LOREN A. MORRIS, LCDR, USN
Loren Morris '27
Lucky Bag
From the 1927 Lucky Bag:
Loren Arthur Morris
Greenfield, Missouri
"Jimmie"
"WHY don't you fellows get hep to yourselves? This has got the Cosmo beat hollow, and it's instructive, too." Jimmie comes to the surface from his latest well-thumbed issue of the Radio Sun periodically with the above tune, although the words may be varied. After getting him that far, though, it's easy to persuade him to drop the dynes and pound out passionate percussion for the Seagoin' Syncopators. A charter member of the "ground deck riveters," he mauls a mandolin or teases the traps with equal facility.
He claims he received his musical training from the mules down in the Ozarks, but that doesn't explain the radio bug. However, he has plenty of time to indulge in his pet hobbies, as, except for sleeping, he has no worries. After graduating with all the honors from high school, he was convinced by a year at Missouri University that studies weren't worth the bother for a naturally savvy man, so he has managed to worry the star men consistently and yet not grind.
His activities here have been with the Orchestra and the Musical Clubs combined with his membership in the Hell-cats. He is popular with men and girls alike, and many are the tales that may be told of his cruise adventures.
After four years, three cruises, and beaucoup liberties with Jimmie, we still find him likable and entertaining, than which no more can be desired.
Gymkhana: Cast (4, 3); Mandolin Club (3, 2, 1); Orchestra (4, 3, 2, 1); Bugle Corps (2, 1).
Loren Arthur Morris
Greenfield, Missouri
"Jimmie"
"WHY don't you fellows get hep to yourselves? This has got the Cosmo beat hollow, and it's instructive, too." Jimmie comes to the surface from his latest well-thumbed issue of the Radio Sun periodically with the above tune, although the words may be varied. After getting him that far, though, it's easy to persuade him to drop the dynes and pound out passionate percussion for the Seagoin' Syncopators. A charter member of the "ground deck riveters," he mauls a mandolin or teases the traps with equal facility.
He claims he received his musical training from the mules down in the Ozarks, but that doesn't explain the radio bug. However, he has plenty of time to indulge in his pet hobbies, as, except for sleeping, he has no worries. After graduating with all the honors from high school, he was convinced by a year at Missouri University that studies weren't worth the bother for a naturally savvy man, so he has managed to worry the star men consistently and yet not grind.
His activities here have been with the Orchestra and the Musical Clubs combined with his membership in the Hell-cats. He is popular with men and girls alike, and many are the tales that may be told of his cruise adventures.
After four years, three cruises, and beaucoup liberties with Jimmie, we still find him likable and entertaining, than which no more can be desired.
Gymkhana: Cast (4, 3); Mandolin Club (3, 2, 1); Orchestra (4, 3, 2, 1); Bugle Corps (2, 1).
Loss
Loren was lost on April 12, 1942 when the PBY-5 Catalina he was flying crashed into a mountain near Alameda, California. He had been commanding officer of Patrol Squadron (VP) 84 since October 1, 1941; the squadron was departing for a homeport shift to Norfolk. Another aircraft from his squadron also crashed in this incident. In all, 13 officers and men were lost; only one enlisted man survived.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
In 1917, Loren won first prize in the bird-house construction contest at his grade school. In February, 1922, he performed a bell solo in a high school program.
Loren was elected Sergeant-at-Arms of the Dade County Club of the State University in September, 1922. Loren was a freshman in the School of Engineering and was a member of the university band and orchestra.
He was appointed to the Naval Academy by Congressman Dickinson.
