bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Roster > Roster Deaths > The Sea Dead, © 2023 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 20 Jan 2023.
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About 105 Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead Roster members from all branches of service died on ships during WWII. Their names are listed below.
  • This list consists of various parts, the first being aircraft-carrier deaths.
  • Part 1 includes five air crew, who died on missions away from the aircraft carriers on which they were based. These individuals also appear in the companion webpage The Air Dead. 
  • Some shipboard deaths, such as those at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, occurred on or near ships that were docked or at anchor. 
  • In late 1942, most US naval losses in the War with Japan occurred near the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
  • In the spring of 1945, most US naval losses occurred off the island of Okinawa in the Ryukyu Islands south of the Japanese home islands.
  • The distance from Honiara, Guadalcanal northwest to Naha, Okinawa is 3,274 miles. This gives an idea of the vast scope of the Pacific battleground in WWII.
Part 1, United States Navy Aircraft Carriers (12)

Fleet aircraft carriers (CV, CVL):
USS Bunker Hill (CV-17), off Okinawa, Japan; kamikaze, ship survived.
  • † Christensen, Darwin Arthur, USN, crew.
USS Enterprise (CV-6), off Luzon, Philippines; ship undamaged.
  • † Hough, Charles Robert, USN Aviation, Avenger radioman, lost over Manila Bay.
USS Essex (CV-9), off Kyushu, Japan; ship undamaged.
  • † Garner, William Fredrick, USN Aviation, Corsair pilot, lost over Kyushu.
USS Lexington (CV-2), Coral Sea; Japanese aircraft, ship sank.
  • † O’Dell, Charles Henry, USN, crew.
USS Monterey (CVL-26), off Ryukyu Is., Japan; ship undamaged.
  • † Sander, Merle Edward, USN Aviation, Avenger pilot, training mission.
USS Randolph (CV-15), off Kyushu, Japan; ship undamaged.
  • † Welty, Robert L., USN Aviation, Hellcat pilot, lost over Kyushu.

Escort aircraft carriers (CVE):
USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), off Samar, Philippines; Japanese shells, ship sunk.
  • † Crawford, George Almon, USN, crew
USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56), off Makin Is., Gilbert Is.; Japanese submarine torpedo, ship sunk.
  • † Brunk, Edwin Samuel, USN, crew.
  • † Nelson, Herbert Sidney, USN, crew.
USS Nehenta Bay (CVE-74), in naval convoy in central pacific, ship undamaged.
  • † Fisher, Harlan Ray, USN Aviation, Wildcat pilot. lost at sea.
USS Salamaua (CVE-96), off Luzon, Philippines; kamikaze, ship survived.
  • † Lavars, Kenneth Charles, USN, crew.
USS St. Lo (CVE-63), off Samar, Philippines; kamikaze, ship sunk.
  • † Fox, Louis Wendell Sr, USN, crew.

Part 2, United States Navy Large Surface Combat Ships – Battleships and Cruisers (17)

Battleships (BB):
USS Arizona (BB-39), Pearl Harbor, exploded and sank.
  • † Jackson, Robert Woods, USN, crew.
  • † Loustanau, Charles Bernard, USN, crew.
USS Oklahoma (BB-37), Pearl Harbor, capsized.
  • † McKeeman, Bert Eugene, USN, crew.
USS West Virginia (BB-48), Pearl Harbor, sank.
  • † ​Booton, Charles Vinton, USN, crew.

Heavy cruisers (CA):
USS Astoria (CA-34), off Guadalcanal, Solomon Is.; Japanese gunfire; ship sunk.
  • † ​McLaren, William McAllister, USN, crew.
USS Houston (CA-30), Java Sea; Japanese destroyer torpedoes, ship sunk.
  • † ​Christensen, Lester Angus, USN, USN, crew.
  • † ​Kaiser, Bernard Richard, USN, crew.
USS Indianapolis (CA-45), Philippine Sea; Japanese submarine torpedo, ship sunk.
  • † ​Briley, Harold Vinton, USN, crew.
  • † ​Rhoten, Roy Edward, USN, crew.
USS Louisville (CA-28), on route to Luzon, Philippines; kamikaze, ship survived.
  • † ​Allstot, Max Vernon, USN, crew.
USS Minneapolis (CA-36), off Guadalcanal; Japanese destroyer torpedo, ship survived.
  • † ​Knapp, Rexford James, USN, crew.
USS San Francisco (CA-38), off Guadalcanal; Japanese shelling, ship survived.
  • † ​Jenkins, Clair Raymond, USN, crew.

