WILLIAM E. TOWNSEND, CDR, USN
William Townsend '32
Lucky Bag
From the 1932 Lucky Bag:
WILLIAM EDWARD TOWNSEND
Ohio
"Bill" "Slim"
Unlike many of us Bill made up his mind to be one of us a mere two weeks ahead of time. Since then he's been thinking farther ahead and managing to get what he wants with equal success.
Plebe year crew and good grades were the goals. Taking the year as it came and biding his time Slim came out on top.
With that thin gold stripe Bill became himself. Swimming vied with academics for first place and social life was postponed. The year showed the results of concentration in both branches. Second class summer saw him knocking off the laps, developing the stamina that was to mean so much later.
September leaves left no lasting impressions and the letters that followed were soon neglected. Slim soon became engrossed in pursuit of those two stars: one on the collar and one alongside an N.
As a reward for straight thinking Bill steps on the threshold of life well prepared for its tests and backed by the respect and friendship of his associates.
Plebe Crew; Swimming, SNAT; Star; 2 Stripes.
WILLIAM EDWARD TOWNSEND
Ohio
"Bill" "Slim"
Unlike many of us Bill made up his mind to be one of us a mere two weeks ahead of time. Since then he's been thinking farther ahead and managing to get what he wants with equal success.
Plebe year crew and good grades were the goals. Taking the year as it came and biding his time Slim came out on top.
With that thin gold stripe Bill became himself. Swimming vied with academics for first place and social life was postponed. The year showed the results of concentration in both branches. Second class summer saw him knocking off the laps, developing the stamina that was to mean so much later.
September leaves left no lasting impressions and the letters that followed were soon neglected. Slim soon became engrossed in pursuit of those two stars: one on the collar and one alongside an N.
As a reward for straight thinking Bill steps on the threshold of life well prepared for its tests and backed by the respect and friendship of his associates.
Plebe Crew; Swimming, SNAT; Star; 2 Stripes.
Loss
William was lost on January 8, 1944, when his F4F-4 Hellcat crashed while operating from Ford Island, Hawaii. The aircraft belonged to a "Carrier Aircraft Service Unit (CASU)", but believe he was stationed aboard USS Enterprise (CV 6).
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
William spent his boyhood in Adrian, Michigan. In 1928, he graduated from Marietta High School in Ohio. College Preparatory. Boys’ Glee Club, 2; Advanced Chorus, 2; Basketball Squad, 2; Chemistry Society, 2, President 3; Rooters Club, 3; Tennis, 2, 3; Debate Squad, 2; Hi-Y Club, 3.
He was appointed to the Naval Academy by Congressman C. Ellis Moore.
He married Dorothy Otto who also graduated from Marietta High School in 1930. Their son was three years old when William died.
William’s father was Edwin, a Presbyterian minister, mother Sarah, and brothers Edwin, Jr., and Albert.
From the Times Recorder, Zanesville, Ohio, January 26, 1944:
“Details of the accident in which Commander William E. Townsend, 34, of Marietta, lost his life while serving in the Southwest Pacific area were revealed to his wife in a letter from the commanding officer of his ship.
“The letter said, in part: “ ‘Slim’ took off on a routine flight at 9 o’clock on the morning of Jan. 8, while he was stationed in a Pacific harbor.
“At 9:10 o’clock, an observer at the harbor mouth reported a plane approaching, seeming to have motor trouble. It came in fast, losing altitude, then made a gentle turn in a shallow glide, suddenly nosedived when about 50 feet off the water and disappeared.
“A patrol ship and two boats about 1,000 yards from the scene hurried to the spot, but found nothing but a big oil slick. The rescuers searched until dark, and the next morning planes flew over the spot for hours, but could sight nothing. I can assure you the search was thorough, because I flew one of the planes myself.”
From the Times Recorder, January 25, 1944:
Details of the fatal crash were revealed in a letter written his parents by Capt. Tom Hamilton, former navy football coach, who paid high tribute to the Marietta naval officer.
“Slim,” as we called him, was a walking symbol on the ship of forthright action, straight forward dealing and inspired courage,” Hamilton wrote. “He was a wonderful shipmate, loved and respected by officers and men alike.”
His wife was listed as next of kin. William is remembered at the Courts of the Missing in Hawaii.
Wartime Service
William was a Fighter Direction Officer; he used shipboard radar to vector fighter aircraft to intercept Japanese bogeys. During the invasion of Guadalcanal, he was temporarily "loaned" from USS Enterprise to USS McCawley (APA 4), the invasion flagship. He is mentioned several times in First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign: Naval Fighter Combat by John Lundstrom.
Photographs
From his high school yearbook
Silver Star
From the July 1943 All Hands Bulletin:
Lt. Comdr. William E. Townsend, USN, of Marietta, Ohio, who was flight deck officer of a United States aircraft carrier during the engagement with Japanese naval units near the Santa Cruz Islands on 26 October 1942, for cooly and courageously directing the flight-deck activities and for taking immediate action in controlling and extinguishing a blaze which broke out amidst the planes on the deck. He carried on in spite of the tremendous difficulties and great hazards attendant upon the devastating fire from large numbers of enemy aircraft continually attacking the carrier.
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.
