ROBERT T. ALLSOPP, LTJG, USN

Robert Allsopp '40

Date of birth: April 27, 1916

Date of death: May 8, 1942

Age: 26

Lucky Bag

From the 1940 Lucky Bag:

ROBERT THOMAS ALLSOPP

East Orange, New Jersey

Bob

Living with Al is the easiest feat in the world, for there are no objections or do temperament to put up with. Four years packed full of fun seem to lay a firm foundation for a lifetime of continued friendship. Al's extracurricular activities include the boat club, wrestling, and tennis. He will tell you that he's a "red mike," but take it with a grain of salt. He has never finished an English theme before the formation bell for class, and he still prizes one on which the "prof" commented, "Short but good." May he have all the good luck and success there is, for he's Navy through and through.

Boat Club; Ring Committee; 1 Stripe.

ROBERT THOMAS ALLSOPP

East Orange, New Jersey

Bob

Living with Al is the easiest feat in the world, for there are no objections or do temperament to put up with. Four years packed full of fun seem to lay a firm foundation for a lifetime of continued friendship. Al's extracurricular activities include the boat club, wrestling, and tennis. He will tell you that he's a "red mike," but take it with a grain of salt. He has never finished an English theme before the formation bell for class, and he still prizes one on which the "prof" commented, "Short but good." May he have all the good luck and success there is, for he's Navy through and through.

Boat Club; Ring Committee; 1 Stripe.

Loss

Al was lost in USS Neosho (AO 23) when she was attacked by Japanese aircraft on May 7, 1942, during the Battle of the Coral Sea.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

In 1930, his father Albert was a manager in a jewelry manufacturer, mother Helen, sister Doris.

He has a memory marker in Battle of the Coral Sea Memorial Park, Queensland, Australia. His father was listed as next of kin.

Photographs

From the Lucky Bag

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.