BACKGROUND
TO US NAVY & COAST GUARD CASUALTIES
by Gordon Smith, Naval-History.Net
Having lived and worked in the United States and
with an American-born son living there, I have
long wanted to honour the United States Navy in
the same way I have tried to do for the Royal Navy
(and indeed other Navies of the World). The
planned projects are still coming to fruition, but
one of them has - US Navy and Coast Guard men and
women lost in World War 1. As my own father was
killed in action with the Royal Navy in 1943, my
aim is also to honour those lost in the service of
their Navies.
Don Kindell, an American researcher who has
contributed so much to Naval-History.Net, has
uniquely compiled all Royal Navy and Royal Marine
casualties from before 1914 to the present. Royal
Navy historians and enthusiasts owe him a great
deal. I hope this compilation of US Navy and Coast
Guard casualties goes a little way to repaying
him.
Scope
and Sources
The majority of casualties listed are from the
period April 1917 to November 1918 when the USA
was formally at war. However, it has been possible
to identify others lost in the years 1914-1917; an
incomplete, but nevertheless representative list.
There are two main sources of information, both
original US Government Printing Office
publications. I am grateful to Don Kindell for
locating the first, and to the US Coast Guard,
Department of Homeland Security, for supplying a
copy of the second:
"Officers and
Enlisted Men of the United States Naval Service
Who Died During the World War", prepared by the
Bureau of Navigation of the Navy Department,
1920
"United States Coast Guard Roll of Honor, April
6, 1917 to November 30, 1918", supplement to
Report of the Secretary of the Navy, 1919
For casualties in the period before April 1917, a
variety of sources have been used, all from the
internet, including the US Naval Historical
Center, New York Times Archives, and On Eternal
Patrol.
All images,
unless otherwise stated, are courtesy the US
Naval Historical Center or US Coast Guard: the
actual contributor is noted where this
information is given. It is believed that all
those used are in the public domain, but if I
have made any mistakes, please let me know.
The majority of ship information is from the US
Naval Historical Center (NHC), Dictionary of
American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS), US Coast
Guard and Wikipedia.
I am very
grateful to all these sources. I also apologise
for any scanning errors I have failed to pick
up.
A
Special Note on the Influenza Pandemic and
Causes of Death
It is very sad to realise that the majority of US
Navy casualties came about because of this
dreadful event. Young men, many in their teens,
joined the Navy, most no doubt to find adventure
and travel the world, only to die, often within
weeks of joining, in a Stateside hospital. Because
of the impact of the pandemic, the main stages
have been included in the date list, mainly from
the "Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy,
1919 - Miscellaneous Reports, Influenza".
Note that even
before the 1918 influenza pandemic and the
respiratory disease deaths it often led to, many
men died from those same non-influenza-linked,
respiratory diseases that were common in those
days, such as pneumonia.
Those who were not lost in action, died from a
variety of illnesses and diseases, by accident and
in some cases by their own hands. Rather than
intrude on their privacy and that of their
families, then and now, the actual causes are not
identified. Instead, the general terms
illness/disease or died or accident have been
used. The only exception are deaths due to
influenza or related respiratory diseases, so that
the scale of losses from these causes can be
appreciated. Recorded details of the causes of
death can be found by locating the US Navy's
"Officers and Enlisted Men" publication through an
internet search.
Abbreviations
and Comments
Main abbreviations are A - Aviation, F - Female, G
- General, JG - junior grade, NNV - National Naval
Volunteers, R - Radio, USNRF - US Naval Reserve
Force, USNRC - United States Naval Reserve Corps.
When
information differs, the source is identified as
the original Bureau of Navigation publication
(BN), US Naval Historical Center (NHC), or
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
(DANFS)
Sources frequently refer to World War 1 warships
as BB for battleship, DD for destroyer, SS for
submarine etc. The only abbreviations generally in
use at this time were ID for Identification Number
and SP for Section Patrol - respectively merchant
ships and usually small civilian vessels taken
into Naval service. The USN codes we are familiar
with did not come into use until around 1920.
Especially when
referring to naval bases, air stations and naval
hospitals, different titles are used in the
original Bureau of Navigation publication,
often, it is believed for the same
establishment. The same sometimes goes for the
use of the terms Naval and Navy. Far more
research is needed to clarify these
establishments and so the original listings are
used.
