ROBERT F. HANSEN, LCDR, USN

From USNA Virtual Memorial Hall
Robert Hansen '52

Date of birth: June 29, 1928

Date of death: August 14, 1963

Age: 35

Lucky Bag

From the 1952 Lucky Bag:

1952 Hansen LB.jpg

Robert Frederick Hansen

La Crosse, Wisconsin

After graduating from a La Crosse, Wisconsin, high school in 1946, Bob spent two years attending college and working before coming to "Navy Tech." No great athlete, he divided his time between company cross-country, steeplechase and battalion track during his stay at Navy. A lover of good music, he was a four-year man in the "Hell Cats," declaring it to be the best Drum and Bugle Corps in existence. Well impressed by summer cruises, Bob's destination is the Line, unless a certain air-minded OAO gets her way.

1952 Hansen LB.jpg

Robert Frederick Hansen

La Crosse, Wisconsin

After graduating from a La Crosse, Wisconsin, high school in 1946, Bob spent two years attending college and working before coming to "Navy Tech." No great athlete, he divided his time between company cross-country, steeplechase and battalion track during his stay at Navy. A lover of good music, he was a four-year man in the "Hell Cats," declaring it to be the best Drum and Bugle Corps in existence. Well impressed by summer cruises, Bob's destination is the Line, unless a certain air-minded OAO gets her way.

Loss

Robert was lost on August 14, 1963 when the plane he was piloting crashed into the Mediterranean Sea. He was a member of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 12.

Other Information

From the Winona Daily News (Winona, Minnesota) on 15 August, 1963:

La Crosse Man On Missing Plane

NORFOLK, Va. -- Two men, one from Wisconsin, were missing and presumed dead and three others were injured when a plane ditched in the Mediterranean Tuesday night, the Navy said Wednesday.

Presumed dead are Lt. Cmdr. Robert F Hansen, 36, the pilot, and James H Dorrell, 19, Aviation Electronics Technician 3.C.

Hansen was the son of Herbert G. Hansen of La Crosse, Wis. His wife, Mrs. Jean T. Hansen, lived in Norfolk.

Dorrell was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry C. Dorrell of Route 1, Weed, Calif.

The Navy plane, an E1B Tracer, had engine trouble soon after it took off from the carrier Enterprise during antisubmarine warfare exercises. The craft ditched between the carrier and a destroyer.

The carrier Enterprise is operating with the U.S. 6th Fleet.

He has a memory marker in Wisconsin.


Class of 1952

Robert is one of 50 members of the Class of 1952 on Virtual Memorial Hall.

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