EDWARD F. DENNEY, LT, USN
Edward Denney '35
Lucky Bag
From the 1935 Lucky Bag:
Loss
Edward was co-pilot of one of two Navy PBY-5 Catalina patrol bombers that crashed near San Francisco, California, on April 12, 1942. Both aircraft were from Patrol Squadron (VP) 84; the squadron was departing for a homeport shift to Norfolk.
From Journal and Courier from Lafayette, Indiana:
14 MEN KILLED WHEN TWO U. S. BOMBERS CRASH
Seven Naval Fliers Die in Each Plane in Disasters in Hilly Country East of San Francisco. SAN FRANCISCO, April 13. (INS) Fourteen navy airmen were killed and a fifteenth was seriously injured when two navy PBY-5-A patrol bombers crashed in flames in the Livermore hills east of the Alameda naval air station on San Francisco bay, a navy statement announced today. Seven men died in each plane, the navy said.
Edward is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Family
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Edward was born in West Ham, Essex, England, and came with his parents when he was 10 months old to Rochester, New York. In 1920 his father Edward was a spooler for Kodak. In 1930 he worked as a bookkeeper. His mother was Elizabeth, and his sisters, both born in Rochester, were Lorene and Nora.
Edward graduated from West High School in June 1931 where he participated in track. He was also a former chorister at Christ Episcopal Church and was vice president of the Acolyte Guild. Representative Archie D. Sanders appointed him to the Naval Academy.
Edward was survived by his family, his wife Dore, and his daughter Lynne who was born March 15, 1940, in Cavite, Philippine Islands.
Related Articles
Frank Fernald '33 was piloting Edward's plane. The pilot of the other aircraft was their squadron commander, Loren Morris '27.
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 1935
Ensign, USS Chester
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January 1936
Ensign, USS Chester
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April 1936
Ensign, USS Chester
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July 1936
Ensign, USS Chester
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January 1937
Ensign, USS Chester
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April 1937
Ensign, USS Chester
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September 1937
Ensign, USS Chester
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January 1938
Ensign, USS Chester
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July 1938
Ensign, USS Chester
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January 1939
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Stewart
October 1939
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Stewart
June 1940
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Stewart
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November 1940
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Stewart
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April 1941
Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
Others at this command:
LT William Pennewill '29
LT Finley Hall '29
LT John Yoho '29
LT William Sisko '31
LT George Bellinger '32
LT Martin Koivisto '32
LT John Spiers '32
LT Archibald Greenlee '32
LT Daniel Gothie '32
LT Albert Major, Jr. '32
LTjg John McCormack, Jr. '33
Others at or embarked at this command:
Class of 1935
Edward is one of 56 members of the Class of 1935 on Virtual Memorial Hall.