PHILIP T. SMITH, JR., LCDR, USN

Philip Smith, Jr. '30

Date of birth: February 15, 1908

Date of death: November 13, 1942

Age: 34

Lucky Bag

From the 1930 Lucky Bag:

PHILIP THOMAS SMITH, JR.

New Haven, Connecticut

"Smitty" "Phil" "P. T."

FEELING the call of the sea far stronger than that of old Eli, Smitty left his home to pursue his studies with the rest of us here on the banks of the Severn and has been slowly trotting along after them ever since.

Whenever you wanted a skag or a look at the latest in desk accessories he was always there. Not a snake nor a red mike, he just took it easy and refused to let them worry him, with one exception; he had to brave his mail. The postmarks changed from year to year but it had to come. So also his Saturday Evening Post was a necessity of life.

A terrible singer, a worse speller, he would borrow your shaving gear or stamps; but withal a good man to sweep out the room with for four years and one that will prove the best of shipmates out in the Fleet.

Calm, unhurried, but capable, Phil's unruffled demeanor appears at times to be indolence. But the ease with which he vaulted each academic barrier gives the lie to that. "Still water runs deep"; Phil is a quiet man and no one knows his depths. We have had fleeting glimpses of them but never does he let go of his calm exterior, which is his bulwark against the annoyances, privations and restrictions of this military life. In any of the seven seas, in the most precarious of conditions, there will be no nervousness when one has the quiet worth, the unflustered capability of P. T. alongside him.

Gymkhana 4; 2 P.O.

PHILIP THOMAS SMITH, JR.

New Haven, Connecticut

"Smitty" "Phil" "P. T."

FEELING the call of the sea far stronger than that of old Eli, Smitty left his home to pursue his studies with the rest of us here on the banks of the Severn and has been slowly trotting along after them ever since.

Whenever you wanted a skag or a look at the latest in desk accessories he was always there. Not a snake nor a red mike, he just took it easy and refused to let them worry him, with one exception; he had to brave his mail. The postmarks changed from year to year but it had to come. So also his Saturday Evening Post was a necessity of life.

A terrible singer, a worse speller, he would borrow your shaving gear or stamps; but withal a good man to sweep out the room with for four years and one that will prove the best of shipmates out in the Fleet.

Calm, unhurried, but capable, Phil's unruffled demeanor appears at times to be indolence. But the ease with which he vaulted each academic barrier gives the lie to that. "Still water runs deep"; Phil is a quiet man and no one knows his depths. We have had fleeting glimpses of them but never does he let go of his calm exterior, which is his bulwark against the annoyances, privations and restrictions of this military life. In any of the seven seas, in the most precarious of conditions, there will be no nervousness when one has the quiet worth, the unflustered capability of P. T. alongside him.

Gymkhana 4; 2 P.O.

Loss

Philip was lost when USS Atlanta (CL 51) was destroyed on November 13, 1942 during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. The ship was scuttled following damage from Japanese torpedoes and gunfire from USS San Francisco (CA 38).

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Philip graduated from Hillhouse High School in 1925. He attended The Roxbury School for the purpose of attending Yale University. He also attended Lincoln Preparatory School.
He received his appointment to the Naval Academy by Congressman John Q. Tilson in November, 1925.
Philip married Grace Loughlin of Greenwich on September 1, 1934, at St. Catherine’s Church, Riverside. The wedding had been planned for December, but Philip received orders to Cuba. Their daughters were Shirley and Phyllis who was six months old when he died. He had never seen her.
His father Philip was chief of police at New Haven and was also the president of the Connecticut State Police association. He died in November, 1943. His mother was Mary, two sisters were Rose and Frances, and his brother Richard was a patrolman under his father.

His wife was listed as next of kin; he was also survived by at least two daughters (see below).

He is buried at sea and has a memorial marker at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Philippines.

From a Navy press release on June 10, 2010:

… One person who could relate the story of Midway to the Sailors and civilians in the audience was the guest speaker Sheila Noll, vice chairman, York County Board of Supervisors. Her father, Lt. Cmdr. Philip T. Smith, was the communications officer aboard USS Atlanta (CL 51), a light cruiser that provided anti aircraft protection for the carriers USS Enterprise (CV 6) and USS Hornet (CV 8) as part of Vice Admiral Halsey's Carrier Task Force.
"The Battle of Midway has a special meaning for me," she explained. "My sister, Phyllis, was born on June 4, 1942, the day the Battle of Midway began. Our father made the ultimate sacrifice five months later at the Battle of Guadalcanal."
As I look out at this audience, I realize that for most of you present this morning, the Battle of Midway is but a paragraph in a history book," Noll continued. "However, for your grandparents, or perhaps your great grandparents, it was ever so much more. It was the first great battle in the Pacific theater and it was won by the United States." …

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.