GEORGE V. WILLIAMS, LTJG, USNR

George Williams '40

Date of birth: February 22, 1917

Date of death: November 24, 1943

Age: 26

Naval Academy Register

George Vincent Williams was admitted to the Naval Academy from Minnesota on June 18, 1936 at age 19 years 3 months.

Lucky Bag

George Vincent Williams is listed on the page titled “And Some We Knew.”

Loss

George was lost on November 24, 1943 when USS Liscome Bay (CVE 56) was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine. He was a pilot with Composite Squadron (VC) 39, which lost over half of the 77 pilots and crewmen assigned.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

George lived in Akeley, Todd, and Park Rapids, Minnesota, before becoming a Navy pilot. His father Robert was a dentist who died in August 1939. His mother was Emma, and his brothers were Robert and Charles. George attended the Naval Academy in 1936, but left early. By 1940 he had completed two years of college. George was part of the composite squadron that boarded USS Liscome Bay in California in September 1943. At 0505 on November 24 near Makin, the flight crews were preparing for a dawn launching. The ship was torpedoed shearing off nearly the entire rear end and sinking her. Of the 916 on board, only 272 were rescued. The book 23 Minutes to Eternity by James Noble describes the disaster.

His mother was listed as next of kin. George is remembered at the Courts of the Missing in Hawaii.