RICHARD S. MOSS, CAPT, USN

Richard Moss '24

Date of birth: May 6, 1903

Date of death: December 26, 1946

Age: 43

Lucky Bag

From the 1924 Lucky Bag:

RICHARD STANLEY MOSS

Norwalk, Ohio

"Dick"

RICHARD STANLEY MOSS came in this place with high ideals and he has never lost sight of his goal. He is fond of dreaming about what he is going to do and often astonishes a person with some exceptional idea. If he could only put them to work!

He likes to swim and could probably have made the A-Squad had he stayed out for it. He possesses latent athletic ability but, as he was continuously associated with the Panamanians, he was exposed to and became affected with that disease which they commonly blame on the hookworm. He is far from lazy, but nevertheless inconsistent in athletics.

"Dick" was booted from the ranks of Red Mikes early in his career by dragging consistently in Crabtown. His favorite saying ever since has been "Man, but I do like her."

If you want to have an everlasting friend, just say, "Why, Skipper, I believe you are growing." And should you want to see some fun just tell him you don't believe a word he's saying.

Swimming (4), NA (4); Class Water Polo (4, 3), Numerals (3); Rifle Squad (4, 3, 2, 1); Class Rifle (2), Numerals (2); Class Swimming (4, 3, 2, 1); Class Football (1).

RICHARD STANLEY MOSS

Norwalk, Ohio

"Dick"

RICHARD STANLEY MOSS came in this place with high ideals and he has never lost sight of his goal. He is fond of dreaming about what he is going to do and often astonishes a person with some exceptional idea. If he could only put them to work!

He likes to swim and could probably have made the A-Squad had he stayed out for it. He possesses latent athletic ability but, as he was continuously associated with the Panamanians, he was exposed to and became affected with that disease which they commonly blame on the hookworm. He is far from lazy, but nevertheless inconsistent in athletics.

"Dick" was booted from the ranks of Red Mikes early in his career by dragging consistently in Crabtown. His favorite saying ever since has been "Man, but I do like her."

If you want to have an everlasting friend, just say, "Why, Skipper, I believe you are growing." And should you want to see some fun just tell him you don't believe a word he's saying.

Swimming (4), NA (4); Class Water Polo (4, 3), Numerals (3); Rifle Squad (4, 3, 2, 1); Class Rifle (2), Numerals (2); Class Swimming (4, 3, 2, 1); Class Football (1).

Loss

Richard was lost on December 26, 1946 when the plane he was piloting crashed near Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was the commanding officer of the base.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Richard was born in Maryland. He lived in Panama from November 1914 to December 1917.
He applied for a passport in June, 1920, when his father was living in London. He planned on traveling aboard an Army Transport out of New York City. He was to visit France, Belgium and England with his father. Richard was 5’11” tall with blue eyes and brown hair.
In 1940 he lived with his wife in San Diego.
His father was James, mother Kate, sister Pauline, and brother Romeyn.

From The Sandusky Register of Sandusky, Ohio, on Saturday, December 28, 1946:

CAPT. RICHARD MOSS. U.S.N. NORWALK, Dec. 28—Word was received here of the tragic death of Captain Richard Moss, 45, of the United States naval air corps, in a plane crash over Guantanamo Bay Cuba, Dec. 26. The body was recovered and will be flown to Washington for burial in Arlington Cemetery. No other details are available as Captain Moss was flying alone at the time. His father, Col. James A. Moss, retired army officer, who with Mrs. Moss has been living in Sarasota, Fla., is flying to Cuba and will return to Washington with the body. In the meantime his mother, Mrs. Moss, formerly Kate Kellogg will go to Fayetteville, N. C. where her other son, Romaine will accompany her to Washington. Captain Moss graduated from Norwalk High school with the class of 1920, and from the Annapolis Naval Academy in 1924. On the day of his graduation, he was united in marriage to Miss Louise Bean, Baltimore, who also survives. There are no children. During World War II, he served on the airplane carrier Block Island and for the past nine months has been commander of the naval base at Guantanamo. A month ago, he was decorated by the Cuban government for saving the town of Guantanamo from destruction by fire.

Richard is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Photographs

From a 1941 yearbook of naval aviation training
Richard's 1920 passport photograph

Wartime Service

Richard was commanding officer of USS Solomons (CVE 67) beginning in January 1945.

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.

