WILLIAM P. DAVIS, LT, USN
William Davis '22
Lucky Bag
From the 1922 Lucky Bag:
WILLIAM PHILLIPS DAVIS
Oskaloosa, Iowa
"Billy," "Savvy," "Cue-Ball," "Unique," "Old Man."
PLEBE Summer was "Bill's" happiest period as a Midshipman because, as the old saying goes, "Ignorance is bliss," and at that time "Unique" knew nothing of the trials that lay before him. As soon, however, as the books were broken out, the "old thing" wrinkled his brows and started to fight. Before he could pull sat in one subject he was under in another. It was then that he started his famous saying, "Well, I'm getting out, they've got me now." But, in spite of all this boning he managed to go out for basketball, and made the 'Varsity.
Ordinarily "Bill" is a quiet, unassuming old man, but when aroused to mirth his voice can be heard throughout the halls, like "Pappy" Kane's "Nyow make up them jackstays there, Andy," while his grotesque exhibitions of facial beauty or mimicry of Fillyloo's dancing, as sideshow attractions, are second only to those of Ringling Brothers' Greatest Show on Earth.
Basketball (4, 3, 2); Numerals (4); Class Baseball (2).
WILLIAM PHILLIPS DAVIS
Oskaloosa, Iowa
"Billy," "Savvy," "Cue-Ball," "Unique," "Old Man."
PLEBE Summer was "Bill's" happiest period as a Midshipman because, as the old saying goes, "Ignorance is bliss," and at that time "Unique" knew nothing of the trials that lay before him. As soon, however, as the books were broken out, the "old thing" wrinkled his brows and started to fight. Before he could pull sat in one subject he was under in another. It was then that he started his famous saying, "Well, I'm getting out, they've got me now." But, in spite of all this boning he managed to go out for basketball, and made the 'Varsity.
Ordinarily "Bill" is a quiet, unassuming old man, but when aroused to mirth his voice can be heard throughout the halls, like "Pappy" Kane's "Nyow make up them jackstays there, Andy," while his grotesque exhibitions of facial beauty or mimicry of Fillyloo's dancing, as sideshow attractions, are second only to those of Ringling Brothers' Greatest Show on Earth.
Basketball (4, 3, 2); Numerals (4); Class Baseball (2).
Loss
William was lost on March 5, 1934 when the Berliner-Joyce XFJ-1 biplane he was piloting crashed into the James River (Virginia). The enlisted man aboard was also killed.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
William was captain of the football and basketball team in high school. He attended Iowa State college at Ames for a short time where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta.
On October 23, 1926, William married Isabelle (Moore) Morrisette at the Sacred Heart parish house in Norfolk, Virginia. His best man was Lieut. Comdr. John S. Farnsworth (‘15.) Her father Hugh was a navy yard inspector and Chief Master at Arms. He died in 1938.
William’s body was found in the James River on May 29, 1934, almost three months after the accident. Captain C. C. Skeeter who operated a local launch came across the body and brought it to the pier. The Navy took it to the naval operating base.
Per the Daily News, Newport News, May 29, 1934: “Lieutenant Davis leaped from the plane in his parachute when it began a nose-dive into the river, but sank with his parachute before help could reach him. It was Captain Skeeter who dragged for the ill-fated seaplane and it was his anchor which caught the plane and led navy salvage men to its recovery and that of Matt Marshall’s body which was still in the cockpit. … [William’s] Identification was made by the flier’s costume and parachute harness, decomposition having made the features unrecognizable. The body was still encased in the heavy flying suit worn to protect the pilot from the cold of the upper atmosphere. The parachute still trailed from the harness of heavy cotton straps which bound it around the aviator’s waist and shoulders. The helmet still was on the head. … When Lieutenant Davis leaped in his parachute the C. & O. tug Eureka attempted to rescue him, but he was drawn with his parachute beneath the surface before the craft could reach the spot.”
William’s father Jenkin was a chiropractor, and his mother was Annie Lee Phillips. Jenkin died in 1939, and Annie Lee in 1955. They are both buried in Forest Cemetery in Oskaloosa.
William was survived by his widow, a stepson Hubert Shelton Morrisette, age 11, his parents and his sister Anna Irene (Mrs. Adair.)
He earned his wings as naval aviator #3242 in 1924.
William is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Photographs
From The Des Moines Register on March 6, 1934
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.
September 1923
January 1924
March 1924
May 1924
January 1925
March 1925
May 1925
July 1925
October 1925
October 1926
January 1927
April 1927
October 1927
January 1928
April 1928
July 1928
October 1928
January 1929
LT Edwin Conway '20
LT LaRue Lawbaugh '20
LT Stephen Cooke '21
LT James Carney '21
LT Francis Bridget '21
LT John Jones '21
LT James Craig '22
April 1929
LT LaRue Lawbaugh '20
LT James Carney '21
LT Francis Bridget '21
LT John Jones '21
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24
LTjg Hubert Waters '25
LTjg Creighton Lankford '25
ENS Henry G'Sell '26
July 1929
LT LaRue Lawbaugh '20
LT James Carney '21
LT John Jones '21
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24
LTjg Walter Dey '24
LTjg Hubert Waters '25
ENS Henry G'Sell '26
October 1929
LT John Jones '21
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Walter Dey '24
LTjg Hubert Hayter '24
LTjg John Waldron '24
LTjg Hubert Waters '25
ENS Henry G'Sell '26
LTjg Claude Haman '26
January 1930
LT John Jones '21
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Theodore Marshall '24
LTjg Walter Dey '24
LTjg John Waldron '24
LTjg Andrew Harris '25
April 1930
LT James Carney '21
LT John Jones '21
LT James Craig '22
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Theodore Marshall '24
LTjg Walter Dey '24
LTjg James McDonough '24
LTjg John Waldron '24
LTjg Andrew Harris '25
October 1930
January 1931
April 1931
July 1931
October 1931
January 1932
April 1932
October 1932
January 1933
April 1933
July 1933
October 1933
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