US Marine Corps - The Black Vault

68 Amphibians Came To Conquer
was finally detached from the Staff, Scouting Fleet, on 17 June 1924, the
selection list for commander was approved by the President and promulgated
by the Navy Department. The very, very good news was that the top 11
officers in 1908 had been considered and all had been selected. It could be
said in the case of Lieutenant Commander Richmond Kelly Turner that the
1924 commander Selection Board had been willing to take the intention,
in lieu of the actual deed of demonstrated success in a small ship command,
before promotion to commander.
CLASS OF 1908 ON THE ROAD TO COMMANDER
The period from June 1913 to late 1916 by which time the Class of 1908
had been promoted to senior lieutenant was one of further rapid diminution
of the Class of 1908 in the Line of the Navy. Ten were physically retired,
although some of the physical disabilities apparently were not dangerous
to longevity, as five of those ten are still alive nearly 50 years later. Three
were dismissed from the Naval Service, two resigned and death took two,
one (Richard C. Saufley) being the first naval aviation casualty from the
class, and the 14th aviator in all the Navy to win naval wings.
One hundred thirty-three made senior lieutenant and the name Richmond
Kelly Turner appeared at the top of the list of Line officers of the Class of
1908 in the 1917 annual Naval Register. That name was to remain in that
position for the next 25 Naval Registers.
During the short year when the Class of 1908 wore the two stripes of a
senior lieutenant, two more names had to be crossed out. One was a physical
retirement and the other was the first naval officer lost in World War I,
Lieutenant Clarence C. Thomas. He died on 28 April 1917, following the
loss of the 2,55 l-ton tanker the SS Vacatim, sunk by a submarine off the coast
of England.
With the end of World War I, there was an unusual flood tide of ten
resignations. These were surprising, because each of these officers had
devoted over 10 years to the naval profession, the comfortable rank of
lieutenant commander had been reached, a temporary wartime pay increase
had been received and this increase was in the process of being made
permanent by the Congress.
The flood tide of resignations was largely based on the flood tide of naval
disarmament talk, which culminated in the Limitation of Naval Armament