Loren wrote the following letter in June, 1926, on the summer cruise:
U.S. S. Utah, Portland, Me., Sunday Night, 20 June. – Dear Folks: Two ports down and seven to go! We came to another this morning at ten o’clock in the third port of the cruise – Portland – and it promises to be a real nice place. I am relieving the regular squad leader so he can go ashore today, so I won’t see much of the place until tomorrow. I have a “hunch” that we will be pretty well entertained here, because this afternoon they sent an “S. O. S.” to the ship for twenty more midshipmen to come ashore, as there were twenty girls waiting at the landing with cars to take the midshipmen over the city and then to their homes for dinner! Well, it wasn’t very hard to find the twenty, as everyone fell over themselves to get their names in before the list was filled. They were granted special liberty, since all who regularly rated liberty today had already gone ashore, and it was a happy crowd that was sent ashore in the motor launch. There will be two more parties tomorrow which I expect to attend – automobile rides in the afternoon and a ball at night. That will be my only liberty here, as we are leaving Tuesday for Charleston.
We can’t be treated better here than we were at Marblehead, however, especially the last night there. We had a mammoth parade the last afternoon (yesterday) in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of the navy (I think I have told you that Marblehead is considered as the birthplace) and we marched four miles, which took about two hours. The midshipmen headed the parade, but there were about five thousand in it altogether (Boy Scouts, etc.). Then last night was the best thing we have yet had on the cruise. We were invited to four balls (if I have told you about this before, you can skip it now) which were given in our honor at four different places – three very exclusive yacht clubs and the Hotel Rockmere. I attended the one at the Eastern Yacht club, and I don’t believe it could have been improved upon in any way. It was a large, beautiful building situated on the beach and in a beautiful lawn. You wouldn’t realize it from talking to them, but the hosts (who saw to it that we enjoyed ourselves to the best of their ability) were all owners of steamship companies, railroads, etc., and were very nice to us. They would come driving up in big limousines with liveried chauffeurs and high hats and everything, and would ask us to get in and take a ride over the grounds with them. You can imagine how puffed up I felt! There was dancing in two places in the main building, with girls provided for us, of course, and all sorts of good “chow” and, in fact, everything that could be desired. From then until eleven they had the most elaborate fireworks display and general illumination (searchlights, etc.) that I have ever seen. Boats called for us at the private landing at the club at twelve o’clock (daylight saving time) and we shoved off for the ships, after giving a big “4-N” for the club. As soon as we were all aboard, all boats were hoisted, gangways rigged, and at twelve-forty-five (daylight saving time) we were on our way to Portland. The reason I mention the “daylight saving” time is because there is a navy regulation prohibiting any ship to get underway on Sunday, and 12:45 by daylight is still Saturday by standard time (11:45), so the regulation was observed all right.
I was on the “piloting watch” from 8:30 to 10:30 this morning, which was during the time when we were coming into the harbor and anchoring. Piloting is a branch of navigation (I told you I am a navigator at present) and is the science of conducting a vessel along a desired course from one point to another by means of navigational aids on shore lighthouses, buoys, bells, etc.) Piloting thus can only be used when in sight of shore and in charted waters. There were three of us, and we were kept pretty busy the last half hour, as we had to work entirely independently of the navigator and his assistants, and after anchoring our results had to compare favorably with his, so we tried to keep them accurate, just to show them that we could have taken the ship in by ourselves if necessary. An idea of how it is done: Every lighthouse buoy, etc., is mapped on a chart (there is one for every harbor on board), and by means of instruments on the “bridge” (similar to surveyor’s instruments) we take bearings and distances of the objects and by a drafting machine plat the bearings on the chart. As a simple case: You can see that the point where two “lines of bearing” intersect is the position of ship the instant the bearings are taken. Channels where the water is deep enough for the ship to enter, sort of “ocean highways,” are marked out on the chart by buoys make the same as all state highways, so we merely follow the buoys, red buoys on starboard side, black to port, right in to anchorage. I am afraid all this isn’t as interesting to you as it is to me, because I remember the first time I read it, and it wasn’t so interesting to me then. It takes on a new interest, however, when one is actually on the bridge of a fighting ship (and a magnificent one, too) and actually taking the bearings and mapping out the course into port of a six-million-dollar battleship! So you see all the thrills of a midshipman’s cruise are not found at parties in port, as the thrill of seeing and understanding the maneuvering of big ships at sea makes little parties in port seem trivial.
