ROBERT K. WOLTER, JR., LT, USN
Robert Wolter, Jr. '41
Lucky Bag
From the 1941 Lucky Bag:
ROBERT KIRTLAND WOLTER
Appleton, Wisconsin
From: Appleton, Wisconsin.
To: U. S. Naval Academy.
Via: Lawrence College. Subject: Naval career, request for.
Plebe year was fruit for Kirt; the Deutscher starred easily.
Youngster year Kirt joined the exclusive Snake fraternity and dragged Wisconsin's comeliest representatives in the more exclusive Eastern schools. Log work, battalion soccer, and crew did not interfere with his enviable academic record. He also won the coveted black N.
Second class year Kirt attained radio fame as Gordon Hittenmark's representative. Besides narrowing down the feminine field to one or two aspirants, he displayed a wicked game of squash and acquired a fine collection of classical recordings.
First class year found him working toward "Der Tag" with his customary persistence and thoroughness and looking forward to Pensacola.
Forwarded: Recommending approval.
Soccer 3, 2, 1; Battalion Crew 4, 3, 2; Choir 4, 3, 2, 1; Log 3, 2; Musical Clubs 4, 1; German Club 4, 3, 2, 1.
The Class of 1941 was the first of the wartime-accelerated classes, graduating in February 1941.
ROBERT KIRTLAND WOLTER
Appleton, Wisconsin
From: Appleton, Wisconsin.
To: U. S. Naval Academy.
Via: Lawrence College. Subject: Naval career, request for.
Plebe year was fruit for Kirt; the Deutscher starred easily.
Youngster year Kirt joined the exclusive Snake fraternity and dragged Wisconsin's comeliest representatives in the more exclusive Eastern schools. Log work, battalion soccer, and crew did not interfere with his enviable academic record. He also won the coveted black N.
Second class year Kirt attained radio fame as Gordon Hittenmark's representative. Besides narrowing down the feminine field to one or two aspirants, he displayed a wicked game of squash and acquired a fine collection of classical recordings.
First class year found him working toward "Der Tag" with his customary persistence and thoroughness and looking forward to Pensacola.
Forwarded: Recommending approval.
Soccer 3, 2, 1; Battalion Crew 4, 3, 2; Choir 4, 3, 2, 1; Log 3, 2; Musical Clubs 4, 1; German Club 4, 3, 2, 1.
The Class of 1941 was the first of the wartime-accelerated classes, graduating in February 1941.
Loss
Robert was lost with 19 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 researcher Kathy Franz:
Robert graduated from Appleton High School in 1935. Track 2, 4; Football 4; Senior Vaudeville; German Club 3, 4; Sophomore Triangle; Badger Hi-Y 3, 4; Boxing 4 (receiving a golden glove); Golf 3, 4. In a yearbook, he wrote “Lawrence ΦΔβ (Phi Delta Beta) – U.S.N.A.”
He went to Lawrence College and won second place for the Ralph White prizes in mathematics in June 1937.
He married Rebecca Taylor Sturtevant on March 25, 1944, at St. Paul’s cathedral in Fond du Lac. Her father the Rt. Rev. Hardwood Sturtevant, bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Fond du Lac, read the marriage vows.
His wife was listed as next of kin.
He has a memory marker in Wisconsin.
Photographs
From his high school yearbook
From his high school yearbook
Related Articles
Robert Fair '33 and John Bock '45 were also lost in this incident.
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.
April 1941
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
