JOSEPH A. MURPHY, CAPT, USN (RET.)

Joseph Murphy '09

Date of birth: December 20, 1887

Date of death: February 28, 1942

Age: 54

Lucky Bag

From the 1909 Lucky Bag:

Joseph Augustine Murphy

Boston, Massachusetts

"Spuds," "Mike"

A thoroughbred Irishman from the "ould sod," and is proud of it. Brought with him the original Boston twang and a large supply of Irish ditties. An athlete in a small way, being one of the mainstays on all the class teams, and showed his prowess Second Class year by winning the middle-weight boxing championship. One of the charter members of the Beef Trust, and has an eating capacity almost equal to that of an ostrich. Has a most fetching smile and could be a great fusser. However, has his own independent ideas concerning the fair sex, and is not of the opinion that "the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world." Never lets his studies worry him in the least, and has seldom been known to bone. With his versatile conversation and happy disposition, "Spuds" is always welcomed in any crowd, and his winning smile is a sure cure for the blues.

Delights in his appropriate monogram:
"JAM."

Buzzard. Class Baseball. Class Football. Class Basketball. Middle-weight Boxing Champion (2).

Joseph Augustine Murphy

Boston, Massachusetts

"Spuds," "Mike"

A thoroughbred Irishman from the "ould sod," and is proud of it. Brought with him the original Boston twang and a large supply of Irish ditties. An athlete in a small way, being one of the mainstays on all the class teams, and showed his prowess Second Class year by winning the middle-weight boxing championship. One of the charter members of the Beef Trust, and has an eating capacity almost equal to that of an ostrich. Has a most fetching smile and could be a great fusser. However, has his own independent ideas concerning the fair sex, and is not of the opinion that "the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world." Never lets his studies worry him in the least, and has seldom been known to bone. With his versatile conversation and happy disposition, "Spuds" is always welcomed in any crowd, and his winning smile is a sure cure for the blues.

Delights in his appropriate monogram:
"JAM."

Buzzard. Class Baseball. Class Football. Class Basketball. Middle-weight Boxing Champion (2).

Loss

Joseph was lost on February 28, 1942 when the Qantas flying boat he was aboard was shot down by a Japanese bomber over the Java Sea while en route from Java to Broome, Australia. He was a naval observer to the Netherlands East Indies, and was aboard with the Consul-General for the Netherlands in Malaya and several of his staff and their families.

Other Information

The Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps of 1942 lists him as attaining the rank of Captain on August 17, 1928, of retiring on June 30, 1937, and of having 1 year, 7 months, 7 days of active service since retirement.

His wife was listed as next of kin. He was also survived by at least one son, Joseph, Jr. He is listed on the killed in action panel in Memorial Hall.

Navy Cross

From Hall of Valor:

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Captain Joseph Augustine Murphy, United States Navy, for distinguished service in the line of his profession as Assistant to the Chief, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery during World War I.
Service: Navy
Division: Bureau of Medicine and Surgery

Legion of Merit

From Hall of Valor:

(Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: Captain Joseph Augustine Murphy, United States Navy, was awarded the Legion of Merit (Posthumously) for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States as Naval Observer at Sandakan, British North Borneo, and the Netherlands East Indies, on 1 March 1942.
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 356 (November 1946)
Service: Navy
Rank: Captain

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.

January 1910

Midshipman, California

January 1911

Midshipman, California

Others at this command:

MIDN Mervyn Bennion '10

January 1912

Ensign, Goldsborough

January 1913

Ensign, Denver

January 1914

Ensign, Paul Jones

January 1915

Lieutenant (j.g.), commanding officer, USS Hopkins

Others at this command:

ENS Samuel Moore '13

January 1916

Lieutenant (j.g.), commanding officer, USS Hopkins

January 1917

Lieutenant (j.g.), Naval training station, San Francisco

March 1918

Lieutenant, Naval Training Station, San Francisco, California

January 1919

CDR Isaac Kidd '06
LCDR Fred Berry '08
LCDR Franklin Van Valkenburgh '09

LT Harold MacLellan '18
LT Robert Smith, Jr. '19
LT Festus Foster '19

ENS Edward Frawley '22
ENS Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
ENS Harry Bolles '23

May 1924

Lieutenant Commander, Naval Academy

Others at this command:

CDR Isaac Kidd '06
LCDR Franklin Van Valkenburgh '09
LT Harold MacLellan '18

LT Robert Smith, Jr. '19
LT Festus Foster '19
ENS Edward Frawley '22

ENS Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
ENS Harry Bolles '23