JOHN A. COLLETT, LCDR, USN
John Collett '29
Lucky Bag
From the 1929 Lucky Bag:
Loss
John was lost on October 26, 1942 when his TBF-1 Avenger torpedo bomber was shot down at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. He was commanding officer of Torpedo Squadron (VT) 10, flying from USS Enterprise (CV 6); he had only taken command 10 days earlier.
He was briefly in command of Torpedo Squadron (VT) 3 in January 1942.
His mother was listed as next of kin.
Namesake
USS Collett (DD 730) was named for John; the ship was sponsored by his mother. The commissioning commanding officer was his brother James.
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 1929
Ensign, USS Texas
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
October 1929
Ensign, USS Texas
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
January 1930
Ensign, USS Texas
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
April 1930
Ensign, USS Texas
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
October 1930
Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
Others at this command:
LT Paul Thompson '19
LT Irving Wiltsie '21
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Robert Larson '24
LTjg James McDonough '24
LTjg John Waldron '24
LTjg Charles McDonald '24
LTjg Richard Moss '24
January 1931
Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
Others at this command:
LT Paul Thompson '19
LT Irving Wiltsie '21
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Robert Larson '24
LTjg James McDonough '24
LTjg John Waldron '24
LTjg Charles McDonald '24
LTjg Richard Moss '24
LTjg John Duke '26
April 1931
Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
Others at this command:
LT Irving Wiltsie '21
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Robert Larson '24
LTjg James McDonough '24
LTjg John Waldron '24
LTjg Charles McDonald '24
LTjg Richard Moss '24
LTjg John Duke '26
LTjg James Averill '27
LTjg William Potts '27
July 1931
Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
Others at this command:
LT Irving Wiltsie '21
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Robert Larson '24
LTjg James McDonough '24
LTjg Charles McDonald '24
LTjg Richard Moss '24
LTjg Carlton Hutchins '26
LTjg Charles Signer '26
LTjg John Duke '26
LTjg William Potts '27
October 1931
Ensign, Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 9S, USS Chester
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at USS Chester:
January 1932
Ensign, Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 9S, USS Chester
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at USS Chester:
April 1932
Ensign, Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 9S, USS Chester
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at USS Chester:
October 1932
Lieutenant (j.g.), Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 9S, USS Chester
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at USS Chester:
January 1933
Lieutenant (j.g.), Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 9S, USS Chester
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at USS Chester:
April 1933
Lieutenant (j.g.), Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 9S, USS Chester
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at USS Chester:
July 1933
Lieutenant (j.g.), Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 9S, USS Chester
Others at or embarked at USS Chester:
ENS James Kyes '30 (USS Chester)
ENS Max Silverstein '32 (USS Chester)
October 1933
Lieutenant (j.g.), Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 9S, USS Chester
Others at or embarked at USS Chester:
ENS James Kyes '30 (USS Chester)
ENS Max Silverstein '32 (USS Chester)
April 1934
Lieutenant (j.g.), Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 9S, USS Chester
Others at or embarked at USS Chester:
July 1934
Lieutenant (j.g.), Patrol Plane Squadron (VP) 1F, Naval Air Station Pearl Harbor
Others at this command:
October 1934
Lieutenant (j.g.), Patrol Plane Squadron (VP) 1F, Naval Air Station Pearl Harbor
Others at this command:
January 1935
Lieutenant (j.g.), Patrol Plane Squadron (VP) 1F, Naval Air Station Pearl Harbor
Others at this command:
April 1935
Lieutenant (j.g.), Patrol Plane Squadron (VP) 1F, Naval Air Station Pearl Harbor
Others at this command:
October 1935
Lieutenant (j.g.), Patrol Plane Squadron (VP) 1F, Naval Air Station Pearl Harbor
Others at this command:
January 1936
Lieutenant (j.g.), Patrol Plane Squadron (VP) 1F, Naval Air Station Pearl Harbor
Others at this command:
April 1936
Lieutenant (j.g.), Patrol Plane Squadron (VP) 1F, Naval Air Station Pearl Harbor
Others at this command:
July 1936
Lieutenant (j.g.), tempo, Aircraft Squadrons, USS Saratoga
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at USS Saratoga:
LT Charles McDonald '24 (Torpedo Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LT Richard Moss '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Elmer Cooper '27 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Gerald Dyson '27 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Leonard Southerland '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg William Pye, Jr. '28 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Ford Wallace '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Edward Blessman '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LTjg Albert Gates, Jr. '32 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg George Bellinger '32 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Edwin Hurst '32 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
ENS Wendell Froling '34 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Maurice Fitzgerald '35 (USS Saratoga)
January 1937
Lieutenant (j.g.), Torpedo Plane Squadron (VT) 2B, USS Saratoga
Others at or embarked at USS Saratoga:
LCDR John Gillon '20 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LT John Waldron '24 (USS Saratoga)
LT Richard Moss '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LT Gerald Dyson '27 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LTjg Leonard Southerland '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LT William Pye, Jr. '28 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Thomas Ashworth, Jr. '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Clarence Kasparek '32 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 4B)
LTjg Albert Gates, Jr. '32 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg George Bellinger '32 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Edwin Hurst '32 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
ENS Maurice Fitzgerald '35 (USS Saratoga)
April 1937
Lieutenant (j.g.), Torpedo Plane Squadron (VT) 2B, USS Saratoga
Others at or embarked at USS Saratoga:
LCDR John Gillon '20 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LT John Waldron '24 (USS Saratoga)
LT Richard Moss '24 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LT Gerald Dyson '27 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
LT Leonard Southerland '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LT William Pye, Jr. '28 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Thomas Ashworth, Jr. '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Clarence Kasparek '32 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 4B)
LTjg Albert Gates, Jr. '32 (USS Saratoga)
LTjg George Bellinger '32 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Edwin Hurst '32 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 2B)
ENS Maurice Fitzgerald '35 (USS Saratoga)
September 1937
Lieutenant, Torpedo Squadron (VT) 5, USS Yorktown
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at USS Yorktown:
LT Robert Winters '27 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 5)
LTjg James Averill '27 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 5)
LT Henry Dozier '27 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 5)
LT Lloyd Greenamyer '29 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 5)
LT Finley Hall '29 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 5)
ENS Milton Ricketts '35 (USS Yorktown)
ENS Hubert Harden '35 (USS Yorktown)
ENS Webster Johnson '36 (USS Yorktown)
ENS Bethel Otter '37 (USS Yorktown)
January 1938
Lieutenant, Aviation Unit, USS Savannah
Others at or embarked at USS Savannah:
July 1938
Lieutenant, Aviation Unit, USS Savannah
Others at or embarked at USS Savannah:
January 1939
Lieutenant, Aviation Unit, USS Savannah
Others at or embarked at USS Savannah:
October 1939
Lieutenant, Patrol Squadron (VP) 23, Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii
June 1940
Lieutenant, Patrol Squadron (VP) 23, Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii
November 1940
Lieutenant, Patrol Squadron (VP) 23, Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii
April 1941
Lieutenant, Patrol Squadron (VP) 23, Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii
Class of 1929
John is one of 29 members of the Class of 1929 on Virtual Memorial Hall.