WALTER C. DEY, LT, USN

From USNA Virtual Memorial Hall
Walter Dey '24

Date of birth: July 16, 1901

Date of death: August 23, 1937

Age: 36

Lucky Bag

From the 1924 Lucky Bag:

1924 Dey LB.jpg

WALTER CHESTER DEY, Jr.

Portland, Oregon

"Chet"

YOU can spot this guy for miles. His method of locomotion, while peculiar, is effective and, what is more important, it gets him there. Moreover, any man who invariably wears a smile on his face is bound to get along with his fellow-sufferers. "Chet" is all this.

A girl in every port, but the "cherie" in Trinidad robbed him of his usual sang-froid. Further details are withheld. His best defense against both D. O.'s and girls is a misleading look of curious innocence, so easily assumed that they usually take pity on him.

"Now, what's up?"

"Why, Dey, of course." Having finally attained the Fourth Deck, he finds that he's left most of his gear down on the Ground Deck. "Dey coming, sir."

1924 Dey LB.jpg

WALTER CHESTER DEY, Jr.

Portland, Oregon

"Chet"

YOU can spot this guy for miles. His method of locomotion, while peculiar, is effective and, what is more important, it gets him there. Moreover, any man who invariably wears a smile on his face is bound to get along with his fellow-sufferers. "Chet" is all this.

A girl in every port, but the "cherie" in Trinidad robbed him of his usual sang-froid. Further details are withheld. His best defense against both D. O.'s and girls is a misleading look of curious innocence, so easily assumed that they usually take pity on him.

"Now, what's up?"

"Why, Dey, of course." Having finally attained the Fourth Deck, he finds that he's left most of his gear down on the Ground Deck. "Dey coming, sir."

Loss

Walter was lost when the seaplane he was aboard crashed into San Diego Bay on August 23, 1937.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Early reports indicated the plane was flying at nearly 100 miles per hour when her hull crashed into the rotting hulk of the old whaling ship Narwhal. She nosed over and landed in eight feet of water. The men who died were knocked unconscious and drowned. It took a powerful floating crane and high tide to lift the 13-ton plane out of the water.

Other Information

He earned his wings as naval aviator #3624 on March 20, 1930.

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Walter graduated from Lincoln high school in 1920 and was president of the Hi-Y’s.

He was appointed to the Naval Academy by Senator Charles McNary.

In 1926, he married Caroline Muir. Their son Walter was born April 11, 1927 and died December 14, 2003.

In 1910 Portland, Walter's father was manager of a creamery, and his mother was Lucia. In 1920, his father was manager of a creamery in San Francisco, and his stepmother was Edna.

His wife was Caroline, and his sons were Walter Jr and James. Son Walter was born in California in 1927, and James in Washington, D.C., in 1929. In 1930 the family lived in Palmetto Beach, Florida; in 1935, San Diego, and in 1940, his widow and children lived near other naval officers in Coronado, California.

Walter's Find A Grave page is here.

Related Articles

William Freshour '31 and Ford Wallace '31 were also lost in this crash.

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 1924
Ensign, USS Mississippi

September 1924
Ensign, USS Mississippi

November 1924
Ensign, USS Mississippi

January 1925
Ensign, USS Mississippi

March 1925
Ensign, USS Mississippi

May 1925
Ensign, USS McCawley
July 1925
Ensign, USS McCawley
October 1925
Ensign, USS McCawley
January 1926
Ensign, USS McCawley
October 1926
Ensign, USS Nokomis
January 1927
Ensign, USS Nokomis
April 1927
Ensign, USS Nokomis
October 1927
Ensign, USS Nokomis

Others at this command:
January 1928
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Nokomis

Others at this command:
April 1928
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Nokomis

Others at this command:
July 1928
Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Nokomis

Others at this command:
October 1928
Lieutenant (j.g.), Navy Department, Washington, D.C.

January 1929
Lieutenant (j.g.), Navy Department, Washington, D.C.

