JOHN M. ENNIS, LCDR, USN
John Ennis '35
Lucky Bag
From the 1935 Lucky Bag:
Life & Loss
John was lost on July 15, 1943 when his plane crashed "thirteen miles from NAS, Hollister, California." (Information from September 1946 issue of Shipmate.)
John was born in Washington and entered the Naval Academy from Iowa. John is listed in the 1937 Register of Commissioned Officers as serving on USS Gilmer. He was promoted to LTjg June 6, 1938. In the April 1, 1941 Navy Directory he's listed as a LTjg under instruction at NAS Pensacola. He was promoted to Lieutenant January 1, 1942 and LCDR on May 1, 1943.
He is buried in Washington.
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.
October 1935
Ensign, USS California
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
January 1936
Ensign, USS California
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
LTjg Eugene Davis '27 (Observation Plane Squadron (VO) 4B)
April 1936
Ensign, USS California
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
July 1936
Ensign, USS Gilmer
January 1937
Ensign, USS Gilmer
April 1937
Ensign, communications officer, USS Gilmer
September 1937
Ensign, communications officer, USS Gilmer
January 1938
Ensign, communications officer, USS Gilmer
July 1938
Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
Others at this command:
LT Renwick Calderhead '27
LTjg Samuel Dealey '30
LTjg John Huntley '31
LTjg Albert Gray '31
LTjg George Ottinger '32
LTjg William Widhelm '32
ENS Glenn Dunagan '33
Others at or embarked at this command:
January 1939
Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
Others at this command:
LT Renwick Calderhead '27
LT Samuel Dealey '30
LTjg John Huntley '31
LTjg Albert Gray '31
LTjg William Thorn '32
LTjg Glenn Dunagan '33
Others at or embarked at this command:
CAPT Paul Moret '30 (Training Squadron (VN) 3D8)
LT Alden Irons '31 (Training Squadron (VN) 3D8)
LTjg William Widhelm '32 (Training Squadron (VN) 5D8)
2LT Ralph Haas '36 (Marine Barracks)
October 1939
Lieutenant (j.g.), Bombing Squadron (VB) 3, USS Saratoga
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at USS Saratoga:
LTjg George Nicol '34 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 3)
ENS Raymond Vogel, Jr. '36 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 3)
ENS William Mason, Jr. '37 (USS Saratoga)
ENS John Black '38 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Keene Hammond '38 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Lenard Reichel '39 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Claude Goodman, Jr. '39 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Norman White '39 (USS Saratoga)
June 1940
Lieutenant (j.g.), Bombing Squadron (VB) 3, USS Saratoga
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at USS Saratoga:
LT William Sisko '31 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 3)
LT John Spiers '32 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 3)
LTjg George Nicol '34 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 3)
ENS Edward O'Hare '37 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 3)
ENS Keene Hammond '38 (USS Saratoga)
ENS Norman White '39 (USS Saratoga)
November 1940
Lieutenant (j.g.), Bombing Squadron (VB) 3, USS Saratoga
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at USS Saratoga:
LT William Sisko '31 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 3)
LTjg Raymond Vogel, Jr. '36 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 3)
LTjg Harold Shrider '37 (Scouting Squadron (VS) 3)
LTjg Edward O'Hare '37 (Fighting Squadron (VF) 3)
LTjg Macdonald Thompson '37 (Torpedo Squadron (VT) 3)
ENS Norman White '39 (USS Saratoga)
April 1941
Lieutenant (j.g.), Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
Others at this command:
LT William Pennewill '29
LT Finley Hall '29
LT John Yoho '29
LT William Sisko '31
LT George Bellinger '32
LT Martin Koivisto '32
LT John Spiers '32
LT Archibald Greenlee '32
LT Daniel Gothie '32
LT Albert Major, Jr. '32
LTjg John McCormack, Jr. '33
Others at or embarked at this command:
Class of 1935
John is one of 56 members of the Class of 1935 on Virtual Memorial Hall.