hear the creaking of the winches and gear as I write.
There Is an immense long breakwater here, but it is not enough to break completely the force of the big swells that come rolling in from the Indian Ocean. We have as much motion as we lie inside here as the old Boston had lying off Santa Barbara.
From the Carthage Evening Press, Missouri, on February 2, 1909:
No letters which the PRESS has printed in recent years have been read with more interest than those of Ensign Arthur Caffee of the battleship “Nebraska,” telling of the war fleet’s journey around the world. The last letter, just received from the young man by his father, Col. W. K. Caffee, is perhaps the most interesting yet received. It follows:
U. S. Nebraska, en route
Port Said to Marseilles,
Jan. 11, 1909.I can now say that I have been around the world for we are to the westward of Greece.
We coaled Friday and all Friday night and left Port Said early Saturday morning. Saturday and Sunday were cool and pleasant with a smooth sea, but today it has been blowing big guns and we are pounding into quite a heavy sea.
We cannot complain, however, as since our trip to Japan, we have been remarkably fortunate in the weather we have had at sea.
Everyone is speculating as to what kind of luck we will have in crossing the Atlantic in February.
Fleet Reaches Suez.
The fleet anchored off Suez at 8 o’clock the morning of the 3rd. A little later mail was brought aboard.With a party of officers I left the ship at 11 o’clock. We landed at Port Ibraham, there took the steam tram up to Suez about 5 miles distant. Three of us chartered a carriage and took a drive about Suez. We found it very uninteresting. Suez, on the Red Sea end of the canal and Port Said on the Mediterranean end are not very old and owe their maintenance entirely to the traffic that passes. They are popularly referred to as being “the jumping off places of civilization.”
The streets are narrow and ill kept, they are lined with cheap little shops, or booths, where everything under the sun may be had. The houses are built of light frame work, covered over with a plaster of yellow clay.
Except for a few date palms there is absolutely no vegetation, nothing green for miles and miles around. Everything has the appearance of being sun-baked. There is a fresh water canal that leads from the Nile.
Seeing Cairo.
We took luncheon at Suez, and then took the 2:30 train for Cairo. As far as Ismaila, the train follows the track of the Suez canal. Ships passing through had a weird appearance, where we could not see the water they looked just as if they were steaming right through the sands of the desert.We arrived at Cairo at 8 o’clock and went to Shepheard’s hotel where we put up. A big crowd of navy people was there. After dinner Laining, Carter, Barber and I took a carriage and a guide for a drive around the city. It was cold enough to make our overcoats comfortable. In the old part of the town we visited the market place and several café chantants and music halls. These places were patronized almost exclusively by men, one sees comparatively few native women in Cairo, and they are usually closely veiled.
Egyptian Music.
The places we visited were all much alike. A native orchestra was placed on the elevated stage, the leader, usually a very stout women (in Egypt the more corpulent a woman is, the more beautiful she is considered) decked in gorgeous silks and glittering with jewels and gold and silver ornaments, sat on a sort of throne in the centre. She chanted in a mournful sort of fashion the air, if air it could be called, and was accompanied by the orchestra playing various stringed instruments, drums and tambourines. In the specially thrilling parts the orchestra would join in vocally.From our guide we gathered the songs were legends of love and mythical deeds set to a kind of music. Whatever the were, they made a strong appeal to the people, for they always cheered and applauded with enthusiasm. Wewe could not appreciate the music, however, any more than we could understand the words. There seemed to be no rhythm and there was absolutely no tune to it. The dancing was interesting; there were Turkish, Algerian, Arabian, and Egyptian dancers. The dancing was more or less of a calisthenic sort, taken to reduce flesh, one would imagine.
The men in the audience were an interesting lot to watch. I think every type of Europe, Asia and Africa was represented. Most of them wore the red fez. They sat at little tables, smoking and drink coffee and beer.
Trip to the Pyramids.
Next morning we made an early start for the pyramids. We had a carriage and guide. The drive across the Nile and out the avenue is beautiful. This drive was made by the khedive at the time of the opening of the Suez canal in order that the Empress Eugenie might visit the pyramids without discomfort. The shell road is smooth and is lined all the way on each side with large locust trees.When we arrived at the pyramids we found quite a crowd of officers and men from the fleet already there. We decided we’d go to the top of the great pyramid, so our guide engaged three natives for each of us. The steps are from three to four feet high and the pyramid is over 450 feet tall, so it is somewhat of a climb.
