WILLIAM H. POTTS, CDR, USN

From USNA Virtual Memorial Hall
William Potts '27

Date of birth: May 19, 1903

Date of death: October 14, 1944

Age: 41

Lucky Bag

From the 1927 Lucky Bag:

1927 Potts LB.jpg

William Hutton Potts

Denver, Colorado

"Bill" "Billy"

BILL comes to us from out of the West. He has received his education from various schools in England, France, and China; but he came back to his homeland to graduate from the Denver High School in 1920.

He is one more advocate of the five-year course; but it was not Math nor Juice that won the fight. In an argument on the football field he broke a leg and it failed to mend in time for him to continue with his former classmates. This was a loss for the class of twenty-six, and a gain for the class of twenty-seven as he re-entered the Academy the following year.

Believing that the West is still the home of he-men, Bill has been striving to prove to us in water polo that the belief is a fact. He did not succeed as much as he wished for he was usually on the wrong side of the much-needed 2.5.

With his good nature and ready wit Bill is always the life of any party. The ship that gets him will be mighty lucky, for he will be a credit to it always. Although we will be scattered far and wide at graduation, here's hoping that Bill will meet the bunch of us once again for one of the old-time parties.

Water Polo: A Squad (3, 2) B Squad (1) Class (4) Navy Numerals (3, 2) Class Numerals (4).

1927 Potts LB.jpg

William Hutton Potts

Denver, Colorado

"Bill" "Billy"

BILL comes to us from out of the West. He has received his education from various schools in England, France, and China; but he came back to his homeland to graduate from the Denver High School in 1920.

He is one more advocate of the five-year course; but it was not Math nor Juice that won the fight. In an argument on the football field he broke a leg and it failed to mend in time for him to continue with his former classmates. This was a loss for the class of twenty-six, and a gain for the class of twenty-seven as he re-entered the Academy the following year.

Believing that the West is still the home of he-men, Bill has been striving to prove to us in water polo that the belief is a fact. He did not succeed as much as he wished for he was usually on the wrong side of the much-needed 2.5.

With his good nature and ready wit Bill is always the life of any party. The ship that gets him will be mighty lucky, for he will be a credit to it always. Although we will be scattered far and wide at graduation, here's hoping that Bill will meet the bunch of us once again for one of the old-time parties.

Water Polo: A Squad (3, 2) B Squad (1) Class (4) Navy Numerals (3, 2) Class Numerals (4).

Loss

William was lost when USS Houston (CL 81) was torpedoed by Japanese aircraft on October 14, 1944. He was the ship's engineering officer. (Note: Unclear why his headstone has November 11, 1944 for his loss date. All other records, and this book, say he was killed instantly when the torpedo struck midships.)

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Born in Colorado, William graduated from North High school in Denver in 1921. Scientific Society, 2, 3, 4; Hi-Y, 4; Boys’ Glee Club, 4; Operetta, 4. Straymericks: “W. P. A mirthful youth is William Potts, His mind in inactivity rots. Not much, for bright, and witty is quite the picture we have of William Potts.”

His wife was Evalyn Franklin Potts. Evalyn was told that her husband was buried on an island in the Pacific with full military honors. When William died, their son William, Jr., was attending Southern California Military Academy. He died in 1996.

William was also survived by his three sisters, Mrs. Ethel Bowdey (1886-1954), Mrs. G. H. Kent of Surrey, England and Mrs. Hilton Wright of Sussex, England. Ethel’s husband was George Bowdey (’07,) a commander in the U.S. Navy. She lived in Hong Kong and England (1889-1912) and in the Philippines and China (1914-1917.)

His wife was listed as next of kin; he was also survived by his son.

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 Lexington


Others at or embarked at this command:
LT Rogers Ransehousen '21 (Observation Plane Squadron (VO) 5S)
April 1928
Ensign, USS Lexington

July 1928
Ensign, USS Lexington


Others at or embarked at this command:
LT George Cuddihy '18 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
LTjg Robert Larson '24 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
ENS Thelman Lester '25 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
October 1928
Ensign, USS Lexington


Others at or embarked at this command:
LT George Cuddihy '18 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
LTjg Robert Larson '24 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
January 1929
Ensign, USS Lexington


Others at or embarked at this command:
LT George Cuddihy '18 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
LTjg Robert Larson '24 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
April 1929
Ensign, USS Lexington


Others at or embarked at this command:
LT George Cuddihy '18 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
LTjg Matthias Marple, Jr. '23 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
LTjg Robert Larson '24 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
LTjg Jack DeShazo '25 (Light Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 1B)
July 1929
Ensign, USS Lexington


Others at or embarked at this command:
LTjg Robert Larson '24 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
LTjg Charles Signer '26 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
October 1929
Ensign, USS Lexington


Others at or embarked at this command:
LT Dixie Kiefer '19 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
LT Arnold Isbell '21 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 1B)
LTjg Robert Larson '24 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
LTjg Charles Signer '26 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 1B)
January 1930
Ensign, USS Lexington


Others at or embarked at this command:
LT Dixie Kiefer '19 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
LT Arnold Isbell '21 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 1B)
LTjg Robert Larson '24 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
April 1930
Ensign, USS Lexington


Others at or embarked at this command:
LT Dixie Kiefer '19 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
LT Arnold Isbell '21 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 1B)
LTjg Robert Larson '24 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
ENS Robert Winters '27 (Torpedo and Bombing Plane Squadron (VT) 1B)
October 1930
Ensign, USS Lexington


Others at or embarked at this command:
LT Francis Bridget '21 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 5B)
LTjg Richard Downer '27 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
LTjg Eugene Lindsey '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 5B)
October 1931
Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Naval Torpedo Station, Newport, Rhode Island

Others at this command:
January 1932
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Upshur
April 1932
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Upshur
October 1932
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Upshur

Others at this command:
January 1933
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Upshur

Others at this command:
April 1933
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Upshur

Others at this command:
July 1933
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Upshur

Others at this command:
October 1933
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Upshur

Others at this command:
April 1934
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Utah

July 1934
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Utah

Others at this command:
October 1934
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Utah

Others at this command:
January 1935
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Utah

Others at this command:
April 1935
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Utah

Others at this command:
September 1937
Lieutenant, USS Astoria


Others at or embarked at this command:
LTjg Robert Goodgame, Jr. '32 (Cruiser Scouting Squadron (VCS) 6)
January 1938
Lieutenant, USS Astoria


Others at or embarked at this command:
LTjg Robert Goodgame, Jr. '32 (Cruiser Scouting Squadron (VCS) 6)
July 1938
Lieutenant, engineering officer, USS Mahan
January 1939
Lieutenant, engineering officer, USS Mahan
October 1939
Lieutenant, engineering officer, USS Mahan

Others at this command:
June 1940
Lieutenant, executive officer, USS Lamson
November 1940
Lieutenant, executive officer, USS Lamson
April 1941
Lieutenant, executive officer, USS Lamson


Class of 1927

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

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