JOSEPH J. LOUGHLIN, JR., LTJG, USN

Joseph Loughlin, Jr. '32

Date of birth: April 23, 1909

Date of death: April 6, 1937

Age: 27

Lucky Bag

From the 1932 Lucky Bag:

JOSEPH JAMES LOUGHLIN

Lansdowne, Pennsylvania

"Joe"

Joe's home port is Wilmington, North Carolina, where he found the sea and learned to love it. From there he sailed a steady course and landed here with his cargo of sunshine and good fellowship.

We know that he will always be ready to give us a helping hand and cheery encouragement. Perhaps we have received grades too soon—or are unofficially detained on Saturday afternoon—see Joe. So it was in wrestling—he said he never could but somehow he did, and to his own satisfaction, won that much coveted letter. Yes, when Joe is wrestling they all stop—even the D. O.'s—if for that bout only.

His numerous friends are the best indication of his charming personality and sincere character. Though always happy and seemingly carefree, under the surface he is a real man.

If we could know such men as he every day, we could look forward to the future with as much confidence and with as many happy thoughts as we look back upon the past four years.

Wrestling, N; Hop Committee, Chairman; Ring Dance Committee; Chairman June Ball Committee; Pep Committee; 2 Stripes.

JOSEPH JAMES LOUGHLIN

Lansdowne, Pennsylvania

"Joe"

Joe's home port is Wilmington, North Carolina, where he found the sea and learned to love it. From there he sailed a steady course and landed here with his cargo of sunshine and good fellowship.

We know that he will always be ready to give us a helping hand and cheery encouragement. Perhaps we have received grades too soon—or are unofficially detained on Saturday afternoon—see Joe. So it was in wrestling—he said he never could but somehow he did, and to his own satisfaction, won that much coveted letter. Yes, when Joe is wrestling they all stop—even the D. O.'s—if for that bout only.

His numerous friends are the best indication of his charming personality and sincere character. Though always happy and seemingly carefree, under the surface he is a real man.

If we could know such men as he every day, we could look forward to the future with as much confidence and with as many happy thoughts as we look back upon the past four years.

Wrestling, N; Hop Committee, Chairman; Ring Dance Committee; Chairman June Ball Committee; Pep Committee; 2 Stripes.

Loss

Joseph was lost on April 6, 1937 when the SBU-1 airplane he was piloting collided with another over the Pacific Ocean near San Diego. Three others aboard both planes were also killed.

The aircraft and crews were part of Bombing Squadron (VB) 3B, embarked in USS Lexington (CV 2).

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

His father, Joseph Sr., was a post office clerk in Wilmington in 1910, and was killed in action in France days before WWI ended.
His mother was Eleanor, his brother was Charles ('33) who became a Rear Admiral, and his sister was Eleanor. In 1910 his aunt Ruth King lived with them as well. His uncle was Major Charles C. Loughlin of Fort Moultrie, Charleston, South Carolina.
Just one month before his death, Joseph was an usher at Lieutenant Robert Crowell Jones' wedding in Coronado.
Funeral services were held at the chapel of J. J. Mottell, Inc., on April 10 in Long Beach.

Joseph earned his wings as naval aviator #4240 on May 26, 1936. Unable to find a burial site or location of a memory marker.

Photographs

From The News and Observer on April 9, 1937

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.