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- USS Horace A. Bass
Namesake: Ensign Horace A. Bass Jr. (1915-1942) United States Navy aviator and recipient of the Navy Cross for his actions in the Battle of Midway in June 1942.
Richmond Times Dispatch, Virginia, Sunday, November 8, 1942
Ensign Horace A. Bass Jr., Reported Missing in Pacific
Ensign Horace Ancell Bass, Jr., former student at the Richmond Professional Institute, who shot down two enemy planes in the Battle of Midway and had his own plane riddles with 27 bullets, has been reported missing in battle since august 24, acording to information received by his wife, the former Sara Myley, of Roanoke.
Lieutenant R.E. Harmer, commander of Fighting Squadron Five with the United States Pacific carriers, advised Mrs. Bass her husband was flying as fighter protection over navy forces when his squadron was attacked by a large group of enemy bombes and fighters. In the battle he lost contact with the rest of his division and was not heard from again.
He would have been 27 years of age last September and enlisted as a naval aviation cadet in the naval reserve in February 1941 and was called to duty the next month. He would have been promoted to Lieutenant (jg) in October.
Said to be the first alumnus of RPI to fall in action, he taught art at Jefferson High School in Roanoke, which school he attended before coming to Richmond.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. H.A. Bass, Sr., and one sister, Mrs. Lewis Thomas, all of Roanoke.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1915 - 1943 (27 years)