ROY K. JONES, LCDR, USN
Roy Jones '16
Lucky Bag
From the 1916 Lucky Bag:
Roy Kehlor Jones
Hennessey, Oklahoma
"Roy" "Rkie"
FOUR years ago this young savage deserted his little wigwam in the wild and woolly West and decided to cast his lot with the Pampered Pets at Crabtown. Since then, Roy has spent a fair portion of his time spinning yarns about the wilds of Oklahoma, his Happy Hunting Ground.
Here is a man with a personality that will make him a host of friends. He always greets you with a smile and a hearty typical western handshake—even a tramp would feel welcome in his presence. Jonsey is not what is commonly known as a savoir, but studies have been the least of his worries. He is too much of a care-free, happy-go-lucky type to ever worry about being unsat. He is what you will call a real optimist, for the Cherokee was never known to be downhearted—even when her letter didn't come (?). Moreover, said Cherokee is blessed with a sufficient quantity of horse sense to carry him through any battle in life with his ensign nailed to the mast.
And the way the femmes fall for his winning smile! Always in the thick of a tea-fight, and as for the hops—he is perfectly at home. But, alas! this is Leap Year, and we fear that it has proved his downfall. The manuscripts he receives in the mail are all sent special delivery, and the glint that shows in his eyes as he reads them verifies his queer actions in telling us that Cupid's arrow has struck deep.
He has a heart of gold, and would lend his last sock to a friend. He was once inclined to enjoy rough-housing, but the blow that Cupid dealt him has left him dignified and reticent. His sterling qualities are brought out by the fact that he has many friends and no enemies—outside of the various Academic Departments.
From all indications Jonsey will soon divorce his present wife, Bear Sternberg, and answer Cupid's call. But what ever you do, Roy, we wish you all the luck and happiness in the world.
"John! Gotta skag?"
Buzzard.
Roy Kehlor Jones
Hennessey, Oklahoma
"Roy" "Rkie"
FOUR years ago this young savage deserted his little wigwam in the wild and woolly West and decided to cast his lot with the Pampered Pets at Crabtown. Since then, Roy has spent a fair portion of his time spinning yarns about the wilds of Oklahoma, his Happy Hunting Ground.
Here is a man with a personality that will make him a host of friends. He always greets you with a smile and a hearty typical western handshake—even a tramp would feel welcome in his presence. Jonsey is not what is commonly known as a savoir, but studies have been the least of his worries. He is too much of a care-free, happy-go-lucky type to ever worry about being unsat. He is what you will call a real optimist, for the Cherokee was never known to be downhearted—even when her letter didn't come (?). Moreover, said Cherokee is blessed with a sufficient quantity of horse sense to carry him through any battle in life with his ensign nailed to the mast.
And the way the femmes fall for his winning smile! Always in the thick of a tea-fight, and as for the hops—he is perfectly at home. But, alas! this is Leap Year, and we fear that it has proved his downfall. The manuscripts he receives in the mail are all sent special delivery, and the glint that shows in his eyes as he reads them verifies his queer actions in telling us that Cupid's arrow has struck deep.
He has a heart of gold, and would lend his last sock to a friend. He was once inclined to enjoy rough-housing, but the blow that Cupid dealt him has left him dignified and reticent. His sterling qualities are brought out by the fact that he has many friends and no enemies—outside of the various Academic Departments.
From all indications Jonsey will soon divorce his present wife, Bear Sternberg, and answer Cupid's call. But what ever you do, Roy, we wish you all the luck and happiness in the world.
"John! Gotta skag?"
Buzzard.
Loss
Roy was lost on December 17, 1927 when USS S-4 (SS 109) sank immediately following a collision with USCG Paulding (CG 17) near Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He was the boat's commanding officer.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Roy graduated from Hennessey High School in 1911 as class president. At the annual banquet he was elected treasurer of the alumni association for the upcoming year.
On the summer cruise in 1914, while the fleet was off Tangiers on the African coast, Roy “served two hours at the wheel of the Idaho at night. He was highly complimented by his superior officer on his skill as a navigator.” (per the Hennessey Clipper, July 30, 1914)
Roy married Ruby Evelyn Barnes of Baltimore at the Church of the Holy Apostles on February 23, 1918. Together they had two children, Jacqueline Bond (Jones) Hull and Roy K. Jones II.
In 1971 and 1972, Roy’s daughter visited the S-4 memorial at the St. Mary of the Harbor Church in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
Roy's son Roy II became a submarine captain; Roy II's son Roy (possibly 3rd) was Marine circa 1972.
Roy’s father John was a dry goods merchant and postmaster, mother Zetta, and sisters Beatrice (Mrs. Dwight Buchanan, Waukomis,) Marcia (Mrs. James W. Blye, Hennessey) and step-sister Callie Prince (Mrs. John E. Kurtenbach, Enid.)
