JAMES R. KYLE, JR., LT, USN
James Kyle, Jr. '15
Lucky Bag
From the 1915 Lucky Bag:
Biography
From Find A Grave:
Lieutenant J. Kyle, USN, was designated Naval Aviator #2950 in 1921. Graduated U.S. Naval Academy, Class of 1915. Was Engineering Officer of the Torpedo Boat Destroyer USS DENT during the World War.
From May 1-2, 1925 LTs Kyle and Clarence Henry Schildhauer (NA #3053), testing the new PN-9 seaplane, set a new endurance record of 28 hours, 35 minutes, 27 seconds. The plane, a metal-hulled flying boat equipped with two Packard engines, was used by CDR John Rogers later in the year on his record flight toward Hawaii.
Assigned to the parachute school at NAS Lakehurst, NJ, LT Kyle was killed when his parachute failed to open after bailing out of a disabled aircraft.
James was survived by his parents and brother; he is buried in Virginia.
World Record Flight
The aircraft mentioned above featured an open cockpit.
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.
January 1916
Ensign, USS Barry
January 1917
Ensign, USS Barry
March 1918
Lieutenant, USS Dent
January 1920
Lieutenant, USS Dent
January 1921
Lieutenant, under instruction, Naval Academy
Others at this command:
January 1922
Lieutenant, under instruction, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Others at this command:
May 1923
Lieutenant, USS Langley
July 1923
Lieutenant, USS Langley
January 1924
Lieutenant, Naval Aircraft Factory, Navy Yard, Philadelphia
Others at this command:
March 1924
Lieutenant, Naval Aircraft Factory, Navy Yard, Philadelphia
Others at this command:
May 1924
Lieutenant, Naval Aircraft Factory, Navy Yard, Philadelphia
Others at this command:
July 1924
Lieutenant, Naval Aircraft Factory, Navy Yard, Philadelphia
Others at this command:
September 1924
Lieutenant, Naval Aircraft Factory, Navy Yard, Philadelphia
Others at this command:
November 1924
Lieutenant, Naval Aircraft Factory, Navy Yard, Philadelphia
Others at this command:
January 1925
Lieutenant, Naval Aircraft Factory, Navy Yard, Philadelphia
Others at this command:
March 1925
Lieutenant, Naval Aircraft Factory, Navy Yard, Philadelphia
Others at this command:
May 1925
Lieutenant, Naval Aircraft Factory, Navy Yard, Philadelphia
Others at this command:
Class of 1915
James is one of 18 members of the Class of 1915 on Virtual Memorial Hall.