Light cruisers (CL):
USS Atlanta (CL-51), off Guadalcanal; Japanese gunfire & torpedo, ship sunk.
  • † ​Briggs, Orval Pershing, USN, crew.
USS Helena (CL-50), off New Georgia, Solomon Is.; Japanese destroyer torpedoes, ship sunk.
  • † ​Turner, Floyd Vernon, USN, crew.
USS Houston (CL-81), damaged by Japanese aerial torpedoes, ship survived..
  • † ​Cody, Claude LeRoy, USN, crew.
USS Juneau (CL-52), damaged off Guadalcanal (gunfire) & sunk W of San Cristobal, Solomon Is. (torpedo).
  • † ​Leuth, Walter August William, USN, crew.
USS Savannah (CL-42), off Salerno, Italy, German bomb, ship survived.
  • † ​Morris, Eddie Jack, USN, crew.

Part 3, United States Medium Surface Combat Ships (31)

Destroyers (DD):

USS Aaron Ward (DD-483), off Guadalcanal, Japanese bombs, ship sunk.
  • † ​Weihs, Alfred Peter, USN, crew.
USS Anderson (DD-411), off Leyte, Philippines; kamikaze, ship survived.
  • † ​Adler, Marvin Sanford, USN, crew.
USS Bailey (DD-492), Palau Is.; Japanese strafing, ship survived.
  • † ​Leach, William Ellsworth, USN, crew.
USS Barton (DD-599), off Guadalcanal, Solomon Is.; Japanese destroyer torpedoes, ship sunk.
  • † ​Crawford, William Frank Jr., USN, crew.
USS Brownson (DD-518), Atlantic; ship not damaged.
  • † ​Peterson, Jack, USN, crew.
USS Buck (DD-420), off Salerno, Italy, German submarine torpedo, ship sunk.
  • † ​Berry, Kenneth Coit, USN, crew.
USS Chevalier (DD-451), off Vella Lavella, Solomon Is., Japanese torpedo, ship scuttled.
  • † ​Miller, Max Miles, USN, crew.
USS Chew (DD-106), Pacific, ship undamaged.
  • † ​Heckman, Fred Herman, USN, crew.
USS Cony (DD-508), Treasury Is., S. Pacific, Japanese air attack, ship survived.
  • † ​Denton, Claude Ballentine, USN, crew.
USS Cooper (DD-605), off Leyte, Philippines, Japanese destroyer torpedo, ship sunk.
  • † ​Riddle, Carl William, USN, crew.

USS De Haven (DD-469), off Guadalcanal, Japanese bombs, ship sunk.
  • † ​Dixon, Cletus Hugh, USN, crew.
USS Edsall (DD-219), S of Java; Japanese surface ships, ship sunk.
  • † ​Koebel, Kenneth L., USAAF pilot, passenger, survivor from USS Langley sinking.
USS Gwin (DD-443), off New Georgia, destroyer torpedo, ship sunk.
  • † ​Sales, Orville Wesley Linden, USN, crew.
USS Halligan (DD-584), off Okinawa, Japan, mine, ship abandoned & hulk drifted ashore.
  • † ​Henderson, Harry Gregory, USN, crew.
USS Hoel (DD-533), off Samar, Philippines; Japanese surface fire, ship sunk.
  • † ​Bales, Paul Edgar, USN, crew.
USS Ingraham (DD-444), off Nova Scotia, collision w/ tanker Chemung, ship sunk.
  • † ​Snyder, Donald Earl, USN, crew.
USS Kalk (DD-611), off Biak Is., New Guinea; Japanese bomb, ship survived
  • † ​Linder, Gerald Edward, USN, crew.
USS Laffey (DD-459), off Guadalcanal; Japanese surface fire & torpedo.
  • † ​Beckendorf, Orville Leroy, USN, crew.
  • † ​Wunder, Edmund Earl, USN, crew.
USS Leary (DD-158), German submarine torpedo in Atlantic.
  • † ​Hansen, Arnt Billy, USN, crew.
USS Luce (DD-522), off Okinawa; kamikaze, ship sunk.
  • † ​Hopley, Thomas, USN, crew.