From the Hennessey Clipper, November 1, 1923:
An Interesting Letter From Lieut. Roy K. Jones
Each week I read the Hennessey Clipper, which is of far more interest to me than all of the papers of New York City and other cities combined because it is my home town paper. It gives me news of people whom I know intimately and have known all my life. It takes me back for a few moments to days which were, and always will be, among the happiest of my life. The people there lived the kind of life I lived and would like to live again. The country there is as beautiful as one finds any place in the world, and country to me is the natural place for human beings to live. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to wander out through the fields surrounding Hennessey on a crisp, fall day, with a dog and gun. I might be able to flush a bunch of quail, or some rabbits. If I went northwest of town, I know a place where I might be invited to sit down to a meal. The meal wouldn’t be like the meals I am accustomed to here. There would be a whole fried chicken cooked to a king’s taste, for each person. It wouldn’t be ordinary chicken, either. That chicken would probably carry away all the prizes at Madison Square Garden, the world’s greatest poultry show. There would be every conceivable vegetable and fruit fresh from the land on which it grew. When I left Hennessey just twelve years ago, I didn’t realize that all of this was to be left behind and never to be experienced again with the exception of a few days about once every three or four years.
When I departed to join the navy I only knew that there was a navy with battleships, destroyers, etc. Since that time I have been in a great many ports, throughout the world while serving in different branches of the navy. First came battleships, then destroyers, and submarines, and now I am inspecting airplanes while they are being constructed at the Curtiss Aeroplane Company’s plant at Garden City, Long Island, New York.
My service and relations with the navy have naturally drawn my interest along all lines connected with it. Some of the first questions that came to my mind was: Why do we need a navy? What is the purpose of the navy? After I had learned the answers to these questions the World War proved to me before my own eyes the purpose, necessity, and use of a navy.
There are so many good people otherwise intelligent in our country who say that we should set an example to the world by doing away with our navy and all armaments that we are called upon many times to use in justifying our existence. Knowing that arms have made and kept us a nation, some are willing to trust their liberty to others who remain armed and may seek their own selfish ends.
Our navy has been denounced as a symbol of war, its officers and men as advocates. This is not true. All classes are united in a desire for peace. None desire it more than the army and navy men, your own brothers and sons, who realize more keenly than others the horrors of war and seek only the strength that will maintain peace.
It should be plain that until that age comes when “men love each other as themselves” that there must be protection against aggressiveness no matter of what nature it may be or form it may take, and the only power against such aggressiveness, the power to maintain our foreign policies, rest with a navy adequate to the need.
Might does not in itself assure right, but it does enable right to be upheld, and if our foreign policies are correct and just they should be upheld both in letter and in spirit. We have a right to live, a right to prosper, a right to happiness, a right to respect, a right to prestige, a right to independence, a right to travel abroad, to sell our goods on the same plane of equality as any other nation on the face of the earth, and the sole assurance of all these is proving for a common defense such as was demanded by our forefathers, one hundred and forty years ago.
If the time comes when there is nothing to resort to but conflict, when the very integrity of our country is menaced, when the voices of our forefathers ring in our ears to fight, and fight for that freedom of our homes and prosperty, is there one man or one woman in Hennessey who would not meet the supreme sacrifice to give his all with a glow of righteousness in his face, to the end that his children might still say, “This is mine own, my native land.” How much easier the task would be if we kept our navy equal to that of any other nation.
By the terms of the peace conference, we are allowed a “five” in the “five, five, three ratio.” Today our “five” is amost a “three.” This condition is greatly due to the expensive idea of reducing taxes. The expenditure of one cent a day by each man, woman and child, in the United States, would provide strength adequate to maintain peace. More is spent on chewing gum alone than is required to support our entire army and navy.
Each year a day known as Navy Day is set aside by the Secretary of the Navy for the purpose of giving the public an opportunity to view the navy and learn something of what it is doing. On this day, drills and exercises are suspended in the service, and holiday routine is observed. All officers and men stand ready to acquaint the public with the equipment, activities, and purpose of the navy. Saturday, October 27, 1923, has been designated as Navy Day for this year.
Many people who live along the coast stop work on Navy Day and go to Naval stations, or visit ships, in their vicinity. This year the airplane factory at which I am stationed will throw its doors open to the public for this one day in order that people may see what planes are being built for the navy at this plant.
It is unfortunate that the people of the interior states cannot see and know more about their navy. If you can not be here in person, you can at least be here in spirit, speak well of the Navy and hang out the flag every Navy Day.
R. K. Jones,
Lieutenant U. S. Navy,
In care of the General Inspector of Naval Aircraft,
Garden City, L. I., New York.
He was survived by his wife; they are buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Photographs
From the 1916 Lucky Bag
From the Hennessey Clipper on December 22, 1927
From the Hennessey Clipper on June 22, 1916
Related Articles
William Callaway '11, Joseph McGinley '21, Graham Fitch '23, and Donald Weller '23 were also lost when S-4 sank.
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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October 1927
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
