ROBERT W. CABANISS, CDR, USN

Robert Cabaniss '06

Date of birth: January 3, 1884

Date of death: March 31, 1927

Age: 43

Lucky Bag

From the 1906 Lucky Bag:

Robert Wright Cabaniss

Birmingham, Alabama

"Cabby," "Bob," "Cabbages," "Handsome"

A typical southern gentleman and courtier. The subtle influence of his lady-like presence lends charm to any social gathering whether it be a hop or an afternoon meeting of the whist club. Is the founder of the Alpha chapter of the Fussers' League, and has been entitled by all the "main squeeze." Is partial to moonlight and dances most rapturously. His careless grace frequently leads him into trouble, and the third conduct grade handicaps him in the weekly race to teas. Combs his hair "a la Cobby," and has the opinion that he is irresistible.

Two stripes; Buzzard (2); Crew (3, 2); Red N; Hop Committee; Pipe Committee; Farewell Ball Committee; Class German Committee; Captain Hustlers (1).

Robert Wright Cabaniss

Birmingham, Alabama

"Cabby," "Bob," "Cabbages," "Handsome"

A typical southern gentleman and courtier. The subtle influence of his lady-like presence lends charm to any social gathering whether it be a hop or an afternoon meeting of the whist club. Is the founder of the Alpha chapter of the Fussers' League, and has been entitled by all the "main squeeze." Is partial to moonlight and dances most rapturously. His careless grace frequently leads him into trouble, and the third conduct grade handicaps him in the weekly race to teas. Combs his hair "a la Cobby," and has the opinion that he is irresistible.

Two stripes; Buzzard (2); Crew (3, 2); Red N; Hop Committee; Pipe Committee; Farewell Ball Committee; Class German Committee; Captain Hustlers (1).

Loss

Robert was lost on March 31, 1927 when the PN-9 seaplane he was aboard crashed near Navassa Island, West Indies. The plane was attempting to take off in rough seas at 6:50 a.m. The horizontal stabilizer on the left side of the plane broke, and after the fall the plane caught fire from a small gas tank.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Robert was born in Union Springs, Alabama, and went to Birmingham as a young child.
In June 1901, Robert was appointed messenger in the executive office. He was a nephew of Governor William Jelks.
Robert attended Auburn and then the Naval Academy.
On February, 16, 1906, a military ball was given at the Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama, for classmates Hugh, Reuben Lindsay Walker, Albert Shafner Rees, and Robert Cabaniss.
In early March, Robert left for Seattle to join Admiral Train and twenty other classmates from the Naval Academy. They would sail for Cavite in the Philippine islands.
On January 4, 1915, Robert married Martha Blackwell Ryan in “The Little Church Around the Corner” in Washington, D. C. Robert sailed on his ship “Leonidas,” and the couple were to live at Colon, Panama.
During World War I, Robert was in command of the naval aviation detachment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology until May 1918. He is mentioned in the 1919 yearbook as replacing the first commandant of the school, Lieutenant E. H. McKitterick ('12).
In August, Robert was commanding officer of the U. S. Naval Air Station at Moutchie, France. He was given high praise on the report of Admiral H. T. Mayo (Class of 1876.)
In September,1918, Robert who was Commander of Aviation at Boston and a graduate from the Pensacola school, landed safely in France. His brother Jelks, a captain of the general staff, American Expeditionary Forces, was transferred to the American General Staff at the Pershing headquarters in France.
In March 1921, Robert directed the search for the missing naval free balloon A-5604 with five men aboard. The balloon was on an overnight practice flight and was found in the Gulf of Mexico, 26 miles southwest of Cape San Blas. Two carrier pigeon messages had arrived from the balloon stating positions first off St. Andrews Bay and later saying it was only 100 feet above water.
Robert and Martha's children were sons Robert, Jr., and Arthur, and daughters Juliet and Martha Rebecca. Juliet married Armon Davis Acheson Crawford ('20) in 1953.
His father Edward H. was an attorney in Birmingham. Robert had four brothers: E. H., Jr., Jelks, William Jelks, and Gerry.

He was naval aviator #36.

From Early Aviators:

The Class of 1906
United States Naval Academy
published 1954
Robert Wright Cabaniss
Born 3 January, 1884, Union Springs, Alabama. Appointed from Alabama.
After graduation Cabaniss served on the Asiatic Station and on the Pacific Coast until 1915, when he took flight training at Pensacola and became qualified Naval Aviator No. 36.
During World War I, he had duty at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola; command of the aviation detachment at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and in 1918, he was overseas in Paris. later he commanded the NAS, Moutchie-Lacanau; then served at Pauillac and at Bordeaux.
After the war, he commanded NAS, Rockaway Beach, Long Island; had duty at NAS, Pensacola; in 1921, Executive Officer, aircraft tender, USS Wright; and in 1926, he took command of the aircraft tender, USS Aroostook. While on this duty he was killed in the crash of a PN-9 plane he was flying on 31 March, 1927, near Navassa Island in the West Indies. He was then in the rank of Commander. Cabaniss Field, commissioned at the NAS, Corpus Christi, Texas, on 9 July, 1941, was named in his honor.
SPECIAL AWARD; Order of the Bust of Bolivar (Venezuela).
WIFE: Martha Cabaniss, Coronado, California.
DAUGHTER: Juliet Harmon Cabaniss (wife of Lt. A.D.A. Crawford, Jr., USNR).

He was commanding officer of USS Aroostook (CM 3) from 1926 to March 1927.

He was survived by his wife and is buried in Alabama.

Photographs

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.