July 1924

Ensign, rifle team, Naval Academy

Others at this command:

CDR Isaac Kidd '06
LCDR Franklin Van Valkenburgh '09
LT Oscar Erickson '16

LT David Cummins '18
LT Festus Foster '19
LTjg Horatio Sickel, IV '20

ENS Harry Bolles '23
ENS Charles Callaway '24
ENS Arthur Hooper '24

September 1924

Ensign, rifle team, Naval Academy

Others at this command:

CDR Isaac Kidd '06
LCDR Franklin Van Valkenburgh '09
ENS Oscar Erickson '16
LT David Cummins '18

LTjg Edwin Conway '20
ENS Horatio Sickel, IV '20
LTjg Elmer Kiehl '20
ENS Harry Bolles '23

ENS Charles Callaway '24
ENS Theodore Marshall '24
ENS Arthur Hooper '24

November 1924

Ensign, USS Arizona

Others at this command:

LT Warner Portz '15
LT Robert Fleming '17

ENS Augustus Mulvanity '23
ENS James McDonough '24

ENS Hubert Hayter '24

January 1925

Ensign, USS Arizona

Others at this command:

LT Warner Portz '15
LT Robert Fleming '17

ENS Augustus Mulvanity '23
ENS James McDonough '24

ENS Hubert Hayter '24

March 1925

Ensign, USS Arizona

Others at this command:

LT Warner Portz '15
LT Robert Fleming '17

ENS Augustus Mulvanity '23
ENS James McDonough '24

ENS Hubert Hayter '24

May 1925

Ensign, USS Reno

July 1925

Ensign, USS Reno

October 1925

Ensign, USS Reno

January 1926

Ensign, USS Reno

October 1926

Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida

Others at this command:

LT Robert Fleming '17
LT Paul Thompson '19
LT Dixie Kiefer '19
LT William Sample '19
LTjg William Butler, Jr. '20
LT Frederick Roberts '20
LTjg Rogers Ransehousen '21

LTjg Irving Wiltsie '21
LTjg Edward Curtis, Jr. '22
LTjg William McCord '23
2LT Horace Busbey '23
ENS Henry Harrison '24
ENS Fitzhugh Rhea '24

ENS Herbert Ballinger '24
ENS Walter Leach, Jr. '24
ENS James McDonough '24
ENS Hallsted Hopping '24
ENS John Waldron '24
ENS Charles McDonald '24

January 1927

Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida

Others at this command:

LCDR Thalbert Alford '09
LT Robert Fleming '17
LT Paul Thompson '19
LT Dixie Kiefer '19
LT William Sample '19
LTjg William Butler, Jr. '20

LT Frederick Roberts '20
LT Eugene Burkett '20
LTjg Rogers Ransehousen '21
LTjg Irving Wiltsie '21
LTjg Edward Frawley '22
LTjg William McCord '23

2LT Horace Busbey '23
ENS Fitzhugh Rhea '24
ENS James McDonough '24
ENS Hallsted Hopping '24
ENS John Waldron '24
ENS Charles McDonald '24

April 1927

Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida

Others at this command:

LCDR Thalbert Alford '09
LT Robert Fleming '17
LT Paul Thompson '19
LT Dixie Kiefer '19
LT William Sample '19

LT Frederick Roberts '20
LT Eugene Burkett '20
LTjg Irving Wiltsie '21
LTjg Edward Frawley '22
LTjg William McCord '23

ENS Fitzhugh Rhea '24
ENS James McDonough '24
ENS Hallsted Hopping '24
ENS John Waldron '24
ENS Charles McDonald '24

October 1927

Lieutenant (j.g.), Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B, USS Langley

Others at this command:

LT Paul Thompson '19
LTjg Fitzhugh Rhea '24

LTjg Herbert Ballinger '24

LTjg Charles McDonald '24

Others at or embarked at USS Langley:

LCDR Oscar Erickson '16 (Utility Plane Squadron (VJ) 1B)
LT James Carney '21 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)

LT John Jones '21 (Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet)

January 1928

Lieutenant (j.g.), 16th Naval District

Others at this command:

LT Mark Crouter '20

LTjg Everett Abdill '24

April 1928

Lieutenant (j.g.), Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 5A

July 1928

Lieutenant (j.g.), Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 5A

October 1928

Lieutenant (j.g.), Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 5A

January 1929

Lieutenant (j.g.), Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 5A

April 1929

Lieutenant (j.g.), Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 5A

July 1929

Lieutenant (j.g.), Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 5A

October 1929

Lieutenant (j.g.), Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 5A

January 1930

Lieutenant (j.g.), Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 5A

Others at this command:

LTjg John Graff '26

April 1930

Lieutenant (j.g.), Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 5A

Others at this command:

LTjg John Graff '26

October 1931

Lieutenant (j.g.), Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia