JOHN A. HOLLOWELL, JR., CDR, USN

John Hollowell, Jr. '22

Date of birth: August 31, 1899

Date of death: March 1, 1942

Age: 42

Lucky Bag

From the 1922 Lucky Bag:

JOHN AMBROSE HOLLOWELL, JR.

Norfolk, Virginia

"Ambrose," "Hollowhead."

AMBROSE came to us from Tennessee, but at that he's not without ambition. He is a firm believer in, and a living example of, the "Solid South." Constant contact with civilization, however, showed him the great handicap beneath which he was laboring so that he changed his residence to Norfolk,—a move in the right direction, but not far enough. A few more shifts an'—by the way, he's some shifter. Listen! He'll tell you himself: "My gang shifted that last scene in one minute flat. Professionals saw something they rarely read about."

Ambrose is noted for remarkably poor argumentative powers, a sorrowful accent, and not knowing that the Civil War is over. Nevertheless, he is the best of roommates; his heart is big and his opinions are changing. Why, he's even going to drag sometime—maybe.

Gold Masked N; Stage Manager Masqueraders (2, 1).

JOHN AMBROSE HOLLOWELL, JR.

Norfolk, Virginia

"Ambrose," "Hollowhead."

AMBROSE came to us from Tennessee, but at that he's not without ambition. He is a firm believer in, and a living example of, the "Solid South." Constant contact with civilization, however, showed him the great handicap beneath which he was laboring so that he changed his residence to Norfolk,—a move in the right direction, but not far enough. A few more shifts an'—by the way, he's some shifter. Listen! He'll tell you himself: "My gang shifted that last scene in one minute flat. Professionals saw something they rarely read about."

Ambrose is noted for remarkably poor argumentative powers, a sorrowful accent, and not knowing that the Civil War is over. Nevertheless, he is the best of roommates; his heart is big and his opinions are changing. Why, he's even going to drag sometime—maybe.

Gold Masked N; Stage Manager Masqueraders (2, 1).

Loss

John was lost when USS Houston (CA 30) was sunk on March 1, 1942 during the Battle of Sunda Strait. He was the ship's navigator.

His wife was listed as next of kin.

Remembrances

In "Ship of Ghosts", he is quoted responding to a sailor where they were going: "In a fatherly way, he draped his arm around my shoulder and, as though talking to himself, said, 'Son, we're going to hell, we're going to hell.'"

USS V-4 (Argonaut) was built with some new safety features as the results of the sinking of the USS F-4, sunk on March 25; 1915; S-5, sunk September 1, 1920; O-5, sunk October 28, 1923; and S-4, sunk on December 1, 1927 and the extreme difficulty of salvage workers to recover the submarines. Here, Lt jg John A. Hollowell is showing the two External Salvage valves that divers can use to send air to the Forward and After groups of ballast tanks from the subs own high pressure air flasks.

USS V-4 (Argonaut) was built with some new safety features such as these externally mounted salvage valves. Here, Lt jg John A. Hollowell is showing the External Salvage valve for the Officers Quarters Compartment that is located on the fore deck of submarine. Divers can use this to send air to that space using air from the subs own high pressure air flasks or from an external air source. Photo taken June 26, 1928.

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.

May 1923

Ensign, USS Osborne

July 1923

Ensign, USS Osborne

September 1923

Ensign, USS Osborne

November 1923

Ensign, USS Osborne

January 1924

Ensign, course instrn, Naval Torpedo Station, Newport, Rhode Island

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Others at this command:

ENS James Craig '22
ENS Eugene Elmore '22

ENS William Haynsworth, Jr. '23
ENS Joyce Ralph '23

ENS Louis Drexler, Jr. '23

March 1924

Ensign, course instrn, Naval Torpedo Station, Newport, Rhode Island

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Others at this command:

ENS James Craig '22
ENS Eugene Elmore '22

ENS William Haynsworth, Jr. '23
ENS Joyce Ralph '23

ENS Louis Drexler, Jr. '23

May 1924

Ensign, course instrn, Naval Torpedo Station, Newport, Rhode Island

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Others at this command:

ENS James Craig '22
ENS Eugene Elmore '22

ENS William Haynsworth, Jr. '23
ENS Joyce Ralph '23

ENS Louis Drexler, Jr. '23

July 1924

Ensign, USS Osborne

September 1924

Ensign, USS Osborne

November 1924

Ensign, USS Osborne

January 1925

Ensign, USS Osborne

March 1925

Ensign, USS Osborne

May 1925

Ensign, USS Osborne

July 1925

Ensign, USS Osborne

October 1925

Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Osborne

January 1926

Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Osborne

October 1926

Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Osborne

January 1927

Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Osborne

April 1927

Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Osborne

October 1927

Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Submarine Base New London, Connecticut

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Others at this command:

