WARREN F. GRAF, LCDR, USN

From USNA Virtual Memorial Hall
Warren Graf '27

Date of birth: June 8, 1905

Date of death: November 13, 1942

Age: 37

Lucky Bag

From the 1927 Lucky Bag:

1927 Graf LB.jpg

Warren Frederick Graf

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

"Bimbo"

THE French word, gauche, hardly applies to this sailor, even though he is a left-hander. How many times have you seen his port crane toss a basket or southpaw a hot one into the catcher's mitt? Lady Luck rarely smiles when he is looking. She usually laughs, and as a result her laughter has of late been met with indifference. Whether it be basketball, baseball, Academics, or the game of life, Bim goes places and does things without the help of that fickle lady.

Part of his life has been spent in the subways, and part in the northern frontier of Washington. He starts to tell you of how he helped supply the family larder with venison, and ends with an account of the World Series in Philly.

"I see by the Oraville Gazette that they have killed another cougar near the town pump. Now that reminds me of the time — —" and he is off with some of the weirdest tales that ever came out of the West. And he vouches for every one of them.

Contact with the throngs coupled with experiences in the far West, where they keep mountain lions for house pets, have given to Bim an unusually clear-sighted and enduring philosophy. His main code of life is activity, and who was it that said, "Actions speak louder than words"? That is our Bimbo.

Basketball: A Squad (3, 2, 1) N* Block N (2); Baseball: A Squad (3, 2, 1) Navy Numerals (3, 2): Water Polo: Class (3) Class Numerals (3); Star (4, 2).

1927 Graf LB.jpg

Warren Frederick Graf

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

"Bimbo"

THE French word, gauche, hardly applies to this sailor, even though he is a left-hander. How many times have you seen his port crane toss a basket or southpaw a hot one into the catcher's mitt? Lady Luck rarely smiles when he is looking. She usually laughs, and as a result her laughter has of late been met with indifference. Whether it be basketball, baseball, Academics, or the game of life, Bim goes places and does things without the help of that fickle lady.

Part of his life has been spent in the subways, and part in the northern frontier of Washington. He starts to tell you of how he helped supply the family larder with venison, and ends with an account of the World Series in Philly.

"I see by the Oraville Gazette that they have killed another cougar near the town pump. Now that reminds me of the time — —" and he is off with some of the weirdest tales that ever came out of the West. And he vouches for every one of them.

Contact with the throngs coupled with experiences in the far West, where they keep mountain lions for house pets, have given to Bim an unusually clear-sighted and enduring philosophy. His main code of life is activity, and who was it that said, "Actions speak louder than words"? That is our Bimbo.

Basketball: A Squad (3, 2, 1) N* Block N (2); Baseball: A Squad (3, 2, 1) Navy Numerals (3, 2): Water Polo: Class (3) Class Numerals (3); Star (4, 2).

Loss

Warren was lost when USS Juneau (CL 52) was sunk at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on November 13, 1942.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Born in Buffalo, New York, Warren graduated as valedictorian from Philadelphia's Northeast High School in 1923.

He married Janet Warren Rodney in San Mateo, California, on June 3, 1929. Their daughter Katharine was born in 1931.

In October, 1936, Warren attended The Chemical Warfare School at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland.

His father was Herman, a physician and private nurse, and his mother was Nellie.

His wife was listed as next of kin. He is included at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.

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.

January 1928
Ensign, USS West Virginia


Others at or embarked at this command:
LTjg Herbert Ballinger '24 (Observation Squadron (VO) 2B)
April 1928
Ensign, USS West Virginia


Others at or embarked at this command:
LTjg Herbert Ballinger '24 (Observation Squadron (VO) 2B)
July 1928
Ensign, staff, United States Fleet, USS Texas

Others at or embarked at USS Texas:
October 1928
Ensign, staff, United States Fleet, USS Texas

Others at or embarked at USS Texas:
January 1929
Ensign, staff, United States Fleet, USS Texas

Others at or embarked at USS Texas:
April 1929
Ensign, staff, United States Fleet, USS Texas

