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Namesake
William Matthews Hobby, Jr.—born on 27 July 1899 in Sylvania, Ga.—was appointed a midshipman from the 1st district of Georgia on 20 June 1919 and graduated in the class of 1923. After initial sea duty in the battleship Oklahoma (BB-37) from June 1923 to April 1925, Hobby underwent brief aviation instruction at Pensacola, Fla.; reported to destroyer Kidder (DD-319) on 21 November 1925; and served in that ship as she earned the 2d Nicaraguan campaign ribbon. Hobby then underwent submarine instruction at the Submarine Base, New London, Conn., from late December 1927 to June of the following year. He then traveled to the Asiatic station, where he reported to the submarine tender Canopus (AS-9) on 10 August 1928, prior to his joining the submarine 8^37 (SS-142) 10 days later. After successive tours in S-41 (SS-146) and 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 Cachalot (SS-171) before serving back-to-back tours in battleship Tennessee (BB-43) and training ship Wyoming (AG-17) into the summer of 1938. Hobby reported to the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J., on 11 May 1939, to supervise the fitting out of the new Sims-class destroyer Anderson (DD-411) and to become her first commanding officer when she was placed in commission. Detached on 22 March 1941, Hobby then rejoined the battleship Oklahoma four days later as damage control officer and 1st lieutenant. After the battleship capsized and sank in the Japanese attack against Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Hobby served briefly in the 12th Naval District before he joined the new battleship Washington (BB-56) on 3 January 1942. He acted as navigator of that battlewagon until he relieved Comdr. Walter E. Moore as executive officer of the light cruiser Juneau (CL-52) at Espiritu Santo on 2 November 1942. Ten days later, Juneau was heavily damaged during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. The following afternoon, Friday the 13th, while she was returning to Espiritu Santo, the cruiser was literally blown into bits by a torpedo from the Japanese submarine 1—26 which detonated her magazine. Commander Hobby was among those who perished in the cataclysmic blast that tore the ship apart.
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Bill Gonyo |
NH 91590 |
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USS William M. Hobby (APD-95) under way near the Charleston Navy Yard, S.C., 19 April 1945. Launched as DE-236
but converted to a high speed transport (APD) before completion, this ship is painted in Measure 31-32 series camouflage.
US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 91590, NH 91591, NH 91589, courtesy of A.D. Baker III. |
Mike Green |
