CLAIRE C. POOLE, LT, USN

Claire Poole '41

Date of birth: January 1, 1918

Date of death: September 17, 1943

Age: 25

Lucky Bag

From the 1941 Lucky Bag:

CLAIRE CORNWELL POOLE

Bennett, Colorado

He can tell you all about ranches and cows, but that's not all he knows. Play a game of bridge with him, talk to him, just be with him, and you realize how varied his interests are. You might have to study him for months at a time for he is hard to fathom but sooner or later you realize what kind of a fellow this Salty is. Aside from his capabilities as a student of technology (not literature), he enjoys life and sees the responsibilities as well as privileges that friendship has to offer. He is easy to please, loves to read the latest Cosmo, but is not what one might call a prom trotter. He gets his exercise on his bunk, in the gym, and in Mr. Ortland's class for beginners where he stars. He has swept out the room for three years (a record for any midshipman) and has done everything else to make life pleasant for others. Studies are a secondary issue with Clarabelle—he was never meant to be a cutthroat; it isn't in him.

He just rocks along with the breeze, leading a life of ease.

The Class of 1941 was the first of the wartime-accelerated classes, graduating in February 1941.

CLAIRE CORNWELL POOLE

Bennett, Colorado

He can tell you all about ranches and cows, but that's not all he knows. Play a game of bridge with him, talk to him, just be with him, and you realize how varied his interests are. You might have to study him for months at a time for he is hard to fathom but sooner or later you realize what kind of a fellow this Salty is. Aside from his capabilities as a student of technology (not literature), he enjoys life and sees the responsibilities as well as privileges that friendship has to offer. He is easy to please, loves to read the latest Cosmo, but is not what one might call a prom trotter. He gets his exercise on his bunk, in the gym, and in Mr. Ortland's class for beginners where he stars. He has swept out the room for three years (a record for any midshipman) and has done everything else to make life pleasant for others. Studies are a secondary issue with Clarabelle—he was never meant to be a cutthroat; it isn't in him.

He just rocks along with the breeze, leading a life of ease.

The Class of 1941 was the first of the wartime-accelerated classes, graduating in February 1941.

Loss

Claire was lost when USS Pompano (SS 181) was sunk, likely on September 17, 1943.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Claire was born in Minnesota. He married Ruth Anthony in August 1942.
His father Glen was a garage mechanic, mother Fannie was a grade school teacher, and his brothers were William, Lee and James.

Claire is listed at the Courts of the Missing in Hawaii. His wife was listed as next of kin. She later remarried another Naval Academy graduate.

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.