ROBERT W. FLEMING, CAPT, USN
Robert Fleming '17
Lucky Bag
From the 1917 Lucky Bag:
ROBERT WALTON FLEMING
The Plains, Virginia
"Bobby" "Cocky"
IF, on a spring afternoon when the crews are on the river, you happen to be within hailing distance, you will hear a most remarkable series of barks, yaps and growls from the river. If the imagination were relied upon to furnish a picture of this man, it would present a giant with a powerful, protruding chest and lungs like the bellows of a forge. But when the shell comes alongside the floats, out of the stern sheets steps a small, quiet, wiry, sandy-haired chap, and he is the noise producer. Bobby claims that when he does the grunting for eight big husks, he has done a day's work, and, judging from the noise, he has. Bobby is the best little coxswain around these parts and, in fact, one of the best that has ever driven a Navy Crew, or shocked the ladies in the Supe's barge.
Cocky's real worth was recognized First Class year. He was the wise choice of the powers that be for three stripes of the fourth company. Within a few weeks he had that company eating out of his hand, and he did not do it by bowing his head to popularity, but he did it through sheer efficiency and knowing how. To see him stand erect, chest out, hands back, setting a perfect example in himself, makes one wish that the rest of us would do it, thereby improving the appearance of the Regiment a hundred per cent.
Cautious, not given to impulses, or taking chances. Furthermore, he has never suffered with the pangs of indecision as the less fortunate of us, for he came into this world with his mind made up, and its been made up ever since. With these characteristics to work upon, do you wonder that he is and always will be a success?
Three Stripes; Crew Numerals (4, 3); Crew N (2).
The Class of 1917 was the first wartime-accelerated class, graduating on March 29, 1917.
ROBERT WALTON FLEMING
The Plains, Virginia
"Bobby" "Cocky"
IF, on a spring afternoon when the crews are on the river, you happen to be within hailing distance, you will hear a most remarkable series of barks, yaps and growls from the river. If the imagination were relied upon to furnish a picture of this man, it would present a giant with a powerful, protruding chest and lungs like the bellows of a forge. But when the shell comes alongside the floats, out of the stern sheets steps a small, quiet, wiry, sandy-haired chap, and he is the noise producer. Bobby claims that when he does the grunting for eight big husks, he has done a day's work, and, judging from the noise, he has. Bobby is the best little coxswain around these parts and, in fact, one of the best that has ever driven a Navy Crew, or shocked the ladies in the Supe's barge.
Cocky's real worth was recognized First Class year. He was the wise choice of the powers that be for three stripes of the fourth company. Within a few weeks he had that company eating out of his hand, and he did not do it by bowing his head to popularity, but he did it through sheer efficiency and knowing how. To see him stand erect, chest out, hands back, setting a perfect example in himself, makes one wish that the rest of us would do it, thereby improving the appearance of the Regiment a hundred per cent.
Cautious, not given to impulses, or taking chances. Furthermore, he has never suffered with the pangs of indecision as the less fortunate of us, for he came into this world with his mind made up, and its been made up ever since. With these characteristics to work upon, do you wonder that he is and always will be a success?
Three Stripes; Crew Numerals (4, 3); Crew N (2).
The Class of 1917 was the first wartime-accelerated class, graduating on March 29, 1917.
Loss
Robert was killed in action on January 6, 1945 when USS New Mexico (BB 40) was struck and damaged by a Japanese kamikaze aircraft in the Lingayen Gulf. He was the ship's commanding officer.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Robert attended Episcopal High School in Alexandria and the Columbia Preparatory School in Washington, D. C.
Upon graduation from the Naval Academy, he was assigned to destroyers engaged in convoy duty off the coast of France and England.
In November, 1937, Robert, his wife, and sons sailed to Manila from San Francisco.
In the fall of 1943, he was on duty on the staff of the commander of the 3rd Fleet. In August, he returned to the U. S., and in September, he assumed command of a battleship.
At Robert’s death, his son Richard Walton Fleming, III, was an Army private at Fayetteville, North Carolina. His son Edward became an eminent psychiatrist in Washington, D.C.
Robert’s father was Alfred Walton, a Washington lawyer, who was a direct descendant of Richard Bland Lee, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. His mother was Gay, and his brother was Richard, a chemist with the TVA.
From Find A Grave:
Robert Walton Fleming was a 1917 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. On June 3, 1924, he married Emma Stitt, daughter of Rear Admiral Edward Stitt at St. Thomas’ Church in the District of Columbia. They were the parents of two sons including Robert Walton Fleming Jr. (1924-1996).
In January 1945 he was captain of the battleship, USS New Mexico (BB-40), known as The Queen, which was the flagship of Rear Admiral George L. Weyler. The 25-year-old battleship was part of the task force for an amphibious operation to take control of the coast between Lingayen and San Fabien on the Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines.
In the middle of the day a single Kamikaze with a 500-pound bomb dove into the battleship’s port navigation bridge. Those who died included Captain Fleming, Lieut. General Herbert Lumsden who had been sent by Churchill as Special Military Representative to General MacArthur; Sub-Lieut. Bryan Morton of the Royal Navy and William Henry Chickering, Time magazine correspondent were on the bridge. [The commander of the British Pacific Fleet narrowly escaped death.] Twenty-nine died and eighty-seven were injured. For the next four days the New Mexico was under attack. His remains were buried at sea.
His wife was listed as next of kin.
Photographs
From the Evening star on January 17, 1945
Silver Star
From Hall of Valor:
(Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: Captain Robert Walton Fleming (NSN: 0-10969), United States Navy, was awarded the Silver Star (Posthumously) for gallantry in action while serving as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. NEW MEXICO (BB-40) off San Fernando in the Philippine Islands on 6 January 1945. His gallant actions and dedicated devotion to duty, without regard for his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Naval Service.
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 347 (February 1946) Service: Navy
Division: U.S.S. New Mexico (BB-40)
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.
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LT Dixie Kiefer '19
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LTjg Irving Wiltsie '21
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