NAVAL CADET GEORGE W. KIRK, USN
Naval Academy Register
George William Kirk was admitted to the Naval Academy from Missouri on September 7, 1885 at age 17 years 1 months.Naval Academy Photo Album
Prior to the publication of the Lucky Bag in 1894, most portraits of officers and midshipmen of the Naval Academy were captured in yearly photo albums. The album for 1889 is available in the Nimitz (Naval Academy) Library's Digital Collections.
Special thank you to historian Kathy Franz for identifying this resource and then extracting several dozen photographs for this site.
Loss
George was lost on November 17, 1889 when he drowned in the Hudson River near New York City after the boat he was aboard was rammed and sunk by another vessel. He was returning to USS Boston (1884).
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
George had asked two boys to row him back to the cruiser Boston off Sandy Hook on the Hudson River. The boys “borrowed” Garret May’s small boat which overturned when hit by the steamboat George A. Starr. The Boston sent her cutter to the rescue and picked up the two boys. George’s body was never recovered.
George was nominated to the Naval Academy by Congressman Wade in 1884.
His father George, a druggist and farmer, died just two months earlier. His brother Lewis/Louis became a druggist and died of tuberculosis in Los Angeles in August 1898.
Memorial Hall Error
George was a Naval Cadet; he is listed as a Midshipman, a rank which wasn’t in use from August 5, 1882 to July 1, 1902.
Cadet George is one of 2 members of the Class of 1889 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
