CLARENCE ENGLAND, LT, USN
Clarence England '94
Lucky Bag
From the 1894 Lucky Bag:
England, Clarence
Little Rock, Arkansas
June Ball Com. Class base-ball nine. Class foot-ball team. Class Supper Com. Led german second class summer. Led german first class year. Buzzard.
England, Clarence
Little Rock, Arkansas
June Ball Com. Class base-ball nine. Class foot-ball team. Class Supper Com. Led german second class summer. Led german first class year. Buzzard.
Photographs
Photo scanned and provided by Jennifer Bryan, Ph.D., Head of Special Collections & Archives/Archivist at the Naval Academy's Nimitz Library
From The Carlisle Independent on August 2, 1906
Loss
Clarence was lost on July 28, 1906 when he was struck by a bullet while on the bridge of USS Chattanooga (Cruiser No. 16) in the port of Chefoo, China. The bullet had been fired from a French cruiser in the port while conducting small arms practice.
He was navigator of Chattanooga; the ship was leaving harbor at the time.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Clarence attended the Scott Street High School in Little Rock and then the Christian Brothers' College in St. Louis.
He received his appointment to the Naval Academy from the Hon. Clifton R. Breckinridge, member of Congress from Arkansas.
After four years at the Naval Academy, Clarence was on the San Francisco stationed in Colon. He then was on the Marblehead in the European station. At the opening of the Kiel canal in 1895, he was an ensign aboard the New York.
In September 1899, Clarence received torpedo instruction in Newport, Rhode Island.
From the Daily Arkansas Gazette, December 10, 1903:
Washington, Dec. 9. -- The navy department today made public a report from Lieutenant Clarence England, commanding the U. S. S. Peoria, which had in tow the two submarine torpedo boats Adder and Moccasin, which recently went adrift off Cape Henry. The report gives a detailed official account of what already has been told in the Associated Press dispatches. Regarding the exploit of Boatswain Deery, who volunteered to swim to the Adder and carry a line, the lieutenant says:
“In spite of the heavy sea, wind and intense cold, by his heroic efforts he was able to reach the Adder, and although the submarine boat was rolling heavily and seas constantly dashing over, he climbed up the side and after great efforts made fast a line from the Peoria to the tow line between the submarines.
“During all this time,” says Lieutenant England, “Boatswain Deery was in constant danger of being washed overboard and crushed between the two submarines, but he never faltered in his work, and only left the Adder when his work was accomplished. When finally hauled on board he was completely exhausted.”
In his endorsement transmitting the report to the department, Admiral Harrington refers to the “extraordinary heroism and self-sacrifice” of Deery, and suggests proper recognition.
Clarence’s father Joseph was in real estate.
He was survived by his parents and is buried in Arkansas.
Note
"Taken in Fall, 1893, this the class of 1894's football team, after they had won inter-class football championship at the US Naval Academy. Clarence England is center row, far left, in the white sweater."
The photo above is in the biography of Admiral Joseph Reeves, with this caption:
Footballers of '94
This picture is historic for several reasons. It shows the intra-mural football team of the class of 1894, although five of the men were varsity football stars, too. The Captain, J.M. Reeves, holding the ball wears the first football helmet ever used in a game. It was made for and worn by Reeves in the encounter from which the team pictured here had just emerged victorious, but not without a few scars. The chap sitting in front center is the American novelist Winston Churchill. Top Row, L-R: Roscoe Spear, Charles Webster, R.C. Moody, Frank Lyon Middle Row: Clarence England, Leland James, J.M. Reeves, A.G. Cavanagh, G.E. Gelm Front Row: W. Pitt Scott, Winston Churchill, C.S. Bookwalter.
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.
July 1894
January 1895
January 1896
January 1897
January 1898
January 1899
January 1900
January 1901
January 1902
January 1903
January 1904
January 1905
July 1906
Memorial
Clarence's classmates erected a plaque in his honor in Memorial Hall. It reads in part, "A life characterized by zeal and unselfishness, he met his death at his post of duty."
Clarence is one of 2 members of the Class of 1894 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.
