CHARLES J. SKELLY, LTJG, USN

Charles Skelly '27

Date of birth: April 3, 1905

Date of death: May 21, 1935

Age: 30

Lucky Bag

From the 1927 Lucky Bag:

Charles Joseph Skelly

San Francisco, California

"Charlie" "Speed" "Harl"

CHARLIE takes charge! Yes, he unceremoniously assumes responsibility with such calm demeanor and confidence that we are more than pleased to place matters in his hands.

Looking backward a few years one finds Charlie in San Francisco, his home-town and birthplace, as an ambitious scholar and athlete at Saint Ignatius High School. Those who are inclined to doubt the "ambitious" part of it would be convinced by a glance at the cup and numerous medals nestled away in the Skelly home.

One bright Saturday noon during Youngster year while the Commandant and his staff were minutely inspecting "all hands" they chanced to come upon Charles Joseph. The Commandant stopped, as did also his staff, and all eyes were turned upon the uncomfortable youngster.

"Your name?" queried the Commandant. "Skelly, sir!"

"That is a very fine posture you have, Mr. Skelly, keep it up and you will have five stripes some day!"

With each succeeding year the grade was safely made, as perseverance coupled with determination are a hard combination to beat. Perhaps that is why he was so hard to pass on the cinder track, why he made good at everything he undertook here and why he is so well liked and respected.

Track: A Squad (4, 3) Navy Numerals (4, 3).

Charles Joseph Skelly

San Francisco, California

"Charlie" "Speed" "Harl"

CHARLIE takes charge! Yes, he unceremoniously assumes responsibility with such calm demeanor and confidence that we are more than pleased to place matters in his hands.

Looking backward a few years one finds Charlie in San Francisco, his home-town and birthplace, as an ambitious scholar and athlete at Saint Ignatius High School. Those who are inclined to doubt the "ambitious" part of it would be convinced by a glance at the cup and numerous medals nestled away in the Skelly home.

One bright Saturday noon during Youngster year while the Commandant and his staff were minutely inspecting "all hands" they chanced to come upon Charles Joseph. The Commandant stopped, as did also his staff, and all eyes were turned upon the uncomfortable youngster.

"Your name?" queried the Commandant. "Skelly, sir!"

"That is a very fine posture you have, Mr. Skelly, keep it up and you will have five stripes some day!"

With each succeeding year the grade was safely made, as perseverance coupled with determination are a hard combination to beat. Perhaps that is why he was so hard to pass on the cinder track, why he made good at everything he undertook here and why he is so well liked and respected.

Track: A Squad (4, 3) Navy Numerals (4, 3).

Loss

From Find A Grave:

Lt. (Junior Grade) C. J. Skelly, USN, was designated Naval Aviator #3704 in 1930. Graduated U.S. Naval Academy, Class of 1927.
LTJG Skelly, along with the other five crewmembers of their seaplane, died when it crashed near Midway Is. in the Pacific during fleet exercises.
Despite a massive search effort, no bodies were ever recovered. LTJG Skelly left a widow, Miriam, and three young children.

He was a member of Patrol Squadron (VP) 6F, based at Pearl Harbor.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

On September 22, 1928, Charles married Miriam Glanville in the Star of the Sea Church at Bremerton, Washington. His classmate, Ensign Emmett J. Sullivan, was his best man. Charles and Miriam had three children, Charles, Jean and Robert.
Charles was in VP6 squadron at Ford Island. Five minutes before he was to take off on May 9, 1935, he dashed back into the hangar and scribbled a short note to his father. He urged a shipmate to be sure it would be mailed. He flew as navigator on 6P1, but at Midway, he was transferred to the fatal ship 6P7. Charles’ family was living in Honolulu and travelled home on the S. S. Lurline on May 25, 1935.
His father Charles was a police captain. He was also secretary of the San Francisco police and beverage commissions during the prohibition years. Charles’ mother was Loretta, brother Albert and sister Jean (Mrs. William Edwards.)
Charles’ widow married Robert Marlowe, a commandant at a boy’s school in San Mateo, California. Charles’ son was born in Maryland in 1929 and died in 2013.

Photographs

From the Honolulu Star Bulletin on May 23, 1935
From The San Francisco Examiner on May 24, 1935

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

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.