LOUIS C. SCHEIBLA, LCDR, USN
Louis Scheibla '07
Lucky Bag
From the 1907 Lucky Bag:
LOUIS COLLINS SCHEIBLA
Covington, Kentucky
"Count," " Wun Lung," "Goat," "Lamb"
A fathom of Blue Grass transplanted and doing nicely. The "Long Arm System" in the flesh with a reach that has gained him pounds and inches. Kept a skeleton in the rooms Second Class year and was often known to play with the "Bones." Marksman of renown, who helped amalgamate the "Nationals." Looks feverish when you mention calling-cards, and is the "bookies" delight. Helped to make youngster Christmas live forever in our memories, and was a charter member of the Friday Night Club. Sold his title for a jack-pot. Longs for graduation. "Three cards please, Mr. Dealer." "You're quite a large boy now, aren't you, Mr. Scheibla?"
Rifle Squad (2); Buzzard (1).
LOUIS COLLINS SCHEIBLA
Covington, Kentucky
"Count," " Wun Lung," "Goat," "Lamb"
A fathom of Blue Grass transplanted and doing nicely. The "Long Arm System" in the flesh with a reach that has gained him pounds and inches. Kept a skeleton in the rooms Second Class year and was often known to play with the "Bones." Marksman of renown, who helped amalgamate the "Nationals." Looks feverish when you mention calling-cards, and is the "bookies" delight. Helped to make youngster Christmas live forever in our memories, and was a charter member of the Friday Night Club. Sold his title for a jack-pot. Longs for graduation. "Three cards please, Mr. Dealer." "You're quite a large boy now, aren't you, Mr. Scheibla?"
Rifle Squad (2); Buzzard (1).
Loss
Louis was lost on April 17, 1924 "while on active duty as the result of an airplane accident in the Potomac River, Washington D.C."
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Louis was a passenger on a plane piloted by Lieutenant S. B. McMurrain of the bureau of aeronautics. The plane had just alighted when it turned over. Both men were thrown into the water and began swimming for shore. Before rescuers could reach Louis, he became exhausted and sank. Lt. McMurrain was saved. Louis' brother later said that he had suffered a severe attack of pneumonia recently, and physicians said that death was the result of a weak heart and not drowning.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Louis graduated from Covington High School. He was appointed to the Naval Academy by Congressman Gooch.
In July 1907, Louis was a few hours late reaching the Georgia because of making connections. Several of his shipmates were killed by the ship's explosion on July 15. A powder charge ignited prematurely in her aft 8” turret. [Caspar Goodrich '01 and Faulkner Goldthwaite '07.]
The next July, USS Georgia won the Magdalena bay target practice. See photo.
On June 2, 1910, he married Eugenia/Elizabeth Bell Barrick Hann at St. Mark's Methodist Episcopal Church in Forest Park, Maryland.
During WWI, Louis was detached from active service and given the management of the Bausch & Lomb Optical Company's factory at Rochester, New York. The company was manufacturing range finders, binoculars and other war equipment.
In October 1918, Louis became president of a new sports organization at the U. S. Naval gun factory in Rochester. Baseball had just finished and plans were made for a basketball tournament and a track meet. Louis rolled the first ball for the bowling tournament one Saturday. The teams were: officers and enlisted men of the navy, screw machine department, milling department, tool room, plumbers, electricians, lens centerers, lens grinders, turners and engravers, assemblers, experimental department, and adjusters.
On December 13, 1918, Louis along with nine other Navy men serving in Louis' gun factory and in the Bausch & Lomb Optical factory attended the Victory ball at the Rochester Convention Center.
After the war, Louis was on USS Nicholson, a torpedo destroyer, which sailed around the world.
Over his career, Louis served at the Navy proving ground at Indian Head, Maryland; the Washington navy yard and with the Sperry Gyroscope Company. He had a two-year service as commander of the destroyer Borie. He returned from Yokohama to Washington about six months before his death.
Louis' father was William; his mother was Bertha. He had three brothers: William, John, and Harry. Harry was a lieutenant stationed at Ft. Washington, Maryland. In high school, Harry played basketball and sang second bass in the school's glee club and chorus.
In 1940, Louis' wife was a librarian for the government in Washington, D. C., and their young son, Louis, Jr., was a budget manager at a retail service station. Louis, Jr. attended the Naval Academy (non-grad Class of 1935,) the University of Maryland and George Washington University. In 1941, he was employed at the navy yard in Washington, D. C.
He was survived by his wife and son; he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Photographs
From The Fort Wayne News on April 9, 1908
Career
He was commanding officer of USS Zane (DD 337) from sometime in 1921 until the ship was decommissioned in February 1923.
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 1907
January 1908
January 1909
January 1910
January 1912
January 1913
January 1914
January 1915
January 1917
March 1918
January 1919
January 1920
January 1921
January 1922
May 1923
July 1923
September 1923
November 1923
January 1924
March 1924
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
