Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1940 Lucky Bag:

WILLIAM WILSON BURGAN

Salty

Lacrosse 4; 1 Stripe.

He may be little, but he makes himself heard. This “mighty mite” is a fiery little rebel, and loves his arguments. Whenever conversation lags, “Salty” is only too willing to come down with that yarn about the good old days on the “Lady Lex.” “Quaint” nautical expressions make those yarns a treat to the hearer. Shortly after liberty call, Bill usually has in his company a member of the fair sex: and no “bricks” either! Bill has had his troubles with academic departments, too, but he has always managed to crash through the storm intact. To use his own words, “Oh well, it all evens up in thirty years service.”

Loss

Bill was lost when USS Wahoo (SS 238) was sunk, likely on October 11, 1944, in La Perouse Strait off Northern Japan.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

William attended Baltimore City College and the Naval Academy preparatory class in Norfolk. He served as an enlisted man in the regular navy before entering the academy through a competitive examination.

His parents were listed as next of kin.

William is remembered at the Courts of the Missing in Hawaii.

Photographs

From the Lucky Bag

From The Baltimore Sun on May 26, 1940

Career

Upon graduation Bill was initially assigned to the USS Savannah as an Ensign. After the war began, Bill was promoted to Lt(jg) on April 15, 1942, and LT on October 1, 1942.

Silver Star

From Hall of Valor:

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Lieutenant Commander William Wilson Burgan (NSN: 0-85387), United States Navy, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in the line of duty and in a position of great responsibility while serving aboard the U.S.S. WAHOO (SS-238), during the SEVENTH War Patrol of that Submarine from September 9, 1943 to October 1943, in enemy patrolled waters. He assisted his Commanding Officer in penetrating dangerous, confined and patrolled enemy waters where he contributed to the known destruction of one important enemy vessel. Other damage inflicted upon the enemy by his submarine in this area is unknown since his vessel failed to return from this patrol and it is presumed that he gave his life for his country. His conduct was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

General Orders: Pacific Board of Awards: Serial 0559 (March 27, 1944)
Action Date: September 9 - October 1943
Rank: Lieutenant Commander

Rank

Though Bill is listed as a LCDR in some references, there is no evidence he was promoted to this rank. His classmate, also lost in Wahoo, is listed as a LT.

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.