OSWALD A. ZINK, LTJG, USN

Oswald Zink '38

Date of birth: November 25, 1914

Date of death: December 13, 1941

Age: 27

Lucky Bag

From the 1938 Lucky Bag:

OSWALD ARTHUR ZINK

Ghent, New York

Ozzie

"Who put those crackers in my bed?" This is the usual question asked and the answer nine times out of ten is traced to Ozzie Zink. Hailing from the Empire State, Ozzie will enter either side of any argument and emerge on the winning end. As a Plebe he became quite a vocalist, entertaining the first class with "The Old Pine Tree" at full dress P-rades. Neither a snake nor a Red Mike he drags sometimes for himself and sometimes for others. Although not a savoir, his constant effort always puts him through with that extra velvet. A good sense of humor and a cheerful disposition make him an ideal roommate. The best of luck and success to you, Ozzie, whether it be in the Service or in civilian life.

Radio Club 2, 1; Track 4; M.P.O.

OSWALD ARTHUR ZINK

Ghent, New York

Ozzie

"Who put those crackers in my bed?" This is the usual question asked and the answer nine times out of ten is traced to Ozzie Zink. Hailing from the Empire State, Ozzie will enter either side of any argument and emerge on the winning end. As a Plebe he became quite a vocalist, entertaining the first class with "The Old Pine Tree" at full dress P-rades. Neither a snake nor a Red Mike he drags sometimes for himself and sometimes for others. Although not a savoir, his constant effort always puts him through with that extra velvet. A good sense of humor and a cheerful disposition make him an ideal roommate. The best of luck and success to you, Ozzie, whether it be in the Service or in civilian life.

Radio Club 2, 1; Track 4; M.P.O.

Loss

Oswald was lost on December 13, 1941 when his Curtiss SON-1 Seagull scout plane, operating from USS Cincinnati (CL 6), seems to have landed on the sea, was taken under tow, and then sank in the vicinity of St. Lucia.

From Cincinnati's war diary: She was leading a three-ship task group charged with keeping the French aircraft carrier Béarn and cruiser Émile Bertin in harbor. Oswald and his observer/radioman were launched at 1745 on December 12, and were to patrol over Fort de France harbor until relieved by a patrol bomber at 2300. Afterwards, they were to land at St. Lucia. Oswald reported he was relieved at that time and was proceeding as instructed. At 2330, though, Cincinnati observed a flare in vicinity of St. Lucia. The next morning, December 13, the ship proceeded to St. Lucia and discovered the plane was missing; they notified local (British) authorities and requested search planes from San Juan. The plane is not mentioned in the war diary again until the 16th:

At 1230 received OPNAV despatch 161545 which stated that radio station Montserrat picked up distress signal from cruiser plane 2-CS-6 and that SLOOP POLYANDER [note: actually HMS Polyanthus (K47)] en route Santiago, Trinidad took plane in tow sixteen miles northward and westward of St. Lucia on 13th December. Tow line parted at 1600 of the same date after towing about 5 miles, with pilot and observer still in plane with no gas and no radio. Continued searching vicinity for lost plane assisted by aircraft from Trinidad. Search unsuccessful.

In Cincinnati's deck logs, at approximately 1930 (7:30pm) on December 14 it is recorded that "U.S.S. WASP reported completion unsuccessful search for CINCINNATI plane #1154, pilot Ens. O.A. ZINK, USN, passenger F.E. KELLY (RM3c)."

Other Information

From naval aviation historian Richard Leonard via email on February 9, 2018:

Designated Naval Aviator # 7466, 4/21/1941

Date of rank LTJG from 1 Jul 1941 USN Register, 6/2/1941

VCS-2 USS Cincinnati (CL-6) KIFA BNR, 12/13/1941

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Oswald was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, to Henry and Augusta Zink. His father was a puncher in the electrical industry. The family moved after 1930 to Ghent, New York, where his father became a farmer.
In 1929 Oswald entered his first plane into the Eagle model airplane contest in Pittsfield and won second place. The winning time was 1 minute, 57 seconds; his plane stayed aloft 1 minute, 40 seconds.
In April 1941 the newspaper reported that he transferred from NAS Pensacola to cruiser scouting squadron 2.

Carol Esbig is Oswald's first cousin, once removed – Oswald and her "father, Alfred, were first cousins, but grew up like brothers in the same household." She provided additional research the family had conducted over the years, including attempting to find records from HMS Polyanthus (K47). She also shared:

Oswald did not have any surviving siblings. He had a brother who died at birth. His father died before his mother, but I don’t know the year. His mother died in 1960. Upon his mother’s death, his aunt (his mother’s sister, but not my father’s mother), my father, and other cousins were his closest survivors. His aunt, and his first cousins are deceased.

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.

July 1938

Ensign, USS Salt Lake City

Others at this command:

LT Richard Gingras '25

ENS Roger Currier '37

January 1939

Ensign, USS Salt Lake City

Others at this command:

LT Richard Gingras '25

ENS Roger Currier '37

October 1939

Ensign, USS Salt Lake City

Others at this command:

LT Richard Gingras '25

ENS Roger Currier '37

June 1940

Ensign, USS Salt Lake City

Others at this command:

ENS Roger Currier '37

ENS Carthel Smith, Jr. '40

ENS Fraser Knight '40

November 1940

Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida

Others at this command:

April 1941

Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida

Others at this command:

Others at or embarked at this command:

2LT Alfred Gordon '39 (Marine Barracks)

Memorial Hall Error?

Oswald is not listed on the killed in action panel in the front of Memorial Hall. While not an obvious error, inclusion on the panel for loss like this—incidental to a combat flight—has been inconsistent across WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

Class of 1938

Oswald is one of 72 members of the Class of 1938 on Virtual Memorial Hall.

← Samuel Hunter, Jr. '38

James Danforth '38 →

The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.