Duplicated Entries and Original Errors
By collecting the Bureau of Navigation lists into
a database and sorting them by name and date, it
has been possible to identify duplications and
correct other surname errors. The duplicated names
and surname errors are listed here, the rest of
the corrections incorporated into the text:
ARTHUR, Rolland
Bettisworth, Carpenter's Mate, 2nd class, USNRF,
should read BETTISWORTH, Arthur Rolland
BONEY, Lucious Wimbric, Apprentice Seaman, also
as RONEY
BEDDING, Orville Bradford, Seaman, 2nd class,
also as REDDING
CONWAY, Otho Basil, landsman for Electrician (R)
should probably be CONAWAY (father's name)
FALLETT, Ernest Linwood, Chief Machinist's Mate,
USNRF, also as PALLETT
GERDON, Edward LeRoy, Apprentice Seaman, USNRF,
also as GORDON
GORDON, Edward LeRoy, Apprentice Seaman, USNRF,
also as GERDON
KAAUKEA, Herman, Musician, 2nd class, also as
LAAUKEA
LAAUKEA, Herman, Musician, 2nd class, also as
KAAUKEA
LEQUIN, Maurice Lentilhon, Ensign, USNRF
(Officers list), also as Yeoman, 2nd class
(Enlisted list)
MASSEE, Needham Jerome, Machinist's Mate, 2nd
class, USNRF, also as NEEDHAM, Jerome
Massee
MICKUM, Martin Wilem, Seaman, 2nd class, USNRF,
also as NICKUM, Martin Wilen
NEEDHAM, Jerome Massee, Machinist's Mate, 2nd
class, USNRF, should read MASSEE, Needham
Jerome
NICKUM, Martin Wilen, Seaman, 2nd class, USNRF,
also as MICKUM
PALLETT, Ernest Linwood, Chief Machinist's Mate,
USNRF, also as FALLETT
REDDING, Orville Bradford, Seaman, 2nd class,
also as BEDDING
RONEY, Lucious Wimbric, Apprentice Seaman, also
as BONEY
ROSS, Bruce W, Machinist (Officers list),
also as ROSS, Bruce Wallace, Chief Machinist's
Mate (Enlisted list)
THOMA, Carl Robert, landsman for Electrician (R)
should probably be THOMAS (father's name)
THOMA, John Phillip, landsman for Machinist's
Mate (A) should probably be THOMAS (father's
name)
BACKGROUND
TO US MARINE CORPS CASUALTIES
Scope
From 6 April 1917
to 10 September 1919, 131 officers and
3,489 enlisted men died, a total of 3,620 Marine
Corps deaths from all causes.
The casualty lists in Naval-History.Net include
some 1715 names from 17 January 1917 to 23
September 1921.
Sources
Most of the
deaths are those recorded by the American Battle
Monuments Commission in War Cemeteries and
Memorials located in France.
Other sources for this incomplete list include
Arlington Cemetery and State's lists from
California, Kansas, Ohio and Wisconsin
We are grateful to the
American
Battle Monuments Commission and Library of
Congress for use of the images.
USMC
Casualties Missing from these Lists
by Don Kindell
At the end of the First World War, 75,640 United
States Dead were buried in Europe. This included
all services: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Ambulance
Services, YMCA, and others.
In January 1920, a plan was advanced by the U.S.
Congress to bring all the American Dead home. This
was projected to cost some $8,000,000.
Immediately, a movement was mounted by parents of
the Dead to allow them to rest in peace. The plan
was scaled down to returning 45,000 and this was
reduced further as time went on.
To further the pain of the survivors, there were
reports of funeral directors and funeral homes
profiteering from this movement. This misconduct
affirmed many families not to have their dead
returned. Measures were put into place to assure
the remains would go only to the funeral directors
of the families’ choice.
The steamship
MERCURY arrived in the United States in April
1920 with 353 bodies (all but 80 who had been
buried in France). Once the movement began in
earnest some 2000 bodies reportedly arrived per
week. In September 1920, 6281 bodies arrived in
one transport.
When steamship WHEATON arrived at Hoboken, New
Jersey, on 18 May 1921 with 5212 bodies (2800
received from Cherbourg and 1000 more from
Antwerp) the total of dead was brought to
23,000. WHEATON made two other trips in 1921
carrying some 7600 dead.
CANTIGNY brought 2804 more in two trips in the
fall of 1921.
This serves to explain the relatively "few"
American graves in Europe, considering the
sacrifices made.
The number of Dead
repatriated was approximately 33,400 from all
services or some 44 percent of the total buried
in Europe.
According to the American
Battle Monuments Commission - "The
Commission records do not include the roster of
those World War I Dead whose remains were returned
to the U.S. for permanent interment."
Therefore an
unknown number of Marine Corps dead (a rough
estimate suggests at least 1,500) are NOT
included in the casualty lists, even though some
are noted as having been repatriated on the SS
Catigny (5) and SS Wheaton (27).
The U.S. Marine Corps University Archives at St.
Quantico, VA might be able to advise.