Others at or embarked at USS Texas:
July 1929
Ensign, staff, United States Fleet, USS Texas

Others at or embarked at USS Texas:
October 1929
Ensign, staff, United States Fleet, USS Texas

Others at or embarked at USS Texas:
January 1930
Ensign, staff, United States Fleet, USS Texas

Others at or embarked at USS Texas:
April 1930
Ensign, staff, United States Fleet, USS Texas

Others at or embarked at USS Texas:
October 1930
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Saratoga


Others at or embarked at this command:
LT Thomas Fisher '18 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LT William Sample '19 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Creighton Lankford '25 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
LTjg Carlton Hutchins '26 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Charles Signer '26 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Claude Haman '26 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LTjg Robert Symes '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Renwick Calderhead '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg John Eldridge, Jr. '27 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LTjg Julian Greer '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
ENS Weldon Hamilton '28 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
January 1931
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Saratoga


Others at or embarked at this command:
LT Thomas Fisher '18 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LT William Sample '19 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Creighton Lankford '25 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
LTjg Carlton Hutchins '26 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Charles Signer '26 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Claude Haman '26 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LTjg Robert Symes '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Renwick Calderhead '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg John Eldridge, Jr. '27 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LTjg Julian Greer '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
ENS Weldon Hamilton '28 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
April 1931
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Saratoga


Others at or embarked at this command:
LT Thomas Fisher '18 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LT William Sample '19 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LTjg Walter Leach, Jr. '24 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Creighton Lankford '25 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
LTjg Carlton Hutchins '26 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Charles Signer '26 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
LTjg Claude Haman '26 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LTjg Robert Symes '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg Renwick Calderhead '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
LTjg John Eldridge, Jr. '27 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 2B)
LTjg Julian Greer '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 6B)
ENS Weldon Hamilton '28 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 2B)
July 1931
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Talbot

October 1931
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Talbot

January 1932
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Talbot

April 1932
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Talbot

Others at this command:
October 1932
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Talbot
January 1933
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Talbot
April 1933
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Buchanan
July 1933
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Buchanan
October 1933
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Buchanan
April 1934
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Buchanan

Others at this command:
July 1936
Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.


Others at or embarked at Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.:
LCDR Elmer Kiehl '20 (Naval Gun Factory)
LT William France '24 (Naval Gun Factory)
LT Julian Jordan '25 (Receiving Station)
January 1937
Lieutenant, under instruction, Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.

Others at this command:

Others at or embarked at Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.:
LCDR Elmer Kiehl '20 (Naval Gun Factory)
LT John Hollowell, Jr. '22 (Experimental Diving Unit)
LT William France '24 (Naval Gun Factory)
LT Julian Jordan '25 (Receiving Station)
April 1937
Lieutenant, under instruction, Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.


Others at or embarked at Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.:
LCDR Elmer Kiehl '20 (Naval Gun Factory)
LT John Hollowell, Jr. '22 (Experimental Diving Unit)
LT Julian Jordan '25 (Receiving Station)
September 1937
Lieutenant, for assignment, Destroyer Squadron 5, USS Black Hawk

Others at this command:
January 1938
Lieutenant, staff, Destroyer Squadron 5, USS Black Hawk
July 1938
Lieutenant, staff, Destroyer Squadron 5, USS Black Hawk
January 1939
Lieutenant, staff, Destroyer Squadron 5, USS Black Hawk
October 1939
Lieutenant, staff, Destroyer Squadron 5, USS Black Hawk

Others at or embarked at USS Black Hawk:
LT Joshua Nix '30 (USS Black Hawk)
June 1940
Lieutenant, Bureau of Ordnance, Washington, D.C.

Others at this command:
November 1940
Lieutenant, Bureau of Ordnance, Washington, D.C.

Others at this command:
April 1941
Lieutenant, Bureau of Ordnance, Washington, D.C.

Others at this command:


Class of 1927

Warren is one of 43 members of the Class of 1927 on Virtual Memorial Hall.

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