TIMOTHY A. PARKER, ENS, USN
Timothy A Parker '10
Lucky Bag
From the 1910 Lucky Bag:
Timothy Albert Parker
Murray, Kentucky
"Tight," "Park"
A briny old seadog is Park—
Could have made a fine cruise —— in the Ark,
But when on the bridge
The goat made him squidge,
And keep himself safe in the dark.
T.A. has often been to Paducah, that big town where they have those wonderful steamboats, and he'll tell you some of the wonders there if you ask him. He made a memorable trip to New York with Skate, First Class leave, where they made such a hit their mail was full of ads for weeks. Plebe year he decided that the cross-country jumps didn't look good to him, so he joined the rifle squad and surprised himself by going to Camp Perry. Out there the girls liked him so well that he just had to go again. Incidentally, he raked in a few medals for his manly chest. He's always ready for a quiet game (any kind), and for a time claimed the checker championship of the Twelfth. He ran a private bucketshop just long enough to clean out Heinrich thoroughly and then got tired of it. He usually kills time exam week pushing a pencil, but he's one of the kind you can't pry loose with a crowbar and he'll be right with us on June 3, big as life.
In his quiet, steady-going way, he's a whole-hearted good fellow, well liked by all who come in contact with him.
"Well, gosh dang it!"
Rifle Team (3, 2). Sharpshooter. Expert. Buzzard (a, b).
The Lucky Bag quotes him on the Nav Department page: "Wasn't it lucky that the prime meridian happened to pass exactly through Greenwich?"
Timothy Albert Parker
Murray, Kentucky
"Tight," "Park"
A briny old seadog is Park—
Could have made a fine cruise —— in the Ark,
But when on the bridge
The goat made him squidge,
And keep himself safe in the dark.
T.A. has often been to Paducah, that big town where they have those wonderful steamboats, and he'll tell you some of the wonders there if you ask him. He made a memorable trip to New York with Skate, First Class leave, where they made such a hit their mail was full of ads for weeks. Plebe year he decided that the cross-country jumps didn't look good to him, so he joined the rifle squad and surprised himself by going to Camp Perry. Out there the girls liked him so well that he just had to go again. Incidentally, he raked in a few medals for his manly chest. He's always ready for a quiet game (any kind), and for a time claimed the checker championship of the Twelfth. He ran a private bucketshop just long enough to clean out Heinrich thoroughly and then got tired of it. He usually kills time exam week pushing a pencil, but he's one of the kind you can't pry loose with a crowbar and he'll be right with us on June 3, big as life.
In his quiet, steady-going way, he's a whole-hearted good fellow, well liked by all who come in contact with him.
"Well, gosh dang it!"
Rifle Team (3, 2). Sharpshooter. Expert. Buzzard (a, b).
The Lucky Bag quotes him on the Nav Department page: "Wasn't it lucky that the prime meridian happened to pass exactly through Greenwich?"
Loss
Timothy was lost on March 25, 1915 when USS F-4 (SS 23) during a test dive off of Honolulu. He was the executive officer; all 21 officers and crew aboard were lost.
F-4 was the first commissioned submarine of the US Navy to be lost at sea.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Timothy attended the Kentucky State University in Lexington before he was named to the Naval Academy by Representative James of Kentucky in May 1906.
On September, 22, 1908, his sister Elizabeth gave a party in honor of Timothy. Per The News-Democrat in Paducah, "The lawn was beautifully decorated with Japanese lanterns. Refreshments were sherbet and cake with frappe served in the hall. Music and games were the feature of the evening."
Timothy was the best rifle shot in the academy and made the rifle team in the National competition in 1909. It was held at Camp Perry, Ohio, from August 9 to September 4.
He was survived by his sister and brother. He is buried with most of the rest of the officers and crew in Arlington National Cemetery.
Related Articles
Alfred Ede '09 was commanding officer of F-4.
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.
January 1911
January 1912
January 1913
January 1914
January 1915
Timothy is one of 15 members of the Class of 1910 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
