ROBERT E. FAIR, CDR, USN

Robert Fair '33

Date of birth: May 5, 1911

Date of death: January 10, 1945

Age: 33

Lucky Bag

From the 1933 Lucky Bag:

ROBERT ELI FAIR

New Philadelphia, Ohio

"Vanity" "Bob" "Simplex"

Bob had to overcome all the difficulties encountered by those who come in so late in August. Everyone else was by that time, an old salt. It did not take him long to catch on as long as he was at the constant call of "Thug" Gaulin. "Thug" and his friends soon had invented many nicknames for Bob due to his trouble with slipsticks. But slipsticks and "Slipstick" have never worried him a great deal. If he should ever get mad (literally) at a problem, or at some special English construction in one of the text-books, just stand from under until he cools down. He really means nothing by it, but he does love to vent his spleen.

Bob made the ideal roommate, the kind that is supposed to be non-existent. He never borrowed anything, and always kept a good supply of soap, sheet, shirts, and towels . . . enough to go around.

He is one who ardently wishes that the Navy operated on dry land. Cruise chow, nasty weather, and heavy seas, have always held sway over him.

2 P. O.

ROBERT ELI FAIR

New Philadelphia, Ohio

"Vanity" "Bob" "Simplex"

Bob had to overcome all the difficulties encountered by those who come in so late in August. Everyone else was by that time, an old salt. It did not take him long to catch on as long as he was at the constant call of "Thug" Gaulin. "Thug" and his friends soon had invented many nicknames for Bob due to his trouble with slipsticks. But slipsticks and "Slipstick" have never worried him a great deal. If he should ever get mad (literally) at a problem, or at some special English construction in one of the text-books, just stand from under until he cools down. He really means nothing by it, but he does love to vent his spleen.

Bob made the ideal roommate, the kind that is supposed to be non-existent. He never borrowed anything, and always kept a good supply of soap, sheet, shirts, and towels . . . enough to go around.

He is one who ardently wishes that the Navy operated on dry land. Cruise chow, nasty weather, and heavy seas, have always held sway over him.

2 P. O.

Loss

Robert was lost with nineteen others on January 9, 1945 while aboard USS Colorado (BB 45), operating in Lingayen Gulf, when the ship was struck by accidental gunfire from another ship in the formation.

From "Rep of ops In support of the amphibious assault on Leyte Is, Philippines, 1/6-18/45, including AA acts On 1/6, 9 & 10/45," a part of USS Colorado's after-action report:

During the attack which developed about 1900 on 9 January, a plane came in from the eastern side of the gulf, passed over the ships and got away over the western hills. He was fired on continuously while over the gulf but was not hit. He did not make any attempt at a suicide dive. This ship opened fire with the starboard A.A. batteries when the plane was a on a clear range. When the plane passed ahead and to the port side, the port batteries opened fire. Shortly after the plane passed overhead this ship was hit on the starboard side of the Air Defenso Station by a Mark 35 Mod. 6 five inch thirty-eight caliber projectile with a Mark 18 mechanical time fuze which exploded on impact. The resulting explosion killed six officers and fourteen enlisted men and seriously wounded four officers and twenty-eight enlisted men. An additional 16 were less seriously wounded and were retained on board. Many hits from stray 40mm and 20mm projectiles were received at about the same time. The carelessly fired shots killed the air defense officer, the port 5"/25 caliber battery control officer, the new navigator, turret ONE officer, and many key enlisted men on the air defense level and on the navigational bridge. The Captain, who was conning, fortunately escaped serious injuries, although the explosion occurred about three feet above his head. The ship at the time was working up to flank speed with hard over rudder in shallow and congested waters, As this ship has only one Air Defense Station, this unfortunate hit practically wiped out our key air defense personnel and seriously affected the ship's combat efficiency considering the importance of air defense in the operation.

Other Information

From the 1953 edition of the book "Double Three Roundup," published by the class of 1933:

Bob was assigned to the SARATOGA upon graduation and spent the first two years of his commissioned service in that carrier. Perhaps the highlight of this duty occurred during a visit to Norfolk when Bob met Kathryn Blood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on a blind date. Bob, from New Philadelphia, Ohio, became intensely interested in the girl from "Old" Philadelphia, but the two year law and a set of orders to the China Station effectively prevented the immediate development of this interest. Bob had a most interesting tour on the China Station where he served aboard the PILLSBURY, TUTUILA, LUZON and PANAY. He returned to the States in January 1938 for a tour of duty aboard the TENNESSEE which was followed by an assignment in the HENDERSON. Concurrent with his detachment from the HENDERSON Bob persuaded Kaye to fly to San Francisco where they were married in March 1940.
After a year's tour of duty in the LEXINGTON Bob was assigned to his first shore duty at the Naval Academy where he taught ordnance and gunnery until October 1943. While at the Naval Academy Bob had an opportunity to edit his extensive film collection on China, join the Annapolis chess club, play golf and develop some real ability in woodcarving. Kaye played with the violin section of the St. John's Symphony Orchestra during the Annapolis duty.
The pleasant interlude ashore was followed by Bob's second tour in the SARATOGA, this time in the combat area, as Gunnery Officer. In early 1944 Bob was ordered as Navigator of the COLORADO where he participated in combat operations of the Seventh Fleet.
Early in January 1945 the COLORADO was assigned a job of softening defenses on Luzon preparatory to the landing of General MacArthur's forces. On January 9, a heavy caliber shell from one of the Jap shore batteries hit the COLORADO's superstructure causing severe casualties on the navigation bridge; including Bob who was killed. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal.
Bob is survived by Kaye, who is now Mrs. Philip Straubinger, and his son, Christopher, who was born in September 1943. In addition to Christopher, the Straubingers have three sons, Robert Michael and Stephen; the family resides at 654 Del Mar Avenue, Chula Vista, California. Kaye wrote most interestingly of her life with Bob and helped us to gain greater understanding of his sterling qualities. She recalled, for example, a conversation with Bob shortly before he left for the Pacific War, during which he told her that he was glad to get back to sea, not to earn medals, but to perform the job for which his country had trained him. Here again, a classmate has added new meaning to the phrase "His conduct was at all times in keeping with the highest traditions of the naval service."

His wife was listed as next of kin. He has a memory marker in Ohio; the marker also mentions a son, born September 1943.

Photographs

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.