Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1935 Lucky Bag:

JOEL ARCHIBALD DAVIS, JR.

Joe Jo-Jo

Football 4, 3, 2, 1, Numeral. Mandolin Club 4, 3, 2, 1. Choir 4, 3, 2, 1. Glee Club 4. 3 Stripes.

JOE began his military life at Bordentown Military Institute. Upon coming to the Naval Academy, he fell into the routine of Academy life easily. A seafaring life was nothing new to him, for he had spent some time at sea in the merchant marine before landing in Crabtown. His athletic energy has been absorbed by football and swimming, while that of music has been devoted to the choir. Women are one of his unfailing weaknesses, along with all of the latest dance hits. Joe has been just one of the boys; anything is yours for the asking providing he has it to give, including griping at the Navy and the world in general.

Loss

Joel was lost on December 23, 1941 when his plane crashed on a “routine patrol flight” from USS Lexington (CV 2). (Information from September 1946 issue of Shipmate.) He was a member of Bombing Squadron (VB) 2.

From the war diary of USS Lexington on December 23, 1941:

At 1310 received report that plane 2B16 had crashed about fourteen miles to north of LEXINGTON. Pilot, Lieut. (jg) J. A. Davis, jr., U.S.N. and passenger V. J. Schmidt, R.M.3c., U.S.N., were not seen to leave the plane which sank. Position of crash Latitude 18°-41’ N. Longitude 177°-33’ W. Accompanying plane on its return reported that 2B16 was testing its machine guns by firing into the water on a dive; that apparently on its pull-out, one wing touched the water. The plane went over on its back and sank in a few minutes with no signs of life of its occupants. LEXINGTON with its plane guards proceeded at full speed to scene of crash, found nothing and rejoined formation.

The position given is roughly 1,200 miles from Hawaii.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Joel was born in Philadelphia and was survived by his wife Lewise, 62 East Ave, Hampton. His father was born in Pennsylvania in 1879, and his mother Audrey was born in 1885 in Toronto, “English” Canada. His sister Audrey Amber was born in Philadelphia in September 22, 1906.

In 1920 the family lived in Camden, New Jersey, where his father was an officer in the U.S. Navy. He was a Shipbuilding Corporation chief carpenter for the Naval Constructors.

In September 1927, Joel sailed back alone to Bordentown Military Institute on the S. S. Gibraltar from Guantanamo where his father was still with the Naval Constructors. In 1930 his parents lived in the Bronx where his father was a consulting engineer to the U.S. Navy. In 1940 his parents lived in Islip which is right next to Babylon.

Photographs

Source

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.