FRANK R. KING, CDR, USN

Frank King '07

Date of birth: October 15, 1884

Date of death: July 12, 1919

Age: 34

Lucky Bag

From the 1907 Lucky Bag:

FRANK RAGAN KING

Scottsboro, Alabama

"Reagan," "Bats"

Quiet as he is, on the face of him, once get Reagan started, and you will find he will argue until long after you have fallen asleep in his face. An unobtrusive savoir who should have been one of the 87, but wasn't, owing to his fondness for non-reg. things. Loved the plebes, not wisely, but alas! too well. Spent his First Class cruise on the good ship Arkansas, because he did not want to go ashore—not for Humphrey's Specific reasons, however. Quit smoking Second Class year, for his health, but has taken it up again, and now has the Bull occasionally. A firm believer in Morpheus at any hour of the day or night. "By Golly!"

Buzzard (1).

FRANK RAGAN KING

Scottsboro, Alabama

"Reagan," "Bats"

Quiet as he is, on the face of him, once get Reagan started, and you will find he will argue until long after you have fallen asleep in his face. An unobtrusive savoir who should have been one of the 87, but wasn't, owing to his fondness for non-reg. things. Loved the plebes, not wisely, but alas! too well. Spent his First Class cruise on the good ship Arkansas, because he did not want to go ashore—not for Humphrey's Specific reasons, however. Quit smoking Second Class year, for his health, but has taken it up again, and now has the Bull occasionally. A firm believer in Morpheus at any hour of the day or night. "By Golly!"

Buzzard (1).

Loss

Frank was lost on July 12, 1919 when his ship, the minesweeper USS Richard Buckley, struck a mine and sank in the North Sea near the Orkney Islands of Scotland. It appears he was also the commander of a minesweeping flotilla. He had taken command of Richard Buckley less than a week before.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Frank attended the Alabama Polytechnic Institute at Auburn and was awarded a Presidential distinction at commencement in June 1902. He then accepted a position to work with a civil engineer at Birmingham during vacation. Frank also took a preparatory course at Cullman.
He was nominated to the Naval Academy by Senator John T. Morgan in August 1902 and passed his examination in May 1903.
In March 1917, Frank married Allene Adams at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. John A. Robinson in Washington, D. C. She was to join Frank in London in the summer of 1919.
Frank's father was Colonel Frank R. King, former attorney-general of Louisiana. He died three months before Frank was born. Frank's mother Fannie was called a most brilliant newspaper woman in Birmingham who used the pen name of “Rex.” At age 13, she was a typesetter for her father's newspaper. She died when Frank was 12. Her father was Col. Alexander Snodgrass, editor of the Alabama Herald for many years.
After his parents' deaths, Frank was reared by distant relatives Robert and Elizabeth (Snodgrass) Saunders of Albany, Alabama. Elizabeth's parents were John and Mollie Snodgrass.
Frank's sister Frances Veda was a member of the Alpha Society of the Tri-State Normal University in 1896. She married Malcolm L. Masteller, traffic manager of the United Railroads of Havana, in October 1904. They had a private car on the Mexico City street car system. Their son Malcolm was born in September 1908. In October 1923, she was divorced and refurbished a hotel in Phoenix, Arizona. She later married Giusto Domenic Maggiora in California.
Frank was also survived by an aunt Mrs. C. Q. Beech and a cousin Mrs. Joe Garren of Trinity.

From Wikipedia:

Born in Montevallo, Alabama, King was appointed midshipman at the Naval Academy 6 May 1903 and graduated 11 February 1907. After serving as passed midshipman, he was commissioned Ensign 12 February 1909.
King served in Arkansas, USS Hartford, Milwaukee, Pennsylvania, and Illinois before attaining the rank of Commander 21 September 1918.
Comdr. King assumed command of the trawler Richard Buckley 7 July 1919 during minesweeping operations in the North Sea. On 12 July 1919 his ship struck a mine and went down in only seven minutes.
During the crisis King exerted himself to see that all of his crew might be saved. King's feeling for his men was evidenced by the fact that his final act before going down with his ship was to strap his own life preserver to a stunned sailor and help him over the side. Comdr. King received the Distinguished Service Medal for his valor.

Frank was survived by his wife and daughter (who was mistakenly offered an appointment to the Naval Academy many decades before women were allowed to attend).

He is not listed on the killed in action panel in the front of Memorial Hall.

Career

From Together We Served:

1907-1909, Naval Sea Units

1909-1911, USS Hartford (steam frigate)

1911-1913, USS Arkansas (BB-33)

1913-1915, USS Milwaukee (C-21)

1915-1917, USS Illinois (BB-7)

1917-1918, USS Pennsylvania (BB-38)

Navy Distinguished Service Medal

From Hall of Valor:

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Distinguished Service Medal (Posthumously) to Commander Frank Ragan King, United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious service in a duty of great responsibility as Commander of a Division of trawlers, engaged in the difficult and hazardous operation of sweeping for and removing mines in the North Sea Barrage; and especially for his heroic conduct on the occasion of the destruction by mine explosion of his flagship, the U.S.S. RICHARD BULKLEY, of which he was also the Commanding Officer. Although stunned by the explosion, he made every effort to save the lives and to rescue men entrapped by steam in the fireroom. The rapid sinking of the vessel prevented his success in the undertaking. Finding the ship about to sink he proceeded to bridge, where he took his station, and went down with the ship.
General Orders: Authority: Navy Book of Distinguished Service (Stringer)
Service: Navy
Division: U.S.S. Richard Bulkley

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.