LT Robert Smith '20

LTjg Everett Abdill '24

ENS Elmer Buerkle '25

January 1928

Lieutenant (j.g.), USS V-4

April 1928

Lieutenant (j.g.), USS V-4

July 1928

Lieutenant (j.g.), USS V-4

October 1928

Lieutenant (j.g.), USS V-4

January 1929

Lieutenant (j.g.), USS V-4

April 1929

Lieutenant, USS V-4

July 1929

Lieutenant, USS V-4

October 1929

Lieutenant, USS V-4

January 1930

Lieutenant, USS V-4

April 1930

Lieutenant, USS V-4

October 1930

Lieutenant, Naval Air Station, Naval Operating Base Hampton Roads, Virginia

January 1931

Lieutenant, Naval Air Station, Naval Operating Base Hampton Roads, Virginia

April 1931

Lieutenant, Naval Air Station, Naval Operating Base Hampton Roads, Virginia

July 1931

Lieutenant, Naval Air Station, Naval Operating Base Hampton Roads, Virginia

October 1931

Lieutenant, Naval Air Station, Naval Operating Base Hampton Roads, Virginia

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Others at this command:

LT Jack Richardson '19

January 1932

Lieutenant, Naval Air Station, Naval Operating Base Hampton Roads, Virginia

April 1932

Lieutenant, under instruction, Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.

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Others at this command:

LTjg Robley Clark '24

LTjg Julian Morrison, Jr. '25

2LT Francis Williams '30

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Others at or embarked at Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.:

LT Norman Ives '20 (Diving School)

October 1932

Lieutenant, commanding officer, USS Pigeon

January 1933

Lieutenant, commanding officer, USS Pigeon

April 1933

Lieutenant, commanding officer, USS Pigeon

July 1933

Lieutenant, commanding officer, USS Pigeon

October 1933

Lieutenant, commanding officer, USS Pigeon

April 1934

Lieutenant, commanding officer, USS Pigeon

July 1934

Lieutenant, commanding officer, USS Pigeon

October 1934

Lieutenant, commanding officer, USS Pigeon

January 1935

Lieutenant, Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.

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Others at this command:

LT Edwin Crouch '21

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Others at or embarked at Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.:

LT Raymond Hansen '22 (Experimental Diving Unit)
LTjg Howard Gilmore '26 (Naval Gun Factory)

LTjg Sidney Smith '26 (Naval Gun Factory)

April 1935

Lieutenant, Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.

---

Others at this command:

LT Mark Crouter '20

---

Others at or embarked at Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.:

LT Elmer Kiehl '20 (Naval Gun Factory)
LTjg Howard Gilmore '26 (Naval Gun Factory)

LTjg Sidney Smith '26 (Naval Gun Factory)

October 1935

Lieutenant, Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.

---

Others at this command:

LCDR Mark Crouter '20

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Others at or embarked at Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.:

LT Elmer Kiehl '20 (Naval Gun Factory)

January 1936

Lieutenant, Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.

---

Others at this command:

LCDR Mark Crouter '20

---

Others at or embarked at Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.:

LT Elmer Kiehl '20 (Naval Gun Factory)

April 1936

Lieutenant, Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.

---

Others at this command:

LCDR Mark Crouter '20

---

Others at or embarked at Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.:

LT Elmer Kiehl '20 (Naval Gun Factory)

LT Julian Jordan '25 (Receiving Station)

July 1936

Lieutenant, Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.

---

Others at this command:

LCDR Mark Crouter '20

LT Henry Batterton '23

LTjg Warren Graf '27

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Others at or embarked at Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.:

LCDR Elmer Kiehl '20 (Naval Gun Factory)
LT William France '24 (Naval Gun Factory)

LT Julian Jordan '25 (Receiving Station)

January 1937

Lieutenant, officer in charge, Experimental Diving Unit, Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.

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Others at or embarked at Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.:

LCDR Elmer Kiehl '20 (Naval Gun Factory)
LT Henry Batterton '23 (Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.)
LT William France '24 (Naval Gun Factory)

LT Julian Jordan '25 (Receiving Station)
LT Warren Graf '27 (Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.)

April 1937

Lieutenant, officer in charge, Experimental Diving Unit, Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.

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Others at or embarked at Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.:

LCDR Elmer Kiehl '20 (Naval Gun Factory)
LT Henry Batterton '23 (Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.)
LT William France '24 (Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.)

LT Julian Jordan '25 (Receiving Station)
LT Warren Graf '27 (Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.)

September 1937

Lieutenant, officer in charge, Experimental Diving Unit, Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.

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Others at or embarked at Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.:

LT William France '24 (Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.)
LT Julian Jordan '25 (Receiving Station)

LT William Millican '28 (Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.)

January 1938

Lieutenant, USS Wyoming

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Others at this command:

LTjg John Huntley '31

July 1938

Lieutenant Commander, gunnery officer, USS Arkansas

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Others at this command:

LTjg Roscoe Dillen, Jr. '35

January 1939

Lieutenant Commander, gunnery officer, USS Arkansas

October 1939

Lieutenant Commander, gunnery officer, USS Arkansas

June 1940

Lieutenant Commander, Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia

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Others at this command:

LT John Reybold '26

LT Randolph Boyer '27

November 1940

Lieutenant Commander, Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia

April 1941

Lieutenant Commander, Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia

Class of 1922

John is one of 27 members of the Class of 1922 on Virtual Memorial Hall.

• ← John French '22
• Howard Healy '22 →

The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of the alumni in Memorial Hall.