USS Meredith (DD-434), off Guadalcanal; Japanese air attack, ship sunk.
  • † ​Querry, Miles Jr., USN, USS Vireo (AM-52) crew.
USS Monaghan (DD-354), Philippine Sea; Pacific storm, ship sunk.
  • † ​Etheridge, Lindsay Edward, USN, crew.
USS Mugford (DD-389), off Leyte, Philippines, kamikaze, ship survived.
  • † ​Thoreson, Vernon Charles, USN, crew.
USS Peary (DD-226), Darwin, Australia; Japanese dive bombers, ship sunk.
  • † ​Baker, Delmar Eugene, USN, crew.
  • † ​Stranathan, Dale Chester, USN, crew.
USS Rowan (DD-405), off Salerno, Italy; German E-boat torpedo, ship sunk.
  • † ​Supernois, Donald Ward, USN, crew.
USS Selfridge (DD-357), off Vella Lavella, Solomon Is., Japanese torpedo, ship survived.
  • † ​Butts, Amos Albert, USN, crew.
USS Truxton (DD-229), off Newfoundland, Atlantic storm, ship hit rocks & sunk.
  • † ​Anderson, Elmer Dean, USN, crew.
USS Warrington (DD-383), off Florida coast, Atlantic storm, ship sunk.
  • † ​Senior, Clifford Leo, USN, crew.

Destroyer tenders (AD):
USS Black Hawk (AD-9), Darwin, Australia, ship undamaged.
  • † ​Field, John Henry, USN, transferred from USS Peary, patient.

Part 4, US Navy Submarines (SS) (9)
USS Amberjack (SS-219), off Rabaul, Bismarck archipelago, Japanese depth charge, sunk.
  • † ​Seidell, Daniel Ryan, USN, crew.
USS Dorado (SS-248), off Panama, mine or friendly fire, sunk.
  • † ​Smith, Boyd D., USN, crew.
USS Growler (SS-215), South China Sea; Japanese depth charge, sunk.
  • † ​Daughtrey/Daugherty, Gilbert Pryor, USN, crew.
USS Seawolf (SS-197), off Morotai, Netherlands Indies; friendly fire (not confirmed), ship sunk.
  • † ​Bargenquast, Arnold Frank, USN, crew.
  • † ​Rhoads, Guy Benjamin, USN, crew.
  • † ​Wall, Vernon Palmer, USN, crew.
USS Tang (SS-306), off Formosa, sunk by own torpedo.
  • † ​Larson, Paul Louis, USN, crew.
USS Triton (SS-201), Philippines Sea, NW of Admiralty Is.; Japanese destroyer depth charges, ship sunk.
  • † ​Isom, Lyman LeRoy, USN, crew.
USS Tullibee (SS-284), off Palau Is., sunk by own torpedo.
  • † ​Stearns, Kirk Comstock, USN, crew.

Part 5, US Navy Small Combat Ships (2)

Motor minesweepers (YMS):
YMS 19, Palau Is., Japanese mine, ship sunk.
  • † ​Colwell, Carl Layne, USN, crew.
YMS 385, Ulithi, Caroline Is., Japanese mine, ship sunk.
  • † ​Swift, Lelean Carl, USN, crew.

Part 6, US Navy Landing Ships and Landing Craft (6)

Tank landing ships (LST):
LST-3, off Sicily, German bomber, ship survived:
  • † ​Andersen, Eugene Phillip, US Navy, crew.
LST-422, off Anzio, Italy, German mine, ship sunk.
  • † ​Thompsen, Walter Peter Henry, US Army, passenger.
LST-531, off Slapton Sands, England, German E-boat torpedo, ship sunk.
  • † ​Aid, Alvin Eldred, US Army, passenger.
LST-577, off east coast of Mindanao, Japanese submarine torpedo, ship sunk.
  • † ​Gustafson, Carl Lynn, US Army, passenger.

Tank landing craft (LCT):
LCT-486, off Normandy, France, German mine, ship sunk.
  • † ​Arkfeld, Francis Felix, USN, crew.
LCT-305, off Omaha Beach, Normandy, German mine, ship sunk.
  • † ​Saunders, Robert William, USN, crew.

Part 7, US Navy Cargo and Personnel Ships (9)

Cargo ships (AK/AKA/AKS):
USS Atik (AK-101), off North Carolina, US; German submarine torpedo, ship sunk.
  • † ​Collins, James Perry, USN, crew.
USS Almaack (AKA-19), off Portugal; German submarine torpedo, ship survived
  • † ​Brown, Gerald Keith, USN, crew.
USS Oberon (AK-56), in port, Brooklyn Navy Yard, US; ship undamaged.
  • † ​Fausett, Ottis Marvin Jr., USN, crew.

