FRED M. PERKINS, CDR, USN

Fred Perkins '06

Date of birth: June 3, 1887

Date of death: December 22, 1924

Age: 37

Lucky Bag

From the 1906 Lucky Bag:

Fred Milton Perkins

Salem, Oregon

"Widow," "Perk"

Tried baseball but was turned down on account of his youth. The youngest man in the class. At first would believe anything, but has grown quite foxy of late. Shaped like an old apple tree. Highly original; fasted four days, set his alarm clock for midnight, then ate six oranges and ten bananas. Champion of the tennis court football team. Wears his plebe clothes at times with a Buster Brown effect. Wants the Pacific station.

Buzzard (1); Class Color Committee; Socker Squad (1); President Anti-cigarette League of Oregon (6, 5), of U. S. N. A. Cigarette Club (4, 3, 2, 1).

Fred Milton Perkins

Salem, Oregon

"Widow," "Perk"

Tried baseball but was turned down on account of his youth. The youngest man in the class. At first would believe anything, but has grown quite foxy of late. Shaped like an old apple tree. Highly original; fasted four days, set his alarm clock for midnight, then ate six oranges and ten bananas. Champion of the tennis court football team. Wears his plebe clothes at times with a Buster Brown effect. Wants the Pacific station.

Buzzard (1); Class Color Committee; Socker Squad (1); President Anti-cigarette League of Oregon (6, 5), of U. S. N. A. Cigarette Club (4, 3, 2, 1).

Loss

Fred was lost on December 22, 1924 when the aircraft he was aboard crashed near San Diego. He was "gunnery officer for the Pacific Fleet" at the time.

He was survived by his wife and two children. He is buried in Oregon.

Navy Cross

From Hall of Valor:

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Commander Fred Milton Perkins, United States Navy, for distinguished service in the line of his profession as Force Engineer and later as Secretary of Cruises and Transport Force and temporarily as Chief of Staff during World War I.
Service: Navy
Division: Cruises and Transport Force

Army Distinguished Service Medal

From Hall of Valor:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Commander Fred Milton Perkins, United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility during World War I, as Flag Secretary to the Commander, Cruiser and Transport Fleet. Commander Perkins' close cooperation with the Army authorities in the handling of troop ships contributed greatly to the successful outcome of our oversea operations.
General Orders: War Department, General Orders No. 116 (1919)
Service: Navy
Division: Cruiser and Transport Fleet

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 1907

Midshipman, Nebraska

Others at this command: ENS John Rodgers '03 and MIDN Grattan Dichman '07.

January 1908

Midshipman, Nebraska

Others at this command: ENS John Rodgers '03, ENS Arthur Caffee '04, and MIDN Grattan Dichman '07.

January 1909

Ensign, Wisconsin

January 1910

Ensign, Wisconsin

January 1911

Ensign, Pennsylvania

January 1912

Lieutenant, Pennsylvania

Others at this command: ENS Frank King '07.

January 1913

Lieutenant, Navy Yard, Puget Sound

Others at this command: LT Ralph Griswold '02.

January 1914

Lieutenant, Navy Yard, Puget Sound

January 1915

Lieutenant, navigator, USS Vestal

January 1916

Lieutenant, USS Cassin

January 1917

Lieutenant, force engineer officer, Destroyer Forces, USS Seattle

Others at or embarked at USS Seattle: LTjg Godfrey Chevalier '10 (USS Seattle), LTjg William Corry '10 (USS Seattle), and ENS Robert Farrar '15 (USS Seattle).

March 1918

Lieutenant Commander, engineering officer, Atlantic Cruiser Force, USS Seattle

January 1919

Commander, USS George Washington

January 1920

Commander, Naval Proving Ground, Indian Head, Maryland

January 1921

Commander, Naval Proving Ground, Indian Head, Maryland

January 1922

Commander, Naval Proving Ground, Indian Head, Maryland

May 1923

Commander, gunnery officer, USS Tennessee

Others at this command: LTjg Edwin Conway '20 and ENS Edward Metcalfe '22.

July 1923

Commander, gunnery officer, Battle Fleet Staff