GEORGE E. DAVIS, JR., LT, USN

George Davis, Jr. '35

Date of birth: December 5, 1913

Date of death: February 4, 1942

Age: 28

Lucky Bag

From the 1935 Lucky Bag:

GEORGE ELLIOT DAVIS, JR.

Troy, New York

"Oscar" "Dave"

COULD he be thinking of those candidate days when he spent many carefree hours thither and very, very yon? Or perhaps he's thinking of the fateful step that ended in Plebe Summer, when he tried to decide between being an athlete or just another good fellow. Maybe, on choosing both, he is trying to figure out by how many laps he won his first track meet. Oh, he's counting on both hands now, and there seem to be a shortage of fingers. It's mathematics, to be sure, his favorite pastime. But wait; he's mumbling, recalling, perhaps that last leave in Troy. Oh, I can hear it now! "Three, six, two. Hurrah, I can drag this week-end!"

Cross Country 4. Boxing 4. Track 4, 3, 2, 1. Class Water Polo 3. 1 P.O.

GEORGE ELLIOT DAVIS, JR.

Troy, New York

"Oscar" "Dave"

COULD he be thinking of those candidate days when he spent many carefree hours thither and very, very yon? Or perhaps he's thinking of the fateful step that ended in Plebe Summer, when he tried to decide between being an athlete or just another good fellow. Maybe, on choosing both, he is trying to figure out by how many laps he won his first track meet. Oh, he's counting on both hands now, and there seem to be a shortage of fingers. It's mathematics, to be sure, his favorite pastime. But wait; he's mumbling, recalling, perhaps that last leave in Troy. Oh, I can hear it now! "Three, six, two. Hurrah, I can drag this week-end!"

Cross Country 4. Boxing 4. Track 4, 3, 2, 1. Class Water Polo 3. 1 P.O.

Loss

George was lost when USS Houston (CA 30) was damaged by a bomb to her No. 3 turret in the Battle of Makassar Strait on February 4, 1942. He was the #3 Turret Officer.

His wife was listed as next of kin. He is buried in Manilla, Philippines.

Namesake

USS George E. Davis (DE 357) was named in George's honor; the ship was sponsored by his widow.

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.