JACK C. MOORE, LT, USN
Jack Moore '36
Lucky Bag
From the 1936 Lucky Bag:
Jack Cobb Moore
Hopkinsville, Kentucky
"Jack"
See that cherubic face above. Look carefully, dear reader, and then note the most contradictory character indicated below. Behind that mask of jovial good nature is borne sharp wit and biting sarcasm. The nights are many in which three roommates put their heads together and screamed retorts at this moon-faced satirist but all to no avail. While others toiled through the many cares and duties of attaining an education, he blithely chose the path of least resistance. By the grace of the Powers That Be, he seemed to be always on the right side of the fence. A close follower of sports and world affairs, Jack will argue either side of any question. Enjoys movies, dancing, golf, tennis, and wrestling (flat on his back).
Lacrosse 4; Wrestling 1; Class Lacrosse 3, 2; Class Football 3, 2; Quarter-Deck Society 1; Tecumseh Painter 1; One Stripe
Jack Cobb Moore
Hopkinsville, Kentucky
"Jack"
See that cherubic face above. Look carefully, dear reader, and then note the most contradictory character indicated below. Behind that mask of jovial good nature is borne sharp wit and biting sarcasm. The nights are many in which three roommates put their heads together and screamed retorts at this moon-faced satirist but all to no avail. While others toiled through the many cares and duties of attaining an education, he blithely chose the path of least resistance. By the grace of the Powers That Be, he seemed to be always on the right side of the fence. A close follower of sports and world affairs, Jack will argue either side of any question. Enjoys movies, dancing, golf, tennis, and wrestling (flat on his back).
Lacrosse 4; Wrestling 1; Class Lacrosse 3, 2; Class Football 3, 2; Quarter-Deck Society 1; Tecumseh Painter 1; One Stripe
Loss
Jack was lost when his TBD Devastator "failed to return" on February 1, 1942 while on a strike mission in the vicinity of the Marshall Islands. He was a member of Torpedo Squadron (VT) 5, operating from USS Yorktown (CV 5).
Raid on the Marshall Islands
On February 1, 1942, Task Force 17, led by VADM William Halsey, Jr. (USNA '04) struck Jaluit, Mili, and Makin (Butaritari) islands. The Task Force was centered on USS Yorktown (CV 5), with USS Louisville (CA 28) among her escorts.
George Bellinger '32, Francis Maher, Jr. '35, and Jack Moore '36 were all flying from Yorktown and were all lost that day. George Bellinger's plane simply "failed to return;" he had last been seen in the vicinity of Jaluit as the leader of a bombing section. Jack Moore's plane also "failed to return;" no other information was given in the after-action report. Francis Maher may have been the pilot of the plane observed in the water approximately 20 miles astern of the carrier, presumably having crashed due to a lack of fuel. The crew were seen getting into rubber rafts, but "a destroyer was immediately sent back but failed to make contact."
A fourth graduate, Edward Worthington '34, was lost when his float plane, launched from Louisville, went missing and was possibly shot down by a Japanese patrol bomber.
Separately, Task Force 8 was raiding other islands in the group. Hallsted Hopping '24, commanding officer of Scouting Squadron (VS) 6, flying from USS Enterprise (CV 6). His aircraft was shot down by a Japanese fighter and he and his gunner were both killed.
All three of the documents below are via Matt Robbins '04. Note times are in Greenwich mean time.
Aircraft lost from Yorktown during the raid
Louisville's after action report
Louisville's after action report
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz: "Jack attended Hopkinsville High School. He was survived by his wife Mary, two-year-old son Jay, sisters Mrs. Joe Garnett and Mrs. George T. Rice, and mother Mrs. Bush Moore."
From the Class of 1936's "Golden Lucky Bag," published in 1986 (via Marianne Bradley, daughter of LCDR John Ellis '36, USN (Ret.)):
Mrs. Douglas R. Lacey
3890 Avenida Palos Verdes
Bonita, California 92002Children: Jack C., Jr.; Cassandra Mhara.
Grandchildren: Three.After graduation, Jack spent two years as a junior officer in the battleship Nevada, based in San Pedro, California. In the summer of 1937 at the Navy Ball in Seattle, Washington, he met Mary Millington and they were married a year later on 14 June 1938. Shortly thereafter, the Moores arrived at Pensacola where Jack commenced flight training. In September 1939, designated a Naval Aviator, he was assigned to Torpedo Squadron 5 (VT-5) attached to Yorktown, then based at Coronado, California.
