FRANK S. FERNALD, LT, USN

Frank Fernald '33

Date of birth: November 1, 1908

Date of death: April 12, 1942

Age: 33

Lucky Bag

From the 1933 Lucky Bag:

FRANK STANFORD FERNALD

Dallas, Texas

"Speedy" "Stan" "Eskimo"

When this blue-eyed, curly-headed stripling aroused in himself the desire to enter the Academy, the Lone Star State scarcely realized its loss. It required but little time, however, for his achievements to reveal that which his modesty concealed. Quietly and persistently he breezed along, gathering a host of friends—idolized by femmes and admired by men. Unfortunately, sessions of the Radiator Club were never livened by his presence, because the gym team claimed and developed him into an aerialist. His rise from obscurity to stardom on the flying rings was so rapid it was rightly termed phenomenal. Fortunately for naval aviation, his air mindedness extends beyond the confines of Macdonough Hall.

In academics the tangible results of his efforts were disproportionate to energy expended; but after one close shave he kept the Academic Departments at bay.

A mania for balancing his cap on one ear was never appreciated by certain members of the Executive Department who refused to concede such obvious saltiness in one so young.

Assuming that "Patience is a virtue," Speedy is exceptionally virtuous, and his tactfulness would do honor to a diplomat.

"Wotta man," Fernald!

Gym 3, 2, 1; 2 P. O.

FRANK STANFORD FERNALD

Dallas, Texas

"Speedy" "Stan" "Eskimo"

When this blue-eyed, curly-headed stripling aroused in himself the desire to enter the Academy, the Lone Star State scarcely realized its loss. It required but little time, however, for his achievements to reveal that which his modesty concealed. Quietly and persistently he breezed along, gathering a host of friends—idolized by femmes and admired by men. Unfortunately, sessions of the Radiator Club were never livened by his presence, because the gym team claimed and developed him into an aerialist. His rise from obscurity to stardom on the flying rings was so rapid it was rightly termed phenomenal. Fortunately for naval aviation, his air mindedness extends beyond the confines of Macdonough Hall.

In academics the tangible results of his efforts were disproportionate to energy expended; but after one close shave he kept the Academic Departments at bay.

A mania for balancing his cap on one ear was never appreciated by certain members of the Executive Department who refused to concede such obvious saltiness in one so young.

Assuming that "Patience is a virtue," Speedy is exceptionally virtuous, and his tactfulness would do honor to a diplomat.

"Wotta man," Fernald!

Gym 3, 2, 1; 2 P. O.

Loss

Frank was lost when two Navy PBY-5 Catalina patrol bombers 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.

Other Information

From the 1953 edition of the book "Double Three Roundup," published by the class of 1933:

Speedy was one of the Kelly Field fliers who came back with us a year after graduation. After a refresher course at Pensacola he was assigned to VO-4 aboard the MARYLAND, and in Mar1937 he joined VF-513, later redesignated VF-4, in the RANGER. Three and a half years at Honolulu with the Patrol Squadrons followed before he was transferred to Norfolk, with VP-84. He flew to Alameda to bring an airplane back, just one hour before news of Pearl Harbor came, and remained to be stationed there, he was killed when his plane crashed near Livermore, California on 12 April 1942.
Frank married Anne McFarland of San Antonio, Texas, in LaJolla, California, on September 19, 1936. After Speedy's death Anne went to work for United Services Automobile Association. She is now happily married again, as Mrs. Dick Gay, 2205 Pine Ave., Gulfport, Mississippi. She is active in Church, civic and social affairs and still keeps in close touch with Speedy's mother, Mrs. Helen Stanford Fernald. Anne describes Speedy's hobbies as his work ("which he loved and which came before anything else."), a system of bookkeeping and filing ("that any professional would have admired"), working around the house and training their dog, Tony, to do every thing but break his habit of barking at and jumping on guests.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

A native of Montana, Frank graduated from Highland Park high school in Dallas. In his junior year, he was 1st Sergeant of Company “A” R.O.T.C. He then attended Texas A&M college where he belonged to the Flight A Air Corps and the Dallas Club.
In 1940, Frank and his wife Anna lived in Honolulu.
His father Captain Frank Osborne Fernald, a WWI veteran, served in the Corps of Engineers and was active in the World War Officers Association. Frank’s mother was Helen, brother Osborne, sister Jane, and uncle Major Robert W. Fernald. When living in Highland Park, Frank’s father was superintendent of a pullman company. He died in 1948.

Frank's ashes were scattered at sea.

Photographs

From The Charlotte Observer on April 14, 1942

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.