STUART STEPHENS, LCDR, USN

Stuart Stephens '34

Date of birth: October 7, 1910

Date of death: July 16, 1943

Age: 32

Lucky Bag

From the 1934 Lucky Bag:

STUART STEPHENS

Newport, Arkansas

"Stew" "Champ"

MR. SPEAKER! Mr. Speaker!" this young man must have shouted as he wandered into the Rotunda way back there so long ago, fresh from the hills of Arkansas. However, he was "out of order," for soon he became a plebe, much to the gain of '34 and to the loss of the old home town.

Either they didn't teach him much back there, or Stew refused to listen, for Plebe Year he found himself tossed about on stormy waters. Arriving a little dazed from Plebe Year and the cruise, he once again started the struggle, and but for his dauntless courage and tireless energy no doubt we would have lost him. However, virtue is ever rewarded, and he won through. Then he found easy sailing, so much so in fact, that much of his time has been devoted to other fields, one we might mention—Carvel Hall.

As for his habits and character, we could hardly attempt to give those of a life so full. "Broadened" by travel, cultured by study, a lover of music and literature, and above all an officer and gentleman, some day he must return home to gladden the hearts of those who have waited.

We cannot think of him going entirely out of our lives, but know that some day we will meet him again. Perhaps he will come sailing down from the clouds or maybe over the seas in a battleship, but we know that if he is needed he will be there. Till we do meet, Stew, buen viaje.

Class Swimming Squad. Water Polo. Plebe Swimming. 2 P.O.

STUART STEPHENS

Newport, Arkansas

"Stew" "Champ"

MR. SPEAKER! Mr. Speaker!" this young man must have shouted as he wandered into the Rotunda way back there so long ago, fresh from the hills of Arkansas. However, he was "out of order," for soon he became a plebe, much to the gain of '34 and to the loss of the old home town.

Either they didn't teach him much back there, or Stew refused to listen, for Plebe Year he found himself tossed about on stormy waters. Arriving a little dazed from Plebe Year and the cruise, he once again started the struggle, and but for his dauntless courage and tireless energy no doubt we would have lost him. However, virtue is ever rewarded, and he won through. Then he found easy sailing, so much so in fact, that much of his time has been devoted to other fields, one we might mention—Carvel Hall.

As for his habits and character, we could hardly attempt to give those of a life so full. "Broadened" by travel, cultured by study, a lover of music and literature, and above all an officer and gentleman, some day he must return home to gladden the hearts of those who have waited.

We cannot think of him going entirely out of our lives, but know that some day we will meet him again. Perhaps he will come sailing down from the clouds or maybe over the seas in a battleship, but we know that if he is needed he will be there. Till we do meet, Stew, buen viaje.

Class Swimming Squad. Water Polo. Plebe Swimming. 2 P.O.

Loss

Stuart was lost when the plane he was piloting crashed into Monterey Bay, California, on July 16, 1943. Two other aircrew were also killed.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Stuart graduated from Newport high school in 1928.
In January 1937, Stuart visited his former classmate Ensign J. Wiley Stivers in Piedmont, Missouri. He drove home in a new Ford coupe delivered him by the Stivers Motor Company. The two classmates then reported to Pensacola for aviation training.
Stuart was best man at Lt. (j.g.) Robert King Johnston’s marriage in September, 1937. He won his wings that year and then became signal officer on the aircraft carrier Yorktown for three years.
He married Mrs. Louisa Taylor Smith Thayer on December 31, 1938, in Norfolk, Virginia. She was the daughter of Commander and Mrs. R. C. Smith and the great granddaughter of Rear Admiral W. T. Sampson. At the time, Stuart was with torpedo squadron 5 on the Yorktown.
In July 1940, Stuart’s family was in Honolulu with son Nicholas, age 6. In 1940, they lived in San Diego. Their daughter Margaret was born on August 12, 1941, at the Newport Hospital.
His cousin, a lieutenant of the air forces, also died in WWII in India. When Stuart died, his brother Irby was a captain in the Medical Corps of the army on maneuvers in Oregon, and his brother George was a lieutenant with the Army Air Forces Medical Corps at Fort Dodge, Kansas.

He is buried in Arkansas. He was survived by his wife, who later remarried a British naval officer.

Photographs

From the Arkansas Gazette on July 18, 1943

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.