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

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 win 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.

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 Arthur Hooper '24, and ENS Charles Callaway '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, LTjg Elmer Kiehl '20, ENS Horatio Sickel, IV '20, ENS Harry Bolles '23, ENS Arthur Hooper '24, ENS Charles Callaway '24, and ENS Ted Marshall '24.

November 1924

Ensign, USS Arizona

Others at this command: LT Warner Portz '15, LT Robert Fleming '17, ENS Augustus Mulvanity '23, ENS Hubert Hayter '24, and ENS James McDonough '24.

January 1925

Ensign, USS Arizona

Others at this command: LT Warner Portz '15, LT Robert Fleming '17, ENS Augustus Mulvanity '23, ENS Hubert Hayter '24, and ENS James McDonough '24.

March 1925

Ensign, USS Arizona

Others at this command: LT Warner Portz '15, LT Robert Fleming '17, ENS Augustus Mulvanity '23, ENS Hubert Hayter '24, and ENS James McDonough '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 Dixie Kiefer '19, LT Paul Thompson '19, LT William Sample '19, LT Frederick Roberts '20, LTjg William Butler, Jr. '20, LTjg Irving Wiltsie '21, LTjg Rogers Ransehousen '21, LTjg Edward Curtis, Jr. '22, 2LT Horace Busbey '23, LTjg William McCord '23, ENS Charles McDonald '24, ENS Fitzhugh Rhea '24, ENS Hallsted Hopping '24, ENS Henry Harrison '24, ENS Herbert Ballinger '24, ENS James McDonough '24, ENS John Waldron '24, and ENS Walter Leach, Jr. '24.

January 1927

Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida

Others at this command: LCDR Thalbert Alford '09, LT Robert Fleming '17, LT Dixie Kiefer '19, LT Paul Thompson '19, LT William Sample '19, LT Eugene Burkett '20, LT Frederick Roberts '20, LTjg William Butler, Jr. '20, LTjg Irving Wiltsie '21, LTjg Rogers Ransehousen '21, LTjg Edward Frawley '22, 2LT Horace Busbey '23, LTjg William McCord '23, ENS Charles McDonald '24, ENS Fitzhugh Rhea '24, ENS Hallsted Hopping '24, ENS James McDonough '24, and ENS John Waldron '24.

April 1927

Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida

Others at this command: LCDR Thalbert Alford '09, LT Robert Fleming '17, LT Dixie Kiefer '19, LT Paul Thompson '19, LT William Sample '19, LT Eugene Burkett '20, LT Frederick Roberts '20, LTjg Irving Wiltsie '21, LTjg Edward Frawley '22, LTjg William McCord '23, ENS Charles McDonald '24, ENS Fitzhugh Rhea '24, ENS Hallsted Hopping '24, ENS James McDonough '24, and ENS John Waldron '24.

October 1927

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

Others at this command: LT Paul Thompson '19, LTjg Charles McDonald '24, LTjg Fitzhugh Rhea '24, and LTjg Herbert Ballinger '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), and LT John Jones '21 (Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet).

January 1928

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

Others at this command: LT Mark Crouter '20 and 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 1930

Lieutenant (j.g.), Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida

Others at this command: LCDR Henry Mullinnix '16, LT Paul Thompson '19, LT Irving Wiltsie '21, LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23, LTjg Charles McDonald '24, LTjg James McDonough '24, LTjg John Waldron '24, LTjg Robert Larson '24, 1LT Donald Willis '24, LTjg John Duke '26, LTjg Elmer Cooper '27, LTjg James Averill '27, ENS Carl Lindgren '28, ENS Donald Lovelace '28, ENS Bruce Van Voorhis '29, 2LT Chandler Johnson '29, ENS Egbert Roth '29, ENS Finley Hall '29, ENS Henry Twohy '29, ENS Howard Garner '29, ENS John Collett '29, ENS John Yoho '29, ENS Lloyd Greenamyer '29, 2LT Raymond Sullivan, Jr. '29, ENS William Oliver '29, and ENS William Arthur '29.

April 1931

Lieutenant (j.g.), Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida

Others at this command: LCDR Henry Mullinnix '16, LT Irving Wiltsie '21, LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23, LTjg Charles McDonald '24, LTjg James McDonough '24, LTjg John Waldron '24, LTjg Robert Larson '24, LTjg John Duke '26, LTjg James Averill '27, LTjg William Potts '27, ENS Carl Lindgren '28, ENS Bruce Van Voorhis '29, ENS Clair Miller '29, ENS Egbert Roth '29, ENS Finley Hall '29, ENS Harold MacFarlane '29, ENS Henry Twohy '29, ENS Howard Garner '29, ENS John Collett '29, ENS John Bermingham '29, ENS Lloyd Greenamyer '29, ENS Mathias Wyatt '29, 2LT Raymond Sullivan, Jr. '29, ENS William Pennewill '29, ENS William Oliver '29, ENS William Arthur '29, ENS Charles Hart '30, ENS Charles Ostrom '30, ENS Edwin Kelly '30, ENS John Craig '30, ENS Robert Haven '30, and ENS Thomas Marshall, Jr. '30.

October 1931

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

January 1932

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