In the spring of 1941, the sinking of Allied ships by German U-boats forced the Navy to strengthen the Atlantic Fleet by the addition of Yorktown and other warships. The carrier arrived at Bermuda on 12 May 1941 and conducted four wide ranging patrols in enforcing the United States neutrality zone. On 7 December 1941, Yorktown was at Norfolk. Nine days later, she sailed for the Pacific to escort a convoy to American Samoa.
This mission completed, Yorktown was ordered to conduct an air strike on the Japanese-held Marshall Islands. On the morning of 1 February 1942 eleven torpedo-bombing planes (Douglas TBD "Devastators") of VT-5, one of them piloted by Jack, took off from the carrier on a long flight to the island of Jaluit. The strike was successful, the opposition light, and no planes were lost in the attack. However, a violent storm arose and visibility became poor. While all planes reached the target, they were scattered, and two planes failed to return. Jack was one of the pilots.
Lieutenant Commander (later Rear Admiral) Joe Taylor, CO of VT-5, wrote, "Jack was one of the finest officers I have ever had the pleasure to serve with ... He did his duty to the utmost until the end ..." Jack is survived by his widow, Mrs. Douglas R. Lacey, and a son and a daughter.
His wife was listed as next of kin.
Jack has a memory marker in Kentucky and is remembered at the Courts of the Missing in Hawaii.
It's unclear why he is listed so late chronologically with respect to his classmates in Memorial Hall.
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.
July 1936
January 1937
April 1937
September 1937
January 1938
July 1938
LT Renwick Calderhead '27\
LTjg Samuel Dealey '30\
LTjg John Huntley '31\
LTjg Albert Gray '31\
LTjg George Ottinger '32\
LTjg William Widhelm '32\
ENS Glenn Dunagan '33
CAPT Paul Moret '30 (Training Squadron (VN) 3D8)
January 1939
LT Renwick Calderhead '27\
LT Samuel Dealey '30\
LTjg John Huntley '31\
LTjg Albert Gray '31\
LTjg William Thorn '32\
LTjg Glenn Dunagan '33
CAPT Paul Moret '30 (Training Squadron (VN) 3D8)\
LT Alden Irons '31 (Training Squadron (VN) 3D8)
LTjg William Widhelm '32 (Training Squadron (VN) 5D8)\
2LT Ralph Haas '36 (Marine Barracks)
October 1939
LTjg James Averill '27 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 5)\
LTjg Edward Worthington '34 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 5)\
LTjg Stuart Stephens '34 (USS Yorktown)\
LTjg Thomas Cummins '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 5)
LTjg Samuel Adams '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 5)\
LTjg John Curtis '35 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 5)\
LTjg John Daub, Jr. '36 (Carrier Division 2)\
ENS Andrew Gardner '39 (USS Yorktown)
June 1940
LTjg Thomas Cummins '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 5)\
LTjg Milton Ricketts '35 (USS Yorktown)\
LTjg Samuel Adams '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 5)
ENS John Black '38 (USS Yorktown)\
ENS Andrew Gardner '39 (USS Yorktown)\
ENS Donald Scheu '40 (USS Yorktown)
November 1940
LTjg Thomas Cummins '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 5)\
LTjg Milton Ricketts '35 (USS Yorktown)\
LTjg Samuel Adams '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 5)\
LTjg John Curtis '35 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 5)
ENS John Black '38 (Carrier Division 2)\
ENS Keene Hammond '38 (Carrier Division 2)\
ENS Andrew Gardner '39 (USS Yorktown)\
ENS Donald Scheu '40 (USS Yorktown)
April 1941
LTjg Stuart Stephens '34 (USS Yorktown)\
LTjg Milton Ricketts '35 (USS Yorktown)\
LTjg John Powers '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 5)\
LTjg Samuel Adams '35 (Bombing Squadron (VB) 5)\
LTjg John Curtis '35 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 5)
ENS John Black '38 (Carrier Division 2)\
ENS Eric Allen, Jr. '38 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 5)\
ENS Keene Hammond '38 (Carrier Division 2)\
ENS Andrew Gardner '39 (USS Yorktown)\
ENS Donald Scheu '40 (USS Yorktown)
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.