FRED CONNAWAY, CDR, USN

Fred Connaway '32

Date of birth: January 22, 1911

Date of death: November 19, 1943

Age: 32

Lucky Bag

From the 1932 Lucky Bag:

FRED CONNAWAY

Forrest City, Arkansas

"Fee" "Adolf"

Our Fee was originally from the Lone Star State, but claims Forrest City, Arkansas, as his home. One day while guarding the levee (a process consisting of smoking big black cigars to keep the mosquitoes off and shooting at mud turtles) he received word that he had passed the exams to our noble institution of learning. Fee quickly packed his bag and boarded the Memphis Special for Crabtown, where history was being made, as the class of '32 was forming for a gallant and famous four-year career. Famous!—no end.

Earl Thomson caught him and by the time that the track season had rolled around he was beating the varsity high jumpers fairly regularly. Youngster year, he amassed an awesome number of points to win a block N.

We may forget his achievements in track; but we'll never forget his spirit of friendly helpfulness which so endeared him to us. Good luck, old Fellow!

Track, 32, N; Class Football; 2 Stripes.

Fred was a high jumper on the Track Team.

FRED CONNAWAY

Forrest City, Arkansas

"Fee" "Adolf"

Our Fee was originally from the Lone Star State, but claims Forrest City, Arkansas, as his home. One day while guarding the levee (a process consisting of smoking big black cigars to keep the mosquitoes off and shooting at mud turtles) he received word that he had passed the exams to our noble institution of learning. Fee quickly packed his bag and boarded the Memphis Special for Crabtown, where history was being made, as the class of '32 was forming for a gallant and famous four-year career. Famous!—no end.

Earl Thomson caught him and by the time that the track season had rolled around he was beating the varsity high jumpers fairly regularly. Youngster year, he amassed an awesome number of points to win a block N.

We may forget his achievements in track; but we'll never forget his spirit of friendly helpfulness which so endeared him to us. Good luck, old Fellow!

Track, 32, N; Class Football; 2 Stripes.

Fred was a high jumper on the Track Team.

Loss

Fred was killed by a shell from a Japanese destroyer that struck USS Sculpin (SS 191) shortly before she was sunk on November 19, 1943.

He had only recently taken command of Sculpin on October 20, 1943.

From Sub Vet Paul, at now-broken link http://www.subvetpaul.com/Sculpin.HTML:

About noon on 19 November, a close string of 18 depth charges threw SCULPIN, already at deep depth, badly out of control. The pressure hull was distorted, she was leaking, steering and diving plane gear were damaged and she was badly out of trim. Commander Connaway decided to surface and to fight clear. The ship was surfaced and went to gun action. During the battle Commander Connaway and the Gunnery Officer were on the bridge, and the Executive Officer was in the conning tower. When the destroyer placed a shell through the main induction, and one or more through the conning tower, these officers and several men were killed.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Fred graduated from Forrest City High School in 1928. He was a member of the debating team which represented the school in the state interscholastic high school meet held at the University of Arkansas in April, 1928.
Fred’s wife was the former Annie Lorena Walker. They married on December 31, 1934, in St. Francis, Arkansas. Their daughter Frances Ann was born on February 16, 1938, at Kapiolani Maternity hospital in Honolulu.
In March 1939, Fred was sent for instruction at the Naval Academy.
His father Philip owned a mercantile store and later was appointed postmaster. He died in 1922. His mother Emma was then appointed postmistress and later was postmistress in Memphis, Tennessee.
His brother was Marshall, and his sister was Bernadine.

The 1950's TV show "Silent Service" had an episode devoted to Sculpin.

His wife was listed as next of kin.

(Unable to find a citation for the Silver Star listed here.)

Fred's widow, Loretta, commissioned USS Sculpin (SSN-590); she is pictured on page 7 of the boat's commissioning booklet.

Fred is remembered at the Courts of the Missing in Hawaii.

Career

From the now-broken link http://www.fleetorganization.com/subcommandersclassyear3.html:

Duty USS S-26 (SS-131) 1939

Under Instruction Post Graduate School United States Naval Academy 1939

Duty USS Sturtevant (DD-240) 1 Oct 1939 - 1 Jul 1940

Executive Officer USS S-13 (SS-118) 27 Oct 1940

Acting Captain USS S-48 (SS-159) 10 Dec 1940 - 2 Jan 1941

Executive Officer USS S-48 (SS-159) Jan 1941 - Dec 1941

Captain USS S-48 (SS-159) 1 Jan 1942 - 2 Apr 1943

Captain USS Sculpin (SS-191) 20 Oct 1943 - 19 Nov 1943

Lieutenant (j.g.) 2 Jun 1935

Lieutenant 26 Jun 1940

Lieutenant Commander (T) 15 Jun 1942

Commander (T) 18 Nov 1942

Photographs

From The Commercial Appeal on July 15, 1928

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.