FRED R. NEWELL, JR., LTJG, USNR

Fred Newell, Jr. '37

Date of birth: March 28, 1915

Date of death: January 22, 1945

Age: 29

Lucky Bag

From the 1937 Lucky Bag:

FRED RISING NEWELL, JR.

Brattleboro, Vermont

"Bud" "Fred"

Vermont may be held responsible for Fred's six feet two of shortness. The change of climate here hasn't affected his productivity of jokes and ideas, for Bud has many novel ideas from perpetual motion machines to flying torpedoes. Whatever it may be, he has his own easy way of doing and enjoying it. Golf and crew are his special joys, and he has a special manner in performing both. If Fred can't dig up some fun, everyone might as well go home. A committee man? Certainly! Fred is the best brain trustee that ever descended from the hills of New England.

Crew 4, 3, 2, 1. Ring Committee. Two Stripes.

FRED RISING NEWELL, JR.

Brattleboro, Vermont

"Bud" "Fred"

Vermont may be held responsible for Fred's six feet two of shortness. The change of climate here hasn't affected his productivity of jokes and ideas, for Bud has many novel ideas from perpetual motion machines to flying torpedoes. Whatever it may be, he has his own easy way of doing and enjoying it. Golf and crew are his special joys, and he has a special manner in performing both. If Fred can't dig up some fun, everyone might as well go home. A committee man? Certainly! Fred is the best brain trustee that ever descended from the hills of New England.

Crew 4, 3, 2, 1. Ring Committee. Two Stripes.

Loss

Frank was captured by the Japanese in May 1942 when Corregidor fell. It appears that he was held in the Philippines until December 1944, when he was boarded onto the Oryoku Maru for transport to Japan. The ship came under attack from American planes on December 14th. As evening approached, the attack was called off. The next day the planes returned and continued the attack. The ship was sunk by American planes at Subic Bay, Philippine Islands, on December 15, 1944. The surviving POWs were boarded onto the Enoura Maru which sailed on December 27th and reached Takao, Formosa, by the New Year. While docked it was bombed by American planes on January 9, 1945, killing many of the POWs. The surviving POWs were boarded onto the Brazil Maru which sailed on January 13th and reached Japan on January 29, 1945. However, Frank died on January 22, 1945. It is unclear if he was aboard the Brazil Maru or was still in Takao.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

From Fred’s high school yearbook: “Beauty and health are the chief sources of happiness.” With all your many exceptional opportunities, “Bud,” we expect you to make your life one of success and happiness. Silver B, 4; Class President, 1; Band, 1, 2, 3, 4; Orchestra 1,2; Dramatic Club 2,3; French Club, 4; Football Manager 4; Assistant Manager, 3; Track Squad 3; Hockey Squad, 3; Understudy in “The Goose Hangs High”; Cast, “Smiling Thru”; Stage Manager of School Play, 2; Cast “In the Zone”; Cast, “The Rivals”; Junior Prom Committee, 3; Sophomore-Senior Dance Committee, 2; Commencement Chorus, 2,3; Baccalaureate Chorus, 2, 3. Class Prophecy: Fred Newell went to Annapolis, you know. He is now chief of the North Atlantic Battle Fleet.

From the Battleboro Reformer on July 30, 1945

Dr. and Mrs. Newell were notified on May 10, 1942 that their son was missing in the Manila Bay area. Over a year later he was reported a prisoner. They had last heard from him when he was serving in February, 1942, on a converted yacht used as a PT boat in Manila Bay. At the outbreak of the war in the Pacific he was on shore duty with the Naval police in Manila, having reported for duty in April, 1941, as a Naval reserve officer.
Lieutenant Newell, a graduate from the United States Naval Academy in 1937, worked for the New England Power Co., in Boston and for the Worcester County Electric Co., Worcester, Mass., before reporting for duty.
He was born in Brattleboro March 28, 1915, only son of Fred R. and Charlena (Hall) Newell, and graduated from Brattleboro high school in 1933. Besides his parents he leaves one sister, Miss Bianca Newell, and his grandmother, Mrs. Ernest S. Hall, both of Brattleboro.
Dr. and Mrs. Newell have the Navy Cross awarded their son for heroism and sent to them by the Navy Department after he was captured.

His parents were listed as next of kin.

Fred has a memory marker in Vermont.

Wartime Service

Frank placed the yacht Maryanne — or Maryann; it appears in records with both spellings — in service on December 8, 1941. (Despite his Navy Cross citation, below, the ship does not seem to have ever been formally commissioned nor given a hull designation/number.) Frank, as an Ensign, was the commanding officer for nearly a month until January 4, 1942, when a Lieutenant took command. Frank, now as a LTjg, remained aboard.

From Wikipedia:

After destruction of facilities at Cavite Navy Yard on 10 December 1941 Maryann moved with Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three to Sisiman Bay on the Bataan Peninsula where the commandeered tug Trabajador served as tender to the squadron. Despite the need to patrol in pairs in the event one PT needed assistance from another, the critical shortage of spares and fuel often prevented such pairing. This resulted in one of the small converted patrol yachts — Maryann, Perry, or Fisheries II — being used to accompany the PT. On the night of 1 February Maryann was in company with PT-32, which was damaged "with her hull held together by a jury rig of wires and braces" and capable of only 22 knots (25 mph; 41 km/h) on a patrol off Bataan during which the PT made an attack on a large ship thought to be a cruiser.

Maryann was destroyed in early May 1942 to prevent capture by the Japanese. She was officially credited with one battle star for her participation in the defense of the Philippines.

Navy Cross

From Hall of Valor:

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant, Junior Grade Fred Rising Newell, Jr. (NSN: 0-78680), United States Naval Reserve, for heroism during combat with the enemy during the period 7 December 1941 to 7 March 1942, and 19 - 28 April 1942, while on board the U.S.S. MARYANNE, in the Philippine Islands. While exposed to frequent horizontal and dive bombing attacks by enemy Japanese air forces, Lieutenant, Junior Grade, Newell directed the fire of his anti-aircraft battery and participated in operations of strategic importance in the Manila Bay area involving hazardous missions such as to reflect great credit upon the United States Naval Service.
Action Date: December 7, 1941 - April 28, 1942
Service: Navy
Rank: Lieutenant Junior Grade
Division: U.S.S. Maryanne

Prisoner of War Medal

From Hall of Valor:

Lieutenant, Junior Grade Fred Rising Newell, Jr. (NSN: 0-78680), United States Naval Reserve, was captured by the Japanese after the fall of Corregidor, Philippine Islands, on 6 May 1942, and was held as a Prisoner of War until his death while in captivity.
General Orders: NARA Database: Records of World War II Prisoners of War, created, 1942 - 1947
Action Date: May 6, 1942 - Died in Captivity
Service: Navy
Rank: Lieutenant Junior Grade
Division: Prisoner of War (Philippine Islands)

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.