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Tale of a Heroic Sailor: Ensign Stannus' M1911A1 (Ad-free)
🕑 Added 2024-02-26 12:00:02 +0000 UTCRobert "Dickie" Stannus was , in technical terms, a total stud. So much so that he was awarded an inscribed M1911A1 directly by Colt as a prize for being the top sailor in his Naval Academy class. He got the privilege of choosing what ship he would be assigned to, and chose the USS Bear, an assault transport. On its 1959 cruise from Yokosuka for exercises, it encountered Typhoon Ellen, one of the strongest recorded storms of the century. When one of the Bexar's Marines was washed overboard, Stannus dove into the surging waves to save the man - and did so successfully. As the Marine was being hauled back on board, though, the ship took a roll and Stannus was drowned beneath the hull.
Stannus' Naval Academy memorial page:
https://usnamemorialhall.org/index.php/ROBERT_D._STANNUS,_ENS,_USN
Comments
Christian D. Orr
Beautiful pistol and helluva story…something’s definitely amiss with that many skippers in such a short space of time.
Guido Schriewer
man. quiet a guy, huh. damn bad he paid that toll being so brave. real shame.
