JOSEPH H. PATTERSON, LTJG, USN

Joseph Patterson '36

Date of birth: August 15, 1912

Date of death: May 23, 1939

Age: 26

Lucky Bag

From the 1936 Lucky Bag:

Joseph Hester Patterson

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

"Pat"

Just how those cowboys found out there is a Naval Academy no one is quite sure, but via Oklahoma University and Hall's of Columbia, Missouri, came Pat. He seems to like the Navy even with its attendant difficulties. Possessing a likable personality and a sparkling sense of humor, he refuses to stop smiling even though D.O.'s don't always wilt before him. When he goes in for a thing, he always gets the best results, be it sports, demerits, or the fairer sex. His enviable achievement of breaking two Academy track records in one day as a youngster will long be remembered. In fact, Pat is just about as fine as they come. May you ever travel with the leaders, Pat, and know the success you deserve.

Football 4; Track 4, 3, 2, 1. Captain 1. N*; N Club; Reception Committee 2, 1; Chairman 1; Goat Keeper; Three Stripes

Joseph Hester Patterson

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

"Pat"

Just how those cowboys found out there is a Naval Academy no one is quite sure, but via Oklahoma University and Hall's of Columbia, Missouri, came Pat. He seems to like the Navy even with its attendant difficulties. Possessing a likable personality and a sparkling sense of humor, he refuses to stop smiling even though D.O.'s don't always wilt before him. When he goes in for a thing, he always gets the best results, be it sports, demerits, or the fairer sex. His enviable achievement of breaking two Academy track records in one day as a youngster will long be remembered. In fact, Pat is just about as fine as they come. May you ever travel with the leaders, Pat, and know the success you deserve.

Football 4; Track 4, 3, 2, 1. Captain 1. N*; N Club; Reception Committee 2, 1; Chairman 1; Goat Keeper; Three Stripes

Loss

Joe was lost when USS Squalus (SS 192) sank on May 23, 1939 during a test dive.

Other Information

From Arlington National Cemetery.net:

After graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1936, he served for nearly two years in the heavy cruiser USS Louisville (CA-28) before receiving submarine instruction.
Assigned to the new submarine USS Squalus (SS-192), he lost his life when she accidentally sank on 23 May 1939.
Ensign Patterson was promoted posthumously to the rank of Lieutenant (Junior Grade).

From The Daily Oklahoman on May 24, 1939:

An Oklahoma City family and another in Drumright anxiously awaited word Tuesday night of their sons, who are in the U.S.S. submarine Squalus which sank in 240 feet of water off the New Hampshire coast, near Portsmouth.
The Oklahoma City family is that of J. H. Patterson, 1401 Northwest Twentieth street, whose son, Ensign Joseph Hester Patterson, is an officer of the submarine. …
Patterson late Tuesday expressed the optimistic belief his son a well known former Classen high school and Oklahoma City University student, and the 61 others in the sunken craft will be saved.
Kin Directing Rescue\
The ensign’s father-in-law, Capt. R. H. Greenlee, Portsmouth navy yard, is directing rescue work.
“I talked to the Greenlee home Tuesday,” Patterson said. “and they were optimistic about the rescue work.” He learned a diver was preparing to descend to attempt to close an induction valve, not closed when the craft dived, which might enable it to rise to the surface. The submarine also is equipped with a new type “lung” with which seaman can rise from the depths with safety.
Patterson, who is to be commissioned a lieutenant, second grade June 4, attended Classen here and was active in track and football. He later went to Oklahoma City University for one year where he was a track star.
Ran In Olympics\
He entered the U.S. Naval academy at Annapolis in 1932 and graduated in 1936, after becoming the holder of five academy track records. He served as captain of the track team that year and also participated in the Berlin Olympics. He ran fourth in the 400-meter hurdles.
Patterson married Miss Betty Greenlee June 11, 1938. They live at New London, Conn. From his graduation until May, 1938, the ensign was stationed on the U. S. S. Louisville. After attending the U. S. submarine school he was put on the Squalus.

Joseph has a memory marker in Arlington National Cemetery.

Photographs

Other

From MISCELLANEOUS MUSINGS OF AN OCCASIONAL LOAFER:

While attending a performance at the Classen School of Advanced Studies (which included one of my son's friends), I noticed that there was a plaque on the wall, across from the main entrance, partially covered with posters advertising the school's yearbook and another proclaiming how much they love their Lady Comets.
Gently lifting back the tape stuck to this plaque, I found it was a memorial to Lt. Joseph Hester Patterson, US Naval Academy Class of 1936, and Classen High School Class of 1930, who was lost in the wreck of the USS Squalus in May 1939.
Now, anyone who knows much of anything about submarines will recognize the name USS Squalus. At the time it was the newest submarine in the fleet, with all the latest improvements and newest technology of the day. However, it sank off the coast of Portsmouth, NH, on a routine dive. 26 of the 59 aboard her were lost; the remaining 33 were saved in one of the more amazing feats of undersea rescue ever attempted.
…
Now, I cannot know why the Classen High Class of 1950 chose to have a plaque made and installed for a classmate who graduated from their school two years before they were born. The plaque states that he was a hero in death as much as he was a friend in life. And I cannot dispute the fact that, for whatever reason, the Class of 1950 felt strongly enough to honor Lt. Patterson in such a manner. That reason must have been sufficient in their eyes to pass on the legacy of Joseph Patterson to future students in perpetuity; that his life, and the manner of his death, should be something worthy to inspire and motivate future graduates of that fine institution.
…

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.