CLYDE C. ELMES, JR., ENS, USN

Clyde Elmes, Jr. '41

Date of birth: March 8, 1918

Date of death: June 6, 1942

Age: 24

Lucky Bag

From the 1941 Lucky Bag:

CLYDE COLLAMORE ELMES, JR.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Only a few of his classmates would recognize the rather impressive name, Clyde Collamore Elmes, Jr., because he is known to almost everyone as "Joe." As the story goes, the title "Joe" dates back to the time when "Joe Bush" was the mighty Philadelphia pitching star and C. C.'s particular idol during his baseball-minded days. Since then his interest has shifted to boxing, crew, and —uh—canoes on Spa Creek.

Joe spent all his pre-Navy days in and around Philadelphia and is never quite in his element until he is back among the bright lights. He is a confirmed "big-city" man, but none the less, regards his country friends from the South with a benevolent tolerance that reflects his Yankee broadmindedness. Smooth, bland, and affable, entirely urban, he wears clothes well and smokes a pipe with distinction.

But under his debonair finish Joe hides an enthusiastic appreciation of the joys of life; he is particularly fond of music and dancing.

Crew 4, 3, 2; Battalion Boxing 4; Movie Gang 3, 2, 1; Reception Committee 2, 1.

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

CLYDE COLLAMORE ELMES, JR.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Only a few of his classmates would recognize the rather impressive name, Clyde Collamore Elmes, Jr., because he is known to almost everyone as "Joe." As the story goes, the title "Joe" dates back to the time when "Joe Bush" was the mighty Philadelphia pitching star and C. C.'s particular idol during his baseball-minded days. Since then his interest has shifted to boxing, crew, and —uh—canoes on Spa Creek.

Joe spent all his pre-Navy days in and around Philadelphia and is never quite in his element until he is back among the bright lights. He is a confirmed "big-city" man, but none the less, regards his country friends from the South with a benevolent tolerance that reflects his Yankee broadmindedness. Smooth, bland, and affable, entirely urban, he wears clothes well and smokes a pipe with distinction.

But under his debonair finish Joe hides an enthusiastic appreciation of the joys of life; he is particularly fond of music and dancing.

Crew 4, 3, 2; Battalion Boxing 4; Movie Gang 3, 2, 1; Reception Committee 2, 1.

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

Loss

Clyde was lost when USS Hammann (DD 412) was sunk by a Japanese submarine on June 6, 1942 in the Battle of Midway.

He was engaged to be married to Jamie Redwood of Mobile, Alabama; they had met when she was a student at Mary Washington College.

Clyde has a memory marker in Arlington National Cemetery; his father was listed as next of kin. He was also survived by three half-siblings: Badgley A. Elmes, Carl Elmes, and Elizabeth (Betsy) Elmes McIntyre. (Information on next of kin, and link to Wall Street Journal article on Clyde's fiancée, from his nephew Michael Elmes.)

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.