FREDERICK G. KAHN, LTJG, USN

Frederick Kahn '21

Date of birth: July 10, 1899

Date of death: January 14, 1926

Age: 26

Lucky Bag

From the 1921 Lucky Bag:

Frederick Gustave Kahn

Youngstown, Ohio

"Spinach Gin" "Sunshine" "F. G." "Can"

KAHN is a consistent Red Mike hailing from Youngstown. Every Saturday night found him a member of the Red Mike's committee with the Plebes at the movies. Plebe year he became famous for pulling his well-known ice-stunt in the barracks, and for the remainder of the year he lived on edge.

Can has a quiet and retiring disposition, but the first thing you notice about him is his smile. His always cheerful grin has gained for him the name of "Sunshine." He is always ready to take your duty so that you may drag the fair one.

Despite the fact that he was a member of the weak squad Plebe year and first half of Youngster year, the extra gym squad did not see him again. His one hobby is sailing.

During the three years here he has been a steady worker. Although not one of the savviest, the Academics have held no real terror for him. Youngster year found him trying to pull some of the Plebes sat. He is known to have an unfaltering liking for the service and is ready to proclaim the same at any time.

Buzzard.

The Class of 1921 was the last of the wartime-accelerated classes. "1921A" was graduated on June 3, 1920; the second half, "1921B", was graduated on June 2, 1921. Frederick was graduated with 1921A.

Frederick Gustave Kahn

Youngstown, Ohio

"Spinach Gin" "Sunshine" "F. G." "Can"

KAHN is a consistent Red Mike hailing from Youngstown. Every Saturday night found him a member of the Red Mike's committee with the Plebes at the movies. Plebe year he became famous for pulling his well-known ice-stunt in the barracks, and for the remainder of the year he lived on edge.

Can has a quiet and retiring disposition, but the first thing you notice about him is his smile. His always cheerful grin has gained for him the name of "Sunshine." He is always ready to take your duty so that you may drag the fair one.

Despite the fact that he was a member of the weak squad Plebe year and first half of Youngster year, the extra gym squad did not see him again. His one hobby is sailing.

During the three years here he has been a steady worker. Although not one of the savviest, the Academics have held no real terror for him. Youngster year found him trying to pull some of the Plebes sat. He is known to have an unfaltering liking for the service and is ready to proclaim the same at any time.

Buzzard.

The Class of 1921 was the last of the wartime-accelerated classes. "1921A" was graduated on June 3, 1920; the second half, "1921B", was graduated on June 2, 1921. Frederick was graduated with 1921A.

Loss

Frederick was lost on January 14, 1926 when the airplane he was piloting crashed into San Diego Bay. He and his crewman both died; they were attached to USS West Virginia (BB 48).

From researcher Kathy Franz:

At the time of Frederick's death, his father was the general sales manager of Truscon Steel Company in Youngstown, Ohio. He was born in Germany, and he married Fannie Slocum, a woman born in Colombia. She had a child from a previous marriage. Frederick's younger brother Arnold was a mechanical engineer at the steel company. His sister Dorothea was a teacher. Frederick's uncle Albert Kahn was a Detroit architect. Frederick was actually born in Detroit.

Frederick is buried in Ohio.

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.