RICHARD M. ELLIOT, JR., LCDR, USN
Richard Elliot, Jr. '09
Lucky Bag
From the 1909 Lucky Bag:
Richard McCall Elliot, Jr.
Lower Merion, Pennsylvania
"Dickie"
The democratic member of the "400." Has traveled widely is quite cosmopolitan and speaks French with a true Parisian accent. Will argue for hours on either side of any subject, punctuating his remarks with ape-like gesticulations, a la francaise.
Missed getting his well-deserved stripes by trying to help a classmate. He is always ready to assist one in French, listen to nonsense, or laugh at a bum joke. Considers hops pleasant, but views them with good perspective, and would really prefer a twelve-mile row any day. An overgrown boy with the sunny disposition of a child made strong by the virile qualities of a man.
Though he has roomed four years with the Duke, Dickie is still sane.
His form in rowing is perfect, but, alas! in four years, training table grub has increased his weight only six ounces.
Crew Squad (4, 3, 2, 1). Red N 2d. Choir (3, 2, 1).
Richard McCall Elliot, Jr.
Lower Merion, Pennsylvania
"Dickie"
The democratic member of the "400." Has traveled widely is quite cosmopolitan and speaks French with a true Parisian accent. Will argue for hours on either side of any subject, punctuating his remarks with ape-like gesticulations, a la francaise.
Missed getting his well-deserved stripes by trying to help a classmate. He is always ready to assist one in French, listen to nonsense, or laugh at a bum joke. Considers hops pleasant, but views them with good perspective, and would really prefer a twelve-mile row any day. An overgrown boy with the sunny disposition of a child made strong by the virile qualities of a man.
Though he has roomed four years with the Duke, Dickie is still sane.
His form in rowing is perfect, but, alas! in four years, training table grub has increased his weight only six ounces.
Crew Squad (4, 3, 2, 1). Red N 2d. Choir (3, 2, 1).
Loss
Richard was lost on March 19, 1918 when USS Manley (Destroyer No. 74) was destroyed following a collision with a British steamer that the ship was escorting. The ship's depth charges exploded during the sinking.
He was Manley's executive officer.
Other Information
From Find A Grave:
He was distinguished for exceptional bravery onboard US destroyer Aylwin in 1915 by rescuing men in the flooded engine room after the boiler had exploded.
From researcher Kathy Franz:
In the 1910 census taken in May, Richard was listed on USS Michigan at sea.
In November 1916 he was best man at his sister Natalie's marriage to Lt. Fitzhugh Green ('09). Ushers were Lieutenants John Borland ('09), W. Atlee Edwards ('10), Laurence Townsend ('09), and Ernest Gunther ('09).
Richard married Joan Hooker Packard on February, 10, 1917, at St. Marks Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. His best men were Lt. John Borland and Lt. Ernest Gunther.
In September 1918 the Evening Public Ledger reported that a beautiful bronze memorial tablet for Richard as well as two other tablets were in his grandmother's Chestnut street window on the south side between 12th and 13th streets in Philadelphia.
After Richard's death, Joan signed up to work with the American Committee for Devastated France, Inc. She applied for a passport and sailed to France in January 1919.
Richard's father was a banker with Wheeler, Elliot & Mann of Philadelphia. He also had been the former director of the Bell Telephone Company. His mother was Elizabeth (Wheeler), sisters Marjorie, Natalie, and Blanche Suzanne (Mrs. Robert Newsome Donner).
Richard's grandmother was Mrs. Charles Wheeler. The family's country estate near Bryn Mawr College was named Aelwald. In 1910, live-in employees were two maids, a parlor maid, a valet, a laundress, a cook, a kitchen maid, a waitress, and a governess. The gardeners and butler lived next door.
His parents purchased his portrait, one of twelve, sold for charity, in May 1919.
He was survived by his wife and is buried in Pennsylvania.
Photographs
"John Elliott, Richard McCall Elliot, Jr., ca. 1917-1925, chalk over photomechanical reproduction on paper, sheet: 29 5/8 x 21 7/8 in. (75.3 x 55.5 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Maud Howe Elliott, 1927.8.3"
Passport photograph of Joan, Richard's wife.
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 1910
January 1914
January 1915
January 1916
January 1917
March 1918
Namesake
USS Elliot (DD 146) was named for Richard; the ship was sponsored by his widow.
Memorial
Richard's classmates erected a plaque in his honor in Memorial Hall.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
