EDGAR G. CHASE, LCDR, USN
Edgar Chase '32
Lucky Bag
From the 1932 Lucky Bag:
Loss
Edgar was lost on October 17, 1942, two days after USS Meredith (DD 434) was sunk by Japanese air attack. He and dozens of other survivors had not been rescued; he "had become increasingly disoriented, the result of the concussion he had sustained from a bomb explosion on the ship. Early on the second day, he stood up in the raft and said, "I think I'll get some cigarettes." Before he could be restrained, he dove off, swam away, and was never seen again."
Edgar was the ship's executive officer; he had been engineering officer when the ship was commissioned. His wartime experience and actions are included in "The Short Life of a Valiant Ship: USS Meredith (DD434)" by Barry Friedman and Robert Robinson.
His wife was listed as next of kin; he was also survived by a young son.
His memorial is in the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Philippines.
Namesake
USS Edgar G. Chase (DE 16) was named for Edgar.
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.
October 1932
Ensign, USS Texas
Others at this command: ENS William Sisko '31, ENS Fred Connaway '32, ENS George Hutchinson '32, and ENS William Widhelm '32.
January 1933
Ensign, USS Texas
Others at this command: ENS William Sisko '31, ENS Fred Connaway '32, ENS George Hutchinson '32, and ENS William Widhelm '32.
April 1933
Ensign, USS Texas
Others at this command: ENS William Sisko '31, ENS Fred Connaway '32, ENS George Hutchinson '32, and ENS William Widhelm '32.
July 1933
Ensign, USS Texas
Others at this command: LT William France '24, ENS Ralph Elden '31, ENS William Sisko '31, ENS Fred Connaway '32, ENS William Widhelm '32, and ENS Francis Brown '33.
Others at or embarked at this command: LTjg Charles McDonald '24 (Observation Plane Squadron (VO) 1B).
October 1933
Ensign, USS Texas
Others at this command: ENS Ralph Elden '31, ENS Fred Connaway '32, ENS William Widhelm '32, and ENS Francis Brown '33.
Others at or embarked at this command: LTjg Charles McDonald '24 (Observation Plane Squadron (VO) 1B).
April 1934
Ensign, USS Texas
Others at this command: LT Joyce Ralph '23, ENS William Widhelm '32, and ENS Francis Brown '33.
Others at or embarked at this command: LTjg Charles McDonald '24 (Observation Plane Squadron (VO) 1B) and ENS Ralph Elden '31 (Battleship Division 1).
July 1934
Ensign, USS Texas
Others at this command: CDR Sherwood Picking '11, LT Joyce Ralph '23, ENS Francis Brown '33, ENS Charles Ware '34, and ENS Robert Robertson '34.
Others at or embarked at this command: ENS Ralph Elden '31 (Battleship Division 1).
October 1934
Ensign, USS Texas
Others at this command: LT Joyce Ralph '23, ENS Francis Brown '33, ENS Charles Ware '34, and ENS Robert Robertson '34.
Others at or embarked at this command: LTjg Ralph Elden '31 (Battleship Division 1).
January 1935
Ensign, USS Worden
April 1935
Ensign, USS Worden
October 1935
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Worden
January 1936
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Worden
April 1936
Lieutenant (j.g.), for assignment, 16th Naval District
July 1936
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Stewart
January 1937
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Stewart
April 1937
Lieutenant (j.g.), 1st Lieutenant, USS Stewart
September 1937
Lieutenant (j.g.), 1st Lieutenant, USS Stewart
January 1938
Lieutenant (j.g.), 1st Lieutenant, USS Stewart
July 1938
Lieutenant (j.g.), 1st Lieutenant, USS Stewart
January 1939
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Constitution
October 1939
Lieutenant (j.g.), Naval Academy
Others at this command: CAPT James Logan '10, LCDR Raymond Hansen '22, LT Hilan Ebert '26, LT Edwin Martin '29, LT Lion Miles '31, LT Seymour Owens '31, LT Thomas Ashworth, Jr. '31, LTjg Albert Gates, Jr. '32, LTjg Arthur Vorpahl '32, LTjg Edwin Hurst '32, LTjg Ernest Hodge '32, LTjg James Marshall '32, LTjg John Fairbanks, Jr. '32, LTjg John Tennent, III '32, LTjg John Speer '32, LTjg Reader Scott '32, and LTjg George Fuller '35.
Others at or embarked at this command: LT James Willis '27 (Postgraduate School, Naval Academy).
April 1941
Lieutenant, engineering officer, USS Meredith
Others at this command: LTjg Thomas Shriver '35 and ENS Ray Penrod '41.
Class of 1932
Edgar is one of 52 members of the Class of 1932 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
