LCDR HEYWOOD L. EDWARDS, USN
Lucky Bag Yearbook
From the 1926 Lucky Bag:
Heywood Lane Edwards
Wrestling (4, 3, 2, 1), N (3, 2, 1), Captain (1); Football, B Squad (4); Football Squad (2, 1), Navy Numerals (2); Boxing Intercollegiates (2); Class Tennis (4, 3), Numerals (4, 3); Black N*****.
TEX started life “wrasslin” steers on the plains of Texas. So, at the outset of his career in the Navy, he signed up with the mat artists, and has since been one of the mainstays of the team. Second Class year he became the hero in a little drama entitled, “From Wrestler to Boxer in Four Days” and the villain in its sequel, “Back to Wrestler in Three Rounds.”
When Babe first appeared as a Middy Fourth he was the typical Lone Star Ranger. After settling sundry details, such as the confiscation of his shootin’ irons, the discarding of his sombrero, and the placing of cactus in his shoes so he would feel at home, he settled down and proceeded to make the acquaintance of all the officer’s kids, dogs, W.O.’s and poker players.
“I’m wild and woolly and full of fleas, I’ve never been curried below the knees, I’m an old she wolf from Bitter Creek And it’s my night to howl-l!”
Loss
Heywood was lost on October 31, 1941, when USS Reuben James (DD 245) was sunk by a German submarine west of Iceland. He was the ship’s commanding officer.
Other Information
From Find A Grave:
Edwards was born in San Saba, Tex., 9 November 1905 and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1926.
He competed for the United States in freestyle wrestling in the 1928 Summer Olympics, earning 4th place in the light heavyweight division.
After serving in battleship Florida (BB-30), destroyer Reno (DD-303) and other ships, he underwent submarine instruction in 1931, served in several submarines, and was assigned to cruiser Detroit (CL-8) in 1935. Lieutenant Commander Edwards assumed command of Reuben James (DD-245) 6 April 1940.
His ship became the first in the U.S. Navy to be sunk in the Battle of the Atlantic when it was torpedoed by a German submarine while on convoy duty west of Iceland 30–31 October 1941.
Lt. Comdr. Edwards and 99 of his crew perished with the ship.
Bio information from Wikipedia and wife, Almeda Stewart Ellis family information.
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Heywood was appointed to the Naval Academy by Congressman Thomas L. Blanton.
Heywood married Almeda Stewart on March 11, 1935, in Wilmington, North Carolina.
He has a memory marker in Texas. He was survived by his wife, Almeda; they had no children together.
Photographs
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.
April 1927
October 1927
April 1928
July 1928
October 1928
January 1929
April 1929
July 1929
October 1929
January 1930
April 1930
October 1930
January 1931
April 1931
July 1931
October 1931
January 1932
April 1932
October 1932
July 1933
October 1933
April 1934
July 1934
October 1934
January 1935
April 1935
October 1935
January 1936
April 1936
July 1936
January 1937
April 1937
September 1937
January 1938
July 1938
January 1939
October 1939
June 1940
November 1940
April 1941
Namesake
USS Heywood L. Edwards (DD 663) was named for Heywood; the ship was sponsored by his mother.
Heywood is one of 33 members of the Class of 1926 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
