Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1954 Lucky Bag:

James Colburn Steele

FOOTBALL—4. CROSS COUNTRY—3. STEEPLE CHASE—3,2. VOLLEYBALL—3,2. SOUND UNIT WRNV—1.

Jim was just a nice guy. Never in a hurry, always composed and carefree, not a standout athlete, and not one too proud to wear his stars, he spent his four years here in less agony than most. Jim quickly got into the swing of things at the Academy after the first liberty in Baltimore, and except for a little last minute sweating before exams, he was completely undisturbed by the four year grind. Jim could always be depended on for a good sea story or a new idea on how to get the plebes’ Army game tickets. Even though Jim never complained about the better competitions with the O.D.’s he happily tossed his cap in the air.

Loss

James was lost on May 28, 1959 when the aircraft he was piloting crashed on the deck of USS Essex (CVA 9), which was operating off the coast of Florida.

Other Information

From Index-Journal of Greenwood South Carolina on May 29, 1959, via Gen Disasters¹:

Jacksonville, Fla. (AP) - Fire at sea followed the crash of a Navy jet plane aboard the aircraft carrier Essex on Thursday.

The pilot of the plane was killed, and an airman on the carrier deck burned to death.

Three men were critically injured and 18 hospitalized with minor burns or injuries.

It took nearly an hour to put out the flames that spread when the plane cartwheeled across the deck.

Six planes were destroyed or damaged. The carrier had considerable damage to its rear elevator, upper deck compartments and electrical wiring and equipment.

LT. JAMES C. STEELE, pilot of the jet, was waved off after a low approach but his right wing dipped, caught a parked aircraft and his plane then cartwheeled across the deck, followed by explosions and fire, the Navy reported.

STEELE and his plane went into the water and were lost. His widow is the former Wilma Moore of Harrodsburg, Ky., and his mother is Vera C. Steele of East Longmeadow, Mass.

The aircraft was a FJ-3M Fury of Fighter Squadron (VF) 62.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Per The Morning Union, May 31, 1959: “His jet fighter plane came in for a landing spewed a cascade of flame across the flight deck, killing two men and injuring 21 others. The ship’s crew began a fund to provide for the education of Steele’s unborn child.”

James graduated from Classical High School in 1948. Soccer 1; Senior Play 3. Kindness in women, not their beauteous looks, shall win my love.

He served in the Navy as a seaman, and in August 1949, he completed a two-week reserve training cruise aboard USS Argonaut. He was a member of Organized Submarine Division 1-8, Boston, and was concurrently a student at Emerson College.

He entered the Naval Academy on a Naval Reserve appointment in July 1950. He prepped for the exam at Hilder School in Washington, D. C.

James married Wilma Ruth Moore in the Methodist Church at Harrodsburg on December 28, 1957. He was currently in the Naval Air Training program at Barin Field, Foley, Alabama. Next he was to be in Corpus Christi.

His father George was a doctor who predeceased James, his mother was Mrs. George L. Steele. His sister was Vera Jean (Mrs. Clifford Keeney).

James has a memory marker in Arlington National Cemetery.

Photographs

From the Republican on May 25, 1954

From his high school yearbook

References