ROBERT F. COATES, LTJG, USN
Robert Coates '30
Lucky Bag
From the 1930 Lucky Bag:
Loss
Robert was lost on October 23, 1935 when his aircraft collided with another and crashed near Fort Barrancas, Florida during pilot training.
He is buried in Wisconsin.
Related Articles
Nicholas Pusel '30 was the pilot of the other plane and was also killed in this crash.
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 1930
Ensign, USS Colorado
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
January 1931
Ensign, USS Colorado
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April 1931
Ensign, USS Colorado
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
July 1931
Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
Others at this command:
LT Irving Wiltsie '21
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Robert Larson '24
LTjg James McDonough '24
LTjg Charles McDonald '24
LTjg Richard Moss '24
LTjg Carlton Hutchins '26
LTjg Charles Signer '26
LTjg John Duke '26
LTjg William Potts '27
October 1931
Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
Others at this command:
LT Irving Wiltsie '21
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23
LTjg Robert Larson '24
LTjg James McDonough '24
LTjg Charles McDonald '24
LTjg Arthur Farrell '25
January 1932
Ensign, USS Arizona
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Others at or embarked at this command:
April 1932
Ensign, USS Arizona
Others at this command:
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October 1932
Ensign, USS Arizona
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
January 1933
Ensign, USS Arizona
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
April 1933
Ensign, USS Arizona
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
July 1933
Ensign, USS Arizona
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
October 1933
Ensign, USS Arizona
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
April 1934
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Arizona
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
July 1934
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Arizona
Others at this command:
October 1934
Lieutenant (j.g.), Observation Plane Squadron (VO) 2B, USS Arizona
Others at or embarked at USS Arizona:
ENS John Moore '32 (USS Arizona)
2LT David McDougal '33 (USS Arizona)
January 1935
Lieutenant (j.g.), Observation Plane Squadron (VO) 2B, USS Arizona
Others at or embarked at USS Arizona:
2LT David McDougal '33 (USS Arizona)
ENS Charles Brewer '34 (USS Arizona)
April 1935
Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
Others at this command:
LT James Craig '22
LTjg John Duke '26
LTjg Ralph Smith '26
1LT Nicholas Pusel '30
1LT Harold Bauer '30
LTjg Vernon Hain '31
LTjg Thomas Ashworth, Jr. '31
ENS Edward Allen '31
LTjg Robert Mackert '31
October 1935
Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
Others at this command:
LT James Craig '22
LT Richard Moss '24
LTjg John Duke '26
1LT Ernest Pollock '28
LTjg William Pennewill '29
1LT Nicholas Pusel '30
LTjg Gilbert Carpenter '30
LTjg Lance Massey '30
1LT Harold Bauer '30
LTjg Robert Mackert '31
Class of 1930
Robert is one of 42 members of the Class of 1930 on Virtual Memorial Hall.