With love, L. A. Morris.
Lornen married Irene Estelle Quina in Pensacola in December, 1929. According to the Dade County Advocate, Greenfield, Missouri, December 26, 1929: “Jimmy” was late for his own wedding his mother reports, having taken his plane up in the morning, and when he was ready to land, a fog hid the field and city so he could not land there, but had to fly out of the fog and land in an open field. His wedding was to have been at noon, but he was not able to reach the city till about two o’clock.
After a visit with his parents in May, 1932, Loren and his wife drove to Annapolis in a “new Dodge sedan equipped with Philco radio, which they purchased here.”
In October, 1935, Loren had an appendicitis operation at a Pasadena hospital.
In June, 1940, his wife and small son Jimmy, born James Arthur on May 13, 1939, visited with Loren’s parents. Loren was engaged with the neutrality patrol of the eastern coast line by plane and was unable to obtain a furlough.
In November, 1941, Loren returned to Norfolk after being stationed in the Bahama Islands for several months while in command of an airplane squadron on patrol duty over the Atlantic Ocean.
The Greenfield Vidette on April 16, 1942 wrote: As a boy and as a man, “Jimmy” showed outstanding traits of unassuming friendliness, brilliant mentality and highest standards of character, which endeared him to all who knew him; and his passing is sincerely mourned by the many friends of his old home county, who feel that the spirit with which he served his country zealously and capably will live on as an example of the best citizenship of our country, loyal and faithful to the end.
Loren was a member of the Greenfield Methodist Church. His father Arthur C. was a farmer, mother Myrtle, and brother Rollo.
He earned his wings as naval aviator #3560 on November 30, 1929.
Loren is buried in Arlington National Cemetery with his wife.
Photographs
From the Dade County Advocate on April 16, 1942
His 1922 graduation photo, from the Dade County Advocate on April 16, 1942
Related Articles
Frank Fernald '33 was piloting the other Catalina; Edward Denney '35 was that aircraft's co-pilot.
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.
January 1928
April 1928
July 1928
October 1928
January 1929
April 1929
LT LaRue Lawbaugh '20
LT James Carney '21
LT Francis Bridget '21
LT John Jones '21
LTjg William Davis '22
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24
LTjg Hubert Waters '25
LTjg Creighton Lankford '25
July 1929
LT LaRue Lawbaugh '20
LT James Carney '21
LT John Jones '21
LTjg William Davis '22
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24
LTjg Walter Dey '24
LTjg Hubert Waters '25
October 1929
LT John Jones '21
LTjg William Davis '22
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Walter Dey '24
LTjg Hubert Hayter '24
LTjg John Waldron '24
LTjg Hubert Waters '25
ENS Henry G'Sell '26
January 1930
LT Thomas Fisher '18 (Light Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24 (Light Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Charles McDonald '24 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Charles Signer '26 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Claude Haman '26 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
ENS Henry Twohy '29 (USS Saratoga)
April 1930
October 1930
January 1931
April 1931
July 1931
October 1931
January 1932
April 1932
October 1932
LCDR Charles Cecil '16
LT Robert Smith '20
LT Paul Register '21
LT Francis Bridget '21
LT George Brooke '21
LT William Hobby, Jr. '23
LTjg Neville McDowell '24
January 1933
LCDR Charles Cecil '16
LT Robert Smith '20
LT Paul Register '21
LT Francis Bridget '21
LT George Brooke '21
LT William Hobby, Jr. '23
LTjg Neville McDowell '24
April 1933
LCDR Charles Cecil '16
LT Robert Smith '20
LT Paul Register '21
LT Francis Bridget '21
LT George Brooke '21
LT William Hobby, Jr. '23
LTjg Neville McDowell '24
LTjg Hubert Hayter '24
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
LT Matthias Marple, Jr. '23 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Charles McDonald '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Harold Richards '27 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LTjg Leonard Southerland '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Mathias Wyatt '29 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Robert Patten '30 (Aircraft Squadrons)
ENS James Murphy '31 (Torpedo Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS Eugene Lytle, Jr. '31 (Aircraft Squadrons)
ENS James Kelsey, Jr. '31 (Aircraft Squadrons)
ENS Bertram Prueher '33 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Paul Burton '33 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Robert Fair '33 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Wendell Froling '34 (USS Saratoga)
October 1934
LT Arnold Isbell '21 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LT John Jones '21 (USS Saratoga)
LT Matthias Marple, Jr. '23 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LT Charles McDonald '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Harold Richards '27 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LTjg Leonard Southerland '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Mathias Wyatt '29 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Bruce Van Voorhis '29 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Charles Palmer, Sr. '31 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg James Murphy '31 (Torpedo Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS George Stone '31 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Albert Gates, Jr. '32 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Bertram Prueher '33 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Paul Burton '33 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Robert Fair '33 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Wendell Froling '34 (USS Saratoga)
