MELVILLE S. BROWN, CDR, USN

Melville Brown '10

Date of birth: March 8, 1889

Date of death: November 2, 1936

Age: 47

Lucky Bag

From the 1910 Lucky Bag:

Melville Stuart Brown

Chicago, Illinois

"Chub" "Thug"

Our Chub likes to shoot all the day;
Loves to draw, if he feels in the way.
He's round, fat, and tubby,
Like a cherub so chubby,
And couldn't get made, so they say.

MOST of us come in like a lamb—but not Chub! Never bluffed for a day, he was one of the hardest plebes in 1910. Youngster year and during his Second Class stage he continued to tear along the same wild course, despite the soothing influence of the gentle Winfield. The sole patentee and proprietor of the Golliwog cast of countenance, the Thug nevertheless makes a large hit when he does cut loose on the floor of the Gym. Short and stocky, he was one of the stars of the Rifle Team, and has won his numerals on almost every kind of class team there is. His "M.S.B." on many of the best things between these covers show that his hand is artistic even though his temperament is not.

He usually kept pretty close to the head of the class with a negative amount of honing, and except when helping someone else out, could usually be found during study hours rapt in a bridge game with Cooke and Upty. But more than that, his is a hard, conscientious worker, gifted with infinite patience for the minutiae of detail which most of us are inclined to slur over, hut which make for success in its fullest sense. Endowed with much horse sense and a huge fund of humor. Chub is a sure cure for the blues in any stage, and an excellent counsellor on any question.

"Drop m' somew'ere in de Sevent' Fleet."

Melville Stuart Brown

Chicago, Illinois

"Chub" "Thug"

Our Chub likes to shoot all the day;
Loves to draw, if he feels in the way.
He's round, fat, and tubby,
Like a cherub so chubby,
And couldn't get made, so they say.

MOST of us come in like a lamb—but not Chub! Never bluffed for a day, he was one of the hardest plebes in 1910. Youngster year and during his Second Class stage he continued to tear along the same wild course, despite the soothing influence of the gentle Winfield. The sole patentee and proprietor of the Golliwog cast of countenance, the Thug nevertheless makes a large hit when he does cut loose on the floor of the Gym. Short and stocky, he was one of the stars of the Rifle Team, and has won his numerals on almost every kind of class team there is. His "M.S.B." on many of the best things between these covers show that his hand is artistic even though his temperament is not.

He usually kept pretty close to the head of the class with a negative amount of honing, and except when helping someone else out, could usually be found during study hours rapt in a bridge game with Cooke and Upty. But more than that, his is a hard, conscientious worker, gifted with infinite patience for the minutiae of detail which most of us are inclined to slur over, hut which make for success in its fullest sense. Endowed with much horse sense and a huge fund of humor. Chub is a sure cure for the blues in any stage, and an excellent counsellor on any question.

"Drop m' somew'ere in de Sevent' Fleet."

Loss

Melville was lost on November 2, 1936 when the aircraft he was aboard crashed. He was the executive officer of USS Lexington (CV 2) at the time.

He had only become a qualified naval aviator (#4171) a short while before, in 1935.

From Wikipedia:

CDR Brown was the Commanding Officer of the USS Truxtun (DD-229) when the ship was commissioned in 1921, and later was Executive Officer of the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-2).

Namesake

Brown Field Municipal Airport, near San Diego, is named for Melville.

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 1911

Midshipman, Connecticut

January 1912

Midshipman, Montgomery

Others at this command: MIDN John Fletcher '11.

January 1913

Ensign, Nebraska

Others at this command: LT John Rodgers '03.

January 1914

Ensign, Nebraska

January 1915

Ensign, USS Nebraska

Others at this command: ENS Henry Hoyt '14.

January 1916

Lieutenant (j.g.), Birmingham

Others at or embarked at this command: ENS Henry Tovey '15 (USS Birmingham).

January 1917

Lieutenant (j.g.), Bureau of Navigation

March 1918

Lieutenant, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D.C.

Others at this command: LT Frank McCord '11.

January 1919

Lieutenant Commander, Bureau of Navigation

Others at this command: LCDR Daniel Callaghan '11.

January 1920

Lieutenant Commander, staff, Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet

January 1921

Lieutenant Commander, USS Truxton

January 1922

Lieutenant Commander, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D.C.

May 1923

Lieutenant Commander, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D.C.

July 1923

Lieutenant Commander, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D.C.

September 1923

Lieutenant Commander, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D.C.

November 1923

Lieutenant Commander, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D.C.

January 1924

Lieutenant Commander, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D.C.

March 1924

Lieutenant Commander, Bureau of Navigation, Washington, D.C.