RICHARD E. FARRINGTON, LTJG, USN
Richard Farrington '59
Photographs
Richard, taken from a group photo in the USS Kearsarge (CV 33) cruise book from the previous deployment in 1961.
Richard was honorably discharged on June 13, 1958 with the note: "Deficient in studies, discharged under honorable conditions and resumed or transferred to prior enlisted status."
Loss
Richard was lost on May 26, 1963 when the S2F Tracer he was piloting crashed into the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii.
Other Information
From Redlands Daily Facts of Redlands, California, on May 27, 1963:
The four-man crew of an S2F tracer plane from the aircraft carrier Kearsarge was missing and presumed dead today, the commander of Air Force Pacific Fleet said. The plane crashed during antisubmarine warfare exercises about 150 miles south of Honolulu Sunday. The crew members were Lt. Cmdr. Norris M. Tollefson of Imperial Beach, the pilot; Lt. (j.g.) Richard E. Farrington, of Saratoga, the co-pilot; PO 1/C Ernest H. Gunther, of Imperial Beach; and PO 2/C. Ray Harold Hash, of Chula Vista.
Richard was survived by his fiancé, Judith K. Wolfe of Mission Beach, California, 22, to whom he was to be married on May 29th. She was a teacher at Morse High School. (Information from news clipping.)
He was the son of Captain Elvin L. Farrington, USN, '31, who served as Commanding Officer of the aircraft carrier USS Philippine Sea (CV 47), and Naval Air Station Alameda. He was also the likely source of a memorial plaque to this son that now hangs on the wall of the second floor of Dahlgren Hall.
From the August 1963 issue of Shipmate:
Dick was a non-grad member of our class but a fine friend and shipmate. His loss will be felt by many.
Richard's Find A Grave page is here.
Related Articles
Norris Tollefson '51 was also lost in this crash.
Memorial Hall Error
Richard is not included with his classmates as an operational loss in Memorial Hall. This error was identified by Matt Robins '04; Richard was a squadron mate of Matt's father.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