Two of the men pulled and the other pushed from behind. I thought of the series of books I read as a child. “Walter in Egypt” etc. His account of the pyramid climb was a good one. We found that our daily mile runs on the quarter deck had got us in pretty good condition so that we were able to reach the top with considerable less distress than most. There is a flat space at the summit about thirty feet square. We had a splendid view of the desert, the Nile, and the city of Cairo. While up there we were served with Egyptian coffee. The trip down was almost as hard as the trip up. We went inside the pyramid, but I couldn’t be hired to do so again. It is entered by a long, low, inclined tunnel and everything inside was close, foul, and slimy. Guides lighted the way with candles. We saw the tombs of the kings and queens, but most of the articles of interest found in the pyramids have been removed to the museum.
Across the Sands to the Sphynx.
We next hired some camels to take us across the sands to see the sphynx and the temple of the sphynxs.We returned to Cairo in the afternoon, and drove over to the citadel and visited the mosque of Mehemit Ali. It is beautiful, entirely built of alabaster. Later we saw the “Well of Joseph” and the tombs of the mamelukes.
Trip Through the Canal.
We were summoned back to the ship next morning. We reached Suez the evening of the 5th, and early next morning started through the canal. The Georgia led the way, then the Nebraska, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Kearsarge. Each ship had a canal pilot, and the distance between ships was about a mile.We steamed at slow speed, five to seven knots in order that the wash from the ships would not tear away the embankment. The canal is very narrow, so our ships required very careful steering and handling. On each side at intervals of about seventy-five feet, are heavy piles driven. Ships that run aground can make fast hawsers to these piles to assist them in hauling off. In the forenoon I went up to the foremast head and from there had a splendid view of the canal and the surrounding country. The canal is about ninety miles long. The dredgers are kept at work all the time because the loose sand from the desert blows in about as fast as they can dig it out. The canal company, probably, did not object to our passing through. It cost over $8,000 for the toll of our ship alone. At about 1 p.m. the Georgia ahead made signal that she was aground. The ships astern immediately stopped, lowered boats, and ran lines to the piles and so moored in the channel until the Georgia worked herself off, which she did about an hour later. We anchored in Port Said at 1:40 p.m.
There were more ships to coal than the man with the contract could handle so we did not get through until 4 a.m. Saturday. These delightful all-night coalings of the fleet on this cruise are enjoyable features that are not usually mentioned in the program of entertainment.
In the Mediterranean.
January 14th: We put to sea Saturday morning. The most direct course to Marseilles would have taken us through the Straits of Messina, but on account of the recent earthquake the captain decided to go to the southward of Sicily. During the summer of ’04 I passed through that strait on the Missouri.We had fair, pleasant weather until Sunday night. Since then we have been bucking against heavy winds and seas. Tuesday night and Wednesday we coasted along the southern and western shores of Sicily. Early this morning we sighted the east coast of Sardinia. We intended to pass through Banifacio channel between the northern end of Sardinia and the southern end of Corsica, but found the sea so heavy as to render the narrow channel dangerous, so we are going around the north of Corsica.
We sighted the islands of Capri, Monte Cristo, and Elba today. Also we saw snow for the first time. The mountain tops of Corsica and Sardinia were white.
Changes in Climate Many.
We hope to get into port tomorrow night, everyone is tired from the pitching and tossing about, and we are not yet hardened to the cold. There are a great many cases of bad colds and la grippe on board. That is one bad thing about the cruise; a man cannot get himself adjusted to so many different kinds of climates in such a short time.Loving Cup for the Japs.
There is a movement on foot for the officers and men of the Atlantic fleet to give a loving cup to the officers and men of the Japanese navy that entertained us so royally. I have been ordered to attend to the subscription on this ship, and, so far, the fund I’ve collected amounts to over $200. If the other ships do as well there’ll be a pretty big cup.In French Waters.
January 15th: We moored inside the breakwater here at Marseilles about 1 o’clock this afternoon. We were made happy by getting mail from home up to January 3.We hear that we may have to go to Tangier for a short visit to show the flag. Some of our officers have already gone on leave. Half are allowed six days leave at a time. I guess all will head for Paris.
When we passed the Chateau d’ If in the outer harbor of Marseilles I thought of Edmond Dantes. This morning we passed close by Toulon. The only evidence we had of naval activity was, however, one lone torpedo boat steaming along the coast.
Only thirty seven more days; you know how we are counting the hours.
Other
Arthur was aboard USS Boston when that ship provided aid to San Francisco following the earthquake there.
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 1905
July 1906
July 1907
January 1908
January 1909
January 1910
Memorial
Joseph's classmates erected a plaque in his honor in Memorial Hall.
Arthur is one of 2 members of the Class of 1904 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
