WILLIAM M. HOBBY, JR., CDR, USN
William Hobby, Jr. '23
Lucky Bag
From the 1923 Lucky Bag:
Loss
William was lost when USS Juneau (CL 52) was sunk at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on November 13, 1942. He was the executive officer.
His wife was listed as next of kin; it appears that he was also survived by a son, William III (and later a grandson, William IV). William Jr. has a memory marker in Georgia.
Biography
From Wikipedia:
William Matthews Hobby, Jr., was born on 27 July 1899 in Sylvania, Georgia. He was appointed a midshipman from the 1st Congressional District of Georgia on 20 June 1919, attended the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, and graduated in the class of 1923.
After initial sea duty in the battleship USS Oklahoma (BB-37) from June 1923 to April 1925, Hobby underwent brief aviation instruction at Naval Air Station Pensacola at Pensacola, Florida. He then reported to the destroyer USS Kidder (DD-319) on 21 November 1925 and served in Kidder as she earned the Second Nicaraguan Campaign Medal.
Hobby then underwent submarine instruction at Submarine Base New London in New London, Connecticut, from late December 1927 to June 1928. He then travelled to the United States Asiatic Fleet, where he reported to the submarine tender USS Canopus (AS-9) on 10 August 1928, prior to his joining the submarine USS S-37 (SS-142) on 20 August 1928. After successive tours in the submarines USS S-41 (SS-146) and USS S-30 (SS-135), Hobby returned to the United States for service at the United States Naval Academy from May 1931 to June 1933. He then helped to fit out the submarine USS Cachalot (SS-170) before serving back-to-back tours in the battleship USS Tennessee (BB-43) and training ship USS Wyoming (AG-17) into the summer of 1938.
Hobby reported to the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company at Kearny, New Jersey, on 11 May 1939, to supervise the fitting out of the new Sims-class destroyer USS Anderson (DD-411) and to become her first commanding officer when she was placed in commission.
Detached from Anderson on 22 March 1941, Hobby then rejoined the battleship Oklahoma (BB-37) on 26 March 1941 as damage control officer and first lieutenant. After Oklahoma capsized and sank in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Hobby served briefly in the 12th Naval District before he joined the new battleship USS Washington (BB-56) on 3 January 1942. He acted as navigator of Washington until he relieved Commander Walter E. Moore as executive officer of the light cruiser USS Juneau (CL-52) at Espiritu Santo on 2 November 1942.
On 12 November 1942, ten days after he reported aboard, Juneau was heavily damaged during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. The following afternoon, 13 November 1942, while she was returning to Espiritu Santo, the Japanese submarine I-26 torpedoed her. The torpedo hit detonated Juneau's magazine, and she disintegrated in a massive explosion, leaving only ten survivors. Commander Hobby was among those who perished in the cataclysmic blast that tore the ship apart.
Namesake
USS William M. Hobby (APD 95) was named for William; the ship was sponsored by his sister, Catherine.
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.
September 1923
Ensign, USS Oklahoma
Others at this command:
July 1924
Ensign, USS Oklahoma
Others at this command:
September 1924
Ensign, USS Oklahoma
Others at this command:
November 1924
Ensign, USS Oklahoma
Others at this command:
January 1925
Ensign, USS Oklahoma
Others at this command:
July 1925
Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
Others at this command:
October 1925
Ensign, under instruction, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
Others at this command:
January 1928
Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Submarine Base New London, Connecticut
Others at this command:
April 1928
Lieutenant (j.g.), under instruction, Submarine Base New London, Connecticut
Others at this command:
October 1928
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS S-37
January 1929
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS S-37
April 1929
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS S-41
July 1929
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS S-41
October 1929
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS S-41
January 1930
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS S-41
April 1930
