THEODORE G. ELLYSON, CDR, USN

Theodore Ellyson '05

Date of birth: February 27, 1885

Date of death: February 27, 1928

Age: 43

Lucky Bag

From the 1905 Lucky Bag:

Theodore Gordon Ellyson

Richmond, Virginia

"Spuds" "Ella" "Reddy."

A hopeless but not hopless fusser. Fond of night raids and prefers sitting in the corridor with a sack of "Bull" to turning in. His curly hair and fetching pronunciation of the word "house" are too much for the fair sex. Posed as a savoir Plebe year and then rested on his laurels. Will stop at nothing in search of a good time; knows all the easy places on the wall, and prefers "Star Plug" to all others. "Buffalo Bill" second class leave.

Buzzard (1) Class Baseball (3) Baseball Scrubs (2) Santee (3, 2) Chesapeake (4) Class Football (1).

Theodore Gordon Ellyson

Richmond, Virginia

"Spuds" "Ella" "Reddy."

A hopeless but not hopless fusser. Fond of night raids and prefers sitting in the corridor with a sack of "Bull" to turning in. His curly hair and fetching pronunciation of the word "house" are too much for the fair sex. Posed as a savoir Plebe year and then rested on his laurels. Will stop at nothing in search of a good time; knows all the easy places on the wall, and prefers "Star Plug" to all others. "Buffalo Bill" second class leave.

Buzzard (1) Class Baseball (3) Baseball Scrubs (2) Santee (3, 2) Chesapeake (4) Class Football (1).

Loss

Theodore was lost on February 27, 1928, when the plane he was aboard crashed en route to Annapolis, where his "small daughter lay ill." It was his 43rd birthday.

He was the executive officer of USS Lexington (CV 2) and Naval Aviator #2.

Biography

From Wikipedia:

Born in Richmond, Virginia, Ellyson entered the United States Naval Academy in 1901 and graduated with the class of 1905. During the five years following his graduation, he served on USS Texas and USS Missouri; as Watch and Division Officer of USS Pennsylvania and later USS Colorado; and on USS West Virginia, USS Rainbow, and USS Shark on the Asiatic Station.
After his return to the United States in April 1910, he commanded the USS Tarantula until November of that year, and then had duty in connection with fitting out the submarine USS Seal at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. He commanded her briefly after her commissioning on 2 December 1910.
In December 1910, Ellyson was ordered to North Island, San Diego, California for instruction in aviation under Glenn Curtiss. While at an Aero Club show on 28 January 1911 near the flight school, Ellyson took off in a Curtiss “grass cutter” plane to become the first Naval aviator. With a blocked throttle, this ground plane was not supposed to fly, and Ellyson was not proficient enough to fly. He slewed off left, cracking up the plane somewhat by making a wing-first landing. However, Ellyson was not injured and from then on he was considered to have made his first flight on this date. He also cooperated with Curtiss in the design of a pontoon for aircraft, and after Curtiss' first flight on 27 January 1911, Ellyson went up with Curtiss in February to become the first passenger to go aloft in a floatplane. Later that month, he participated in experiments demonstrating the potential use of floatplanes from ships, when the aircraft was hoisted onboard USS Pennsylvania and subsequently lowered to the water for its return flight to North Island.
From the time Ellyson began instruction in aviation until 29 April 1913, he devoted all of his time to active flying and experimental work in aviation. This included the establishment of Naval Aviation Camps at Annapolis in September 1911 when, with then-Lieutenant John H. Towers, he flew an aircraft from Annapolis to Milford Haven, Virginia, a nonstop distance record for float planes.
In 1917, he had duty at the Naval Academy and with the midshipmen on cruise on USS Wyoming and USS Kansas. On 14 February 1918, he was detached for duty at the Submarine Chaser Base, New London, Connecticut, and in June arrived in London for duty with a submarine chaser squadron at U.S. Naval Base 27 at Plymouth. Ellyson was awarded the Navy Cross for distinguished service in World War I for his development of successful tactics for the submarine chaser squadron.
Following the Armistice in 1918, he remained in the European Area, commanding Nucleus Crew 14 (zeppelin) from March to May 1919. Upon his return to the United States, he assisted in fitting out the destroyer USS J. Fred Talbott at William Cramp and Sons, and served on that vessel as commanding officer from the time of her commissioning in June 1919 until July 1920. During the next five months, he commanded the USS Little and USS Brooks.
On 10 January 1921, he was ordered to Hampton Roads, Virginia, to serve for eight months as executive officer of the Naval Air Station, Naval Operating Base. The Bureau of Aeronautics was established in the Navy Department on 1 September 1921, and on 21 October, Commander Ellyson became head of the plans division of that bureau. He remained in that assignment until December 1922, when he became the aviation member of the U.S. Naval Mission to Brazil, cooperating in the reorganization of the Brazilian Navy. He returned to the Bureau of Aeronautics in May 1925.
On 20 July 1925, he assumed command of Torpedo Squadron 1 and from March to June 1926 was executive officer of USS Wright, a seaplane tender. On 23 June 1926, he was ordered to duty in connection with the fitting out of USS Lexington, the Navy's second aircraft carrier, and was on board when she was placed in commission.
Commander Ellyson was killed on 27 February 1928, his 43rd birthday, in the crash of a Loening OL-7 aircraft in the lower Chesapeake Bay while on a night flight from Norfolk, Virginia, to Annapolis, Maryland. His body washed ashore and was recovered in April 1928. He was buried in the Naval Academy Cemetery, in Annapolis.

Photographs

Circa 1910-1915

Navy Cross

From Hall of Valor:

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Commander Theodore Gordon Ellyson, United States Navy, for distinguished service in the line of his profession as Assistant for Operations to Commander, Submarine Chaser Detachment 1, during World War I. Commander Ellyson was largely responsible for the development of successful subchaser tactics and doctrine.
Service: Navy
Division: Submarine Chaser Detachment 1

Namesakes

USS Ellyson (DD 454) was named for Theodore; the ship was sponsored by his daughter.

Ellyson Park at the Naval Academy is named for him.

Memorial Award

The Commander Theodore Ellyson Aviator Production Excellence Award is awarded each year to the most deserving fleet replacement squadron in the Navy and Marine Corps.

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 1906

Midshipman, Missouri

July 1907

Midshipman, Rainbow

January 1908

Ensign, Rainbow

January 1909

Ensign, Asiatic Station

January 1910

Ensign, commanding officer, Shark

January 1911

Lieutenant, under instruction in aviation

January 1912

Lieutenant, ordered aviation camp, San Diego

Others at this command:

LT John Rodgers '03

January 1913

Lieutenant, Engineering Experiment Station, Aviation, Naval Academy

January 1914

Lieutenant, South Carolina

Others at this command:

ENS John Melvin '11

January 1915

Lieutenant, gunnery officer, USS South Carolina

Others at this command:

ENS John Melvin '11

2LT John Mayer '13

January 1916

Lieutenant, gunnery officer, USS South Carolina

Others at this command:

2LT John Mayer '13

January 1917

Lieutenant, Naval Academy

Others at this command:

LT Isaac Kidd '06

LTjg Valentine Bieg '10

LTjg George Parrott, Jr. '11

March 1918

Lieutenant Commander, Naval Academy

January 1919

Commander, Submarine Chasers Squadron, Plymouth, England

January 1920

Commander, USS McCalla

January 1921

Commander, waiting orders

January 1922

Commander, Bureau of Aeronautics, Washington, D.C.

Others at this command:

RADM William Moffett '90

LCDR Zachary Lansdowne '09

LT William Hactor '15