April 1929
Lieutenant (j.g.), Navy Department, Washington, D.C.

October 1930
Lieutenant (j.g.), Observation Plane Squadron (VO) 5B, USS Colorado

Others at or embarked at USS Colorado:
LTjg Andrew Harris '25 (USS Colorado)
ENS Robert Coates '30 (USS Colorado)
ENS Oliver White '30 (USS Colorado)
January 1931
Lieutenant (j.g.), Observation Plane Squadron (VO) 5B, USS Colorado

Others at or embarked at USS Colorado:
LTjg Andrew Harris '25 (USS Colorado)
ENS Robert Coates '30 (USS Colorado)
ENS Oliver White '30 (USS Colorado)
April 1931
Lieutenant (j.g.), Observation Plane Squadron (VO) 5B, USS Colorado

Others at or embarked at USS Colorado:
LTjg Andrew Harris '25 (USS Colorado)
ENS Robert Coates '30 (USS Colorado)
ENS Oliver White '30 (USS Colorado)
July 1931
Lieutenant (j.g.), Observation Plane Squadron (VO) 4B, USS Colorado

Others at or embarked at USS Colorado:
October 1931
Lieutenant (j.g.), Observation Plane Squadron (VO) 4B, USS Colorado

Others at or embarked at USS Colorado:
January 1932
Lieutenant (j.g.), Observation Plane Squadron (VO) 4B, USS Colorado

Others at or embarked at USS Colorado:
April 1932
Lieutenant (j.g.), Observation Plane Squadron (VO) 4B, USS Colorado

Others at or embarked at USS Colorado:
LTjg Andrew Harris '25 (USS Colorado)
ENS John Huntley '31 (USS Colorado)
October 1932
Lieutenant (j.g.), Naval Air Station San Diego, California


Others at or embarked at this command:
2LT Ernest Pollock '28 (Aircraft Squadrons West Coast Expeditionary Force)
January 1933
Lieutenant (j.g.), Naval Air Station San Diego, California


Others at or embarked at this command:
2LT Ernest Pollock '28 (Aircraft Squadrons West Coast Expeditionary Force)
April 1933
Lieutenant (j.g.), Naval Air Station San Diego, California


Others at or embarked at this command:
2LT Ernest Pollock '28 (Aircraft Squadrons West Coast Expeditionary Force)
2LT Paul Moret '30 (Aircraft Squadrons, West Coast Expeditionary Force)
July 1933
Lieutenant (j.g.), Naval Air Station San Diego, California


Others at or embarked at this command:
2LT Paul Moret '30 (Aircraft Squadrons, West Coast Expeditionary Force)
October 1933
Lieutenant (j.g.), Naval Air Station San Diego, California


Others at or embarked at this command:
1LT Lofton Henderson '26 (Aircraft Squadrons, West Coast Expeditionary Force)
2LT Paul Moret '30 (Aircraft Squadrons, West Coast Expeditionary Force)
April 1934
Lieutenant (j.g.), Naval Air Station San Diego, California


Others at or embarked at this command:
1LT Lofton Henderson '26 (Aircraft Two, Fleet Marine Force)
2LT Paul Moret '30 (Aircraft Two, Fleet Marine Force)
July 1934
Lieutenant (j.g.), Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 5B, USS Lexington


Others at or embarked at USS Lexington:
LCDR Ryland Tisdale '15 (USS Lexington)
LT James Carney '21 (USS Lexington)
LTjg Edwin Kelly '30 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 1B)
LTjg Victor Gaulin '30 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
LTjg Lance Massey '30 (USS Lexington)
ENS Daniel Gothie '32 (USS Lexington)
ENS Edward Worthington '34 (USS Lexington)
October 1934
Lieutenant (j.g.), Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 5B, USS Lexington