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS S-41
October 1930
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS S-30
January 1931
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS S-30
April 1931
Lieutenant (j.g.), Naval Academy
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
July 1931
Lieutenant (j.g.), Naval Academy
Others at this command:
LCDR Robert English '11
LT Joseph Severyns, Jr. '20
LT Samuel Arthur '20
LT Robert Smith '20
LT Paul Slawson '20
LT John Jones '21
LT John French '22
Others at or embarked at this command:
October 1931
Lieutenant (j.g.), Naval Academy
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
January 1932
Lieutenant (j.g.), Naval Academy
Others at this command:
CDR Robert English '11
LCDR Lyman Swenson '16
LT Samuel Arthur '20
LT Robert Smith '20
LT Paul Slawson '20
Others at or embarked at this command:
April 1932
Lieutenant (j.g.), Naval Academy
Others at this command:
CDR Robert English '11
LCDR Lyman Swenson '16
LT Samuel Arthur '20
LT Robert Smith '20
LT Paul Slawson '20
LT John Welch '23
LT Louis Drexler, Jr. '23
October 1932
Lieutenant, Naval Academy
Others at this command:
LCDR Charles Cecil '16
LT Robert Smith '20
LT Paul Register '21
LT Francis Bridget '21
LT George Brooke '21
LTjg Neville McDowell '24
LTjg Hubert Hayter '24
January 1933
Lieutenant, Naval Academy
Others at this command:
LCDR Charles Cecil '16
LT Robert Smith '20
LT Paul Register '21
LT Francis Bridget '21
LT George Brooke '21
LTjg Neville McDowell '24
LTjg Hubert Hayter '24
April 1933
Lieutenant, Naval Academy
Others at this command:
LCDR Charles Cecil '16
LT Robert Smith '20
LT Paul Register '21
LT Francis Bridget '21
LT George Brooke '21
LTjg Neville McDowell '24
LTjg Hubert Hayter '24
LTjg Lawrence McPeake '24
July 1933
Lieutenant, USS Cachalot
Others at this command:
October 1933
Lieutenant, USS Cachalot
Others at this command:
April 1934
Lieutenant, USS Cachalot
Others at this command:
October 1934
Lieutenant, USS Cachalot
Others at this command:
January 1935
Lieutenant, USS Cachalot
Others at this command:
October 1935
Lieutenant, USS Tennessee
Others at this command:
January 1936
Lieutenant, USS Tennessee
Others at this command:
April 1936
Lieutenant, USS Tennessee
Others at this command:
July 1936
Lieutenant, USS Tennessee
Others at this command:
Others at or embarked at this command:
January 1937
Lieutenant, Naval Academy
Others at this command:
LT John French '22
LT Richard Gingras '25
LTjg James McRoberts '27
LT Ralph Hickox '27
Others at or embarked at this command:
April 1937
Lieutenant, Naval Academy
Others at this command:
LT John French '22
LT Richard Baron '24
LT Richard Gingras '25
LTjg James McRoberts '27
LT Ralph Hickox '27
Others at or embarked at this command:
LTjg Victor Gaulin '30 (Training Plane Squadron (VN) 8D5, Naval Academy)
September 1937
Lieutenant, Naval Academy
Others at this command:
LT Robert Bedilion '22
LT Richard Baron '24
LT Richard Gingras '25
LT Harold Pound '25
LT William Graham, Jr. '25
LT Andrew Harris '25
LT Ralph Hickox '27
LTjg John Bermingham '29
LTjg Egbert Roth '29
Others at or embarked at this command:
January 1938
Lieutenant, Naval Academy
Others at this command:
LT Robert Bedilion '22
LT Richard Baron '24
LT Richard Gingras '25
LT Harold Pound '25
LT William Graham, Jr. '25
LT Andrew Harris '25
LT Ralph Hickox '27
LT John Bermingham '29
LT Egbert Roth '29
Others at or embarked at this command:
July 1938
Lieutenant, Naval Academy
Others at this command:
LT Richard Baron '24
LT Harold Pound '25
LT William Graham, Jr. '25
LT Andrew Harris '25
LT Hilan Ebert '26
LT John Bermingham '29
LT Egbert Roth '29
LT Victor Gaulin '30
LTjg Russell Ross '30
LT John Bisson '30
LTjg Raymond Mayo '30
Others at or embarked at this command:
January 1939
Lieutenant Commander, Naval Academy
Others at this command:
LCDR Robert Bedilion '22
LT Richard Baron '24
LT Harold Pound '25
LT William Graham, Jr. '25
LT Andrew Harris '25
LT Hilan Ebert '26
LT John Bermingham '29
LT Egbert Roth '29
LT Victor Gaulin '30
LT Russell Ross '30
LT John Bisson '30
Others at or embarked at this command:
October 1939
Lieutenant Commander, commanding officer, USS Anderson
June 1940
Lieutenant Commander, commanding officer, USS Anderson
November 1940
Lieutenant Commander, commanding officer, USS Anderson
April 1941
Lieutenant Commander, commanding officer, USS Anderson
Class of 1923
William is one of 25 members of the Class of 1923 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