Oilers (AO/AOG):
USS Kanawha (AO-1), off Guadalcanal; Japanese dive bombers; ship later sunk.
Muller, Newton Bruce, USN, crew.

Troop transports (AP/APA/APD):
USS Tasker H. Bliss (AP-42), Atlantic, off Morocco, submarine torpedo, ship survived.
  • † ​Alff, John Fredrick, US Army, passenger.
USS McCauley (APA-4), Solomon Is., damaged by Japanese aerial torpedo, sunk by US PT boats.
  • † ​Bradley, Donald James, USN, crew.
USS Sandoval (APA-194), off Okinawa, kamikaze, ship survived.
  • † ​Chancellor, James Maurice, USN, crew.

Hospital Ships (AH/APH):
USS Pickney (APH-2), off Okinawa, kamikaze; ship survived.
  • † ​Hansen, Hans Folmer Rattenborg Jr., USN, crew.
USS Solace (AH-5), off Iwo Jima, ship undamaged.
  • † ​Woods, Duane Lavern, USMC, patient

Part 8, Other United States Military Ships (3)

US Army ships:
Tanker Y-17, North Sea, near Ostend, Belgium, German submarine torpedo, ship sunk.
  • † ​Jorgensen, George Eugene Jr., USN, radio operator.

Coast Guard ships:
Clover (WLB-292), cutter, Alaska, ship not damaged.
  • † ​Meindl, Joseph James, USCG, crew.
Serpens (AK-97), cargo ship, Guadalcanal, munitions explosion.
  • † ​Sorenson, Robert H., USCG.

Part 9, United States Merchant Marine (7)

Liberty ships:
SS M. H. De Young, south Pacific, Japanese submarine torpedo, ship survived as USS Antelope (IX-109).
  • † ​Ellsworth, Dale Stanley, USN, armed guard.
SS Lewis L. Dyche, carrying ammunition off of Mindoro, Philippines, kamikaze, ship disintegrated.
  • † ​Meredith, Glenn T., USN, armed guard.
SS Thomas Nelson, off Leyte, Philippines, kamikaze, ship survived.
  • † ​Crose, James Harvey, USAAF, passenger

Tankers:
SS Atlantic Sun, off Cape Race, Newfoundland; German submarine torpedo, ship sunk.
  • † ​McLaurin, William Harold, merchant marine, radio operator.
SS Guilfoil, Gulf of Mexico, near Mississippi River delta; German submarine torpedo, ship sunk.
  • † ​Keat, Harry Martin, USN, armed guard
SS Pan Massachusetts, off Cape Canaveral, Florida, US; German submarine torpedoes, ship sunk.
  • † ​Curry, Jack Benton, merchant marine, crew.

Other freighters:
SS Topa Topa, Atlantic, en route Trinidad to Africa; German submarine torpedo, ship sunk.
  • † ​Heckman, Gail Wayne, USN, armed guard.

Part 10, Allied Ships (4)
HMS  LST-422, see entry in Part 6.
HMT Rhona (British), Mediterranean, off Algeria, German guided bomb, sunk.
  • † ​Soppe, Raymond Ferdinand, US Army, passenger.
SS Leopoldville (Belgian), English Channel, off Cherbourg, France; German submarine torpedo, sunk.
  • † ​Svenningsen, Elmer Lawrence, US Army, passenger.
  • † ​Swanson, Charles Edward Jr., US Army, passenger.
  • † ​Welbourn, Eldred Orville, US Army, passenger.

Part 11, Axis Ships (5)

Japanese Hell Ships carrying prisoners:
Arisan Maru, off Formosa, torpedoed by US submarine, ship sunk.
  • † ​McCuen, Walter Rae, USN, prisoner.
  • † ​Spencer, George Raymond, USN, prisoner.
Enoura Maru, southern Formosa, US aircraft.
  • † ​Blizzard, Howard Leslie, US Army, prisoner.
Oryoku Maru, off Luzon, Philippines, US aircraft, ship ran aground.
  • † ​Newman, Shelby Fearn, US Army, prisoner.
Shinyo Maru, off Mindanao, Philippines, torpedoed by US submarine, ship dunk.
  • † ​Fader, Walter D., USAAF, prisoner.

Part 12, Unknown ships (1)

unknown, Pacific Ocean en route to US, ship undamaged:
  • † ​Schroder, Dean Charles, US Army, patient, died at sea of complications from head wound.