JOHN K. REYBOLD, LCDR, USN
John Reybold '26
Lucky Bag
From the 1926 Lucky Bag:
John Keane Reybold
Delaware City, Delaware
"Jake" "Rye"
"AW, come on! I ain't goin' in that pool today. They'll have to push me in."
"I'll wear my cap so far down on my nose they'll tell me to pull it back."
"You oughter see my web-footed Delaware Spaniel; boy, there's a dawg, no foolin'." Famous sayings all, and typical of our own dear Bolshevik. He never said a word until after breakfast and then—well, you've read the above. "Knock off griping Reybold." "I'm not griping."
Rye was the saltiest of specimens at the Naval museum; and the little sea horses all vie with one another to imitate his swagger and nautical dress. Salty? Why he's been out on Delaware Bay, to say nothing of having been through the canal in a rowboat—a rowboat. Yes, sir, that canal—up by Delaware City.
Jake is more or less of a Red Mike, yet he always seemed to get letters from some sweet little Miss somewhere, and someday we hope to get a glimpse of this queen whose charms have captivated him.
Four years with you were great, Jake. You're a pal we won't forget. We trust the future to let us hear a piping voice yelling for someone to "snap out of it." We'll recognize it and then—oh, boy! We'll drink to the past at our leisure.
Class Baseball (4), Numerals (4).
John Keane Reybold
Delaware City, Delaware
"Jake" "Rye"
"AW, come on! I ain't goin' in that pool today. They'll have to push me in."
"I'll wear my cap so far down on my nose they'll tell me to pull it back."
"You oughter see my web-footed Delaware Spaniel; boy, there's a dawg, no foolin'." Famous sayings all, and typical of our own dear Bolshevik. He never said a word until after breakfast and then—well, you've read the above. "Knock off griping Reybold." "I'm not griping."
Rye was the saltiest of specimens at the Naval museum; and the little sea horses all vie with one another to imitate his swagger and nautical dress. Salty? Why he's been out on Delaware Bay, to say nothing of having been through the canal in a rowboat—a rowboat. Yes, sir, that canal—up by Delaware City.
Jake is more or less of a Red Mike, yet he always seemed to get letters from some sweet little Miss somewhere, and someday we hope to get a glimpse of this queen whose charms have captivated him.
Four years with you were great, Jake. You're a pal we won't forget. We trust the future to let us hear a piping voice yelling for someone to "snap out of it." We'll recognize it and then—oh, boy! We'll drink to the past at our leisure.
Class Baseball (4), Numerals (4).
Loss
John was lost on March 19, 1942 when USS Dickerson (DD 157) was struck by shells fired by an armed merchantman. He was the ship's commanding officer.
Biography & Other Information
From Navsource:
John Keane Reybold was born at Delaware City, Del. on 11 January 1903, was appointed midshipman 13 July 1922 and commissioned ensign on 3 June 1926. Having served in various ships including Idaho, Utah, Simpson (on the Asiatic Station), and Omaha, he assumed command of Cowell, on 17 June 1940. Detached on 23 September, he briefly commanded Claxton and on 31 October assumed command of Dickerson (DD 157). [Promoted to] lieutenant commander on 1 January 1941, he commanded Dickerson on Neutrality Patrol and, after December 1941, on coastal patrol and Icelandic convoy escort duty until 19 March 1942. On that date, Dickerson, enroute to Norfolk, was fired on by a nervous merchantman, SS Liberator. Liberator's shells hit the destroyer's charthouse, killing Lt. Comdr. Reybold and three others.
From researcher Kathy Franz:
John graduated from Wilmington high school in 1922. He was appointed to the Naval Academy by U. S. Senator L. Heisler Ball.
In 1935, he married Margaret Barton Stanbrough in Oswego, New York.
He left the Jacob Jones two months before she was sunk in February, 1942.
His father William was a retail merchant in a general store. His mother was Bernice, sister Mrs. Leah McAllister, and brother William, Jr.
His wife was listed as next of kin. He is buried in New York.
John is listed on the killed in action panel at the front of Memorial Hall.
Photographs
From The News Journal on March 21, 1942
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.
October 1926
April 1928
July 1928
October 1928
January 1929
January 1930
April 1930
October 1930
January 1931
April 1931
July 1931
October 1931
January 1932
April 1932
October 1932
January 1933
April 1933
July 1933
LCDR Lyman Swenson '16
LCDR Charles Cecil '16
LT Robert Smith '20
LT Paul Register '21
LT George Brooke '21
LT Howard Healy '22
1LT Charles Kail '23
LT Hallsted Hopping '24
LTjg Lawrence McPeake '24
LTjg James Smith, Jr. '25
October 1933
LCDR Lyman Swenson '16
LCDR Charles Cecil '16
LT Robert Smith '20
LT Paul Register '21
LT George Brooke '21
LT Howard Healy '22
1LT Charles Kail '23
LT Hallsted Hopping '24
LTjg Lawrence McPeake '24
LTjg William Graham, Jr. '25
LTjg Andrew Harris '25
April 1934
LCDR Lyman Swenson '16
LCDR Charles Cecil '16
LT Robert Smith '20
LT Paul Register '21
LT William Gray '21
LT George Brooke '21
LT Howard Healy '22
1LT Charles Kail '23
LT Hallsted Hopping '24
LT Lawrence McPeake '24
LTjg William Graham, Jr. '25
July 1934
LCDR Albert Rooks '14
LCDR Charles Cecil '16
LT Paul Register '21
LT William Gray '21
LT George Brooke '21
LT Howard Healy '22
LT Edward Metcalfe '22
LT Eugene Elmore '22
1LT Charles Kail '23
LTjg William Graham, Jr. '25
October 1934
LCDR Albert Rooks '14
LCDR Charles Cecil '16
LT Paul Register '21
LT William Gray '21
LT George Brooke '21
LT John French '22
LT Howard Healy '22
LT Edward Metcalfe '22
LT Eugene Elmore '22
January 1935
LCDR Albert Rooks '14
LCDR Charles Cecil '16
LT Paul Register '21
LT William Gray '21
LT George Brooke '21
LT John French '22
LT Howard Healy '22
LT Edward Metcalfe '22
LT Eugene Elmore '22
April 1935
LCDR Albert Rooks '14
LCDR Charles Cecil '16
LT Paul Register '21
LT William Gray '21
LT George Brooke '21
LT John French '22
LT Howard Healy '22
LT Edward Metcalfe '22
LT Eugene Elmore '22
LTjg Heywood Edwards '26
October 1935
January 1936
April 1936
July 1936
January 1937
April 1937
September 1937
January 1938
October 1939
June 1940
November 1940
April 1941
Namesake
USS Reybold (DE 177) was named for John; the ship was sponsored by his widow.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