April 1933
July 1933
October 1933
April 1934
July 1934
October 1934
January 1935
April 1935
LT James Craig '22\
LTjg John Duke '26\
LTjg Ralph Smith '26\
LTjg Robert Coates '30\
1LT Nicholas Pusel '30\
1LT Harold Bauer '30\
LTjg Vernon Hain '31\
LTjg Thomas Ashworth, Jr. '31\
ENS Edward Allen '31
October 1935
LT James Craig '22\
LT Richard Moss '24\
LTjg John Duke '26\
1LT Ernest Pollock '28\
LTjg William Pennewill '29\
LTjg Robert Coates '30\
1LT Nicholas Pusel '30\
LTjg Gilbert Carpenter '30\
LTjg Lance Massey '30\
1LT Harold Bauer '30
January 1936
LT James Craig '22\
LTjg John Duke '26\
1LT Ernest Pollock '28\
LTjg William Pennewill '29\
LTjg Gilbert Carpenter '30\
LTjg Lance Massey '30
April 1936
LTjg John Duke '26\
1LT Ernest Pollock '28\
LTjg William Pennewill '29\
LTjg Gilbert Carpenter '30\
LTjg Lance Massey '30\
LTjg William Sisko '31
July 1936
January 1937
April 1937
LT Ralph Smith '26 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 1B)\
LT Seymour Johnson '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)\
LTjg Donald Lovelace '28 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 1B)\
LTjg Finley Hall '29 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 1B)\
LTjg Albert Gray '31 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 1B)
LTjg Dewitt Shumway '32 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 1B)\
LTjg Earle Schneider '33 (USS Ranger)\
ENS William Hulson '36 (USS Ranger)\
ENS John Daub, Jr. '36 (USS Ranger)
September 1937
LTjg Vernon Hain '31 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 4)\
LTjg George Hutchinson '32 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 4)\
LTjg Archibald Greenlee '32 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 41)
ENS William Hulson '36 (USS Ranger)\
ENS John Daub, Jr. '36 (USS Ranger)
January 1938
LTjg George Hutchinson '32 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 4)\
LTjg Archibald Greenlee '32 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 41)
ENS William Hulson '36 (USS Ranger)\
ENS John Daub, Jr. '36 (USS Ranger)
July 1938
LT Donald Lovelace '28 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 41)\
LT William Pennewill '29 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 42)\
LTjg Harrington Drake '31 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 4)\
ENS John Daub, Jr. '36 (USS Ranger)
ENS Walter Sharer '38 (USS Ranger)\
ENS Floyd Garrett, Jr. '38 (USS Ranger)\
ENS Richard Sampson '38 (USS Ranger)
January 1939
LT Donald Lovelace '28 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 41)\
LT William Pennewill '29 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 42)\
LTjg Harrington Drake '31 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 4)\
ENS John Daub, Jr. '36 (USS Ranger)
ENS Walter Sharer '38 (USS Ranger)\
ENS Floyd Garrett, Jr. '38 (USS Ranger)\
ENS Richard Sampson '38 (USS Ranger)
October 1939
LT Renwick Calderhead '27 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LT Finley Hall '29 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
CAPT Paul Moret '30 (Training Squadron (VN) 3D8)\
LT John Huntley '31 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg George Bellinger '32 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Martin Koivisto '32 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Daniel Gothie '32 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Dewitt Shumway '32 (Training Squadron (VN) 1D8)\
LTjg Albert Major, Jr. '32 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg John McCormack, Jr. '33 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Archibald Stone, Jr. '34 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Wendell Froling '34 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
1LT James Crowther '35 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Francis Maher, Jr. '35 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Mark Eslick, Jr. '35 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Dewitt Harrell '35 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)
LTjg Webster Johnson '36 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Frank Robinson '36 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg John Hunter '36 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Walter Bayless '36 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Ralph Embree '36 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS James Mayes '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Harold Shrider '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Donald Patterson '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Raymond Moore '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Patrick Hart '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Paul Riley '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Thomas Edwards, Jr. '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Edward O'Hare '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Macdonald Thompson '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Howard Nester, Jr. '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)
June 1940
LT Finley Hall '29 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LT Lance Massey '30 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LT Charles Ostrom '30 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg George Bellinger '32 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Martin Koivisto '32 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Daniel Gothie '32 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Dewitt Shumway '32 (Training Squadron (VN) 1D8)\
1LT Floyd Parks '34 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Charles Ware '34 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Jack Ferguson '35 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Joel Davis, Jr. '35 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Francis Maher, Jr. '35 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg John Powers '35 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Frank Robinson '36 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg Roy Krogh '36 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg James Southerland, II '36 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Alexander Groves, II '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS James Mayes '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Harold Shrider '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)
ENS Frank Henderson, Jr. '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Raymond Moore '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Paul Riley '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
LTjg John Thomas '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Thomas Edwards, Jr. '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Macdonald Thompson '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Howard Nester, Jr. '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
2LT Radford West '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS John Boal '37 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Harry Howell '38 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Howard Clark '38 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS William Brady '38 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
2LT John Maclaughlin, Jr. '38 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Donald Smith '38 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Frank Quady '38 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Richard Crommelin '38 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
2LT Dorrance Radcliffe '38 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)\
ENS Alphonse Minvielle '38 (Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida)
November 1940
April 1941
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