LT JAMES T. STEPHENSON, JR., USN

Class 1942

Born January 4, 1919

Died October 7, 1943

Age 24

Hometown Wartrace, Tennessee

Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1942 Lucky Bag:

JAMES T. STEPHENSON, JR.

Speed, Scoop, Steve

Wrestling 4, 42; Radio Club 4, 3; C.P.O.

An old song says, “She’ll be comin’ ‘round the mountain when she comes,” but Steve walked right through the mountain instead of around it. To the Naval Academy he brought determination, athletic ability, and the ability to turn his academic proficiency into practical channels. His sense of humor and tolerance will take him far in the Navy and in the Air Service, his ultimate ambition.

The Class of 1942 graduated on December 19, 1941, less than two weeks after the United States entered World War II. The class had previously been scheduled to graduate in February 1942.

Loss

James was lost when USS S-44 (SS 155) was sunk by a Japanese escort ship on October 7, 1943 near the Kuril islands.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

James graduated from Wartrace High School and attended Oak Ridge Military Institute in North Carolina for one year.

In February, 1942, he married Senorita Sarita Humpaya of Lima, Peru, in New York City. She returned to Lima in May 1944 with their daughter Chereel.

James was promoted to lieutenant shortly before being reported missing. His father was a farmer.

As part of his naval education at USNA, James participated in summer training cruises. In 1939 he spent the summer aboard the battleship BB-35 USS Texas. In September he was on leave at home in TN when war started to break out in Europe. He did not, therefore, participate in the Neutrality Patrol which began later that month, but would’ve had exposure to the first shipborne radar installed on the USS Texas in late 1938.

USS S-44 (SS-155) departed its last port, Attu, in the US Territory of Alaska, for its fifth war patrol on September 26, 1943. The next day the boat was attacked by enemy aircraft but suffered no damage.

He was survived by his parents and has a memory marker in Tennessee.

Photographs

From the Lucky Bag

Francis E. Brown ‘33 was also serving on SS-44 (USS-155) at the time of its loss.

Class of 1942

James is one of 81 members of the Class of 1942 on Virtual Memorial Hall.