January 1935
LT Arnold Isbell '21 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LT John Jones '21 (USS Saratoga)
LT Matthias Marple, Jr. '23 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LT Charles McDonald '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Harold Richards '27 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LTjg Leonard Southerland '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Mathias Wyatt '29 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Bruce Van Voorhis '29 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Charles Palmer, Sr. '31 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg James Murphy '31 (Torpedo Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Edward Blessman '31 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LTjg George Stone '31 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Albert Gates, Jr. '32 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Bertram Prueher '33 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Paul Burton '33 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Robert Fair '33 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Wendell Froling '34 (USS Saratoga)
April 1935
LT Arnold Isbell '21 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LT John Jones '21 (USS Saratoga)
LT Matthias Marple, Jr. '23 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LT Charles McDonald '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Harold Richards '27 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LTjg Leonard Southerland '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Mathias Wyatt '29 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Charles Palmer, Sr. '31 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Ford Wallace '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg James Murphy '31 (Torpedo Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
ENS Albert Gates, Jr. '32 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Bertram Prueher '33 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Paul Burton '33 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Wendell Froling '34 (USS Saratoga)
October 1935
LT Arnold Isbell '21 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LT Charles McDonald '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Charles Signer '26 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Ralph Smith '26 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Harold Richards '27 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LTjg Elmer Cooper '27 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Leonard Southerland '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg James Murphy '31 (Torpedo Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Thomas Ashworth, Jr. '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Alfred Tucker, III '31 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Albert Gates, Jr. '32 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Paul Burton '33 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Wendell Froling '34 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Maurice Fitzgerald '35 (USS Saratoga)
January 1936
LT Arnold Isbell '21 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LT Charles McDonald '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LT Richard Moss '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Charles Signer '26 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Harold Richards '27 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LTjg Elmer Cooper '27 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Leonard Southerland '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg James Murphy '31 (Torpedo Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Thomas Ashworth, Jr. '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Albert Gates, Jr. '32 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Edwin Hurst '32 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
ENS Wendell Froling '34 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Maurice Fitzgerald '35 (USS Saratoga)
April 1936
LT Arnold Isbell '21 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LT Charles McDonald '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LT Richard Moss '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Charles Signer '26 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Harold Richards '27 (Aircraft Squadrons)
LTjg Elmer Cooper '27 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Leonard Southerland '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg James Murphy '31 (Torpedo Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Thomas Ashworth, Jr. '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Albert Gates, Jr. '32 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg Edwin Hurst '32 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
ENS Wendell Froling '34 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Maurice Fitzgerald '35 (USS Saratoga)
July 1936
ENS Manning Kimmel '35 (USS Mississippi)
ENS George Philip, Jr. '35 (USS Mississippi)
January 1937
ENS Manning Kimmel '35 (USS Mississippi)
ENS George Philip, Jr. '35 (USS Mississippi)
April 1937
ENS Manning Kimmel '35 (USS Mississippi)
ENS George Philip, Jr. '35 (USS Mississippi)
September 1937
January 1938
July 1938
January 1939
October 1939
June 1940
November 1940
April 1941
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