Others at or embarked at USS Lexington:
LCDR Ryland Tisdale '15 (USS Lexington)
LT James Carney '21 (USS Lexington)
LTjg Edwin Kelly '30 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 1B)
LTjg Victor Gaulin '30 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
LTjg Baylies Clark '30 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 1B)
LTjg Lance Massey '30 (USS Lexington)
ENS Philip Ashworth '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
ENS Daniel Gothie '32 (USS Lexington)
ENS Edward Worthington '34 (USS Lexington)
January 1935
Lieutenant (j.g.), Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 5B, USS Lexington


Others at or embarked at USS Lexington:
LT William Eaton '21 (USS Lexington)
LT James Carney '21 (USS Lexington)
LTjg Edwin Kelly '30 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 1B)
LTjg Victor Gaulin '30 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
LTjg Baylies Clark '30 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 1B)
LTjg Lance Massey '30 (USS Lexington)
ENS Philip Ashworth '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
ENS Daniel Gothie '32 (USS Lexington)
ENS Edward Worthington '34 (USS Lexington)
April 1935
Lieutenant (j.g.), Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 5B, USS Lexington


Others at or embarked at USS Lexington:
LT William Eaton '21 (USS Lexington)
LT James Carney '21 (USS Lexington)
LTjg Victor Gaulin '30 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
LTjg Baylies Clark '30 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 1B)
LTjg Lance Massey '30 (USS Lexington)
LTjg Philip Ashworth '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
ENS Daniel Gothie '32 (USS Lexington)
ENS Edward Worthington '34 (USS Lexington)
October 1935
Lieutenant (j.g.), Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 5B, USS Lexington


Others at or embarked at USS Lexington:
LT William Eaton '21 (USS Lexington)
LT James Carney '21 (USS Lexington)
LTjg Baylies Clark '30 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 1B)
LTjg Philip Ashworth '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 3B)
ENS George Fuller '35 (USS Lexington)
ENS John Eichmann '35 (USS Lexington)
ENS Richard McGowan '35 (USS Lexington)
January 1936
Lieutenant, Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 5B, USS Ranger


Others at or embarked at USS Ranger:
LT Robert Bedilion '22 (USS Ranger)
LT Hallsted Hopping '24 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 1B)
LTjg Ralph Smith '26 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 1B)
LTjg Seymour Johnson '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
LTjg James McRoberts '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
LTjg Baylies Clark '30 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 1B)
LTjg Lorenz Forbes '31 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 3B)
LTjg William Freshour '31 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 5B)
LTjg Alden Irons '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
LTjg William Sisko '31 (USS Ranger)
LTjg Alfred Tucker, III '31 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 1B)
ENS Earle Schneider '33 (USS Ranger)
ENS Milton Ricketts '35 (USS Ranger)
April 1936
Lieutenant, Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 5B, USS Ranger


Others at or embarked at USS Ranger:
LT Robert Bedilion '22 (USS Ranger)
LT Hallsted Hopping '24 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 1B)
LTjg Ralph Smith '26 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 1B)
LTjg Seymour Johnson '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
LTjg James McRoberts '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
LTjg Baylies Clark '30 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 1B)
LTjg Lorenz Forbes '31 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 3B)
LTjg William Freshour '31 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 5B)
LTjg Alden Irons '31 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 3B)
LTjg Alfred Tucker, III '31 (Bombing Plane Squadron (VB) 1B)
ENS Earle Schneider '33 (USS Ranger)
ENS Milton Ricketts '35 (USS Ranger)
July 1936
Lieutenant, USS Langley

Others at or embarked at this command:
LT Stephen Cooke '21 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 4B)
LTjg Robert Symes '27 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
LTjg John Riggs, Jr. '28 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
LTjg Clarence Kasparek '32 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 4B)
LTjg William Thorn '32 (Fighting Plane Squadron (VF) 1B)
January 1937
Lieutenant, Patrol Plane Squadron (VP) 11F

April 1937
Lieutenant, Patrol Plane Squadron (VP) 11F


Class of 1924

Walter is one of 42 members of the Class of 1924 on Virtual Memorial Hall.

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