Crosleys' in the Navy
October 27 is Navy Day! Beginning in 1922, the day was selected by the New York Navy League in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday. Roosevelt was a naval strategist and scholar, and believed that a superior Navy was crucial to the United States becoming a powerful nation and having influence in foreign policy.
In celebration of Navy Day, here is a quick look at the Crosley side of Bertha Crosley Ball’s (wife of Edmund Burke Ball) family which has a long tradition with the United States Navy.
Bertha Crosley Ball
Rear Admiral Walter Selwyn Crosley (1871–1939), cousin of Bertha, graduated from the Naval academy in 1893 and served assignments during the Sino-Japanese War, Spanish American War, Philippine Insurrection, Haitian and Dominican Campaigns, and World War I. His post war service included command of two vessels, Commandant assignments including the Great Lakes Naval Training Station, and Hydrographer of the Navy Department. Rear Admiral Crosley received several awards and decorations during his career the most prestigious being the Navy Cross which is the second highest military decoration for valor.
Admiral Walter S. Crosley
Commander Floyd Stewart Crosley (1897–1979), son of Rear Admiral Walter Selwyn Crosley, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1919. In 1921, while serving on the USS Kennedy, he was seriously injured when a boiler gauge exploded during a trial run. Although he retired in 1926 he returned to active duty in 1942 to serve as a Commander for the duration of WWII.
Captain Paul Cunningham Crosley (1902–1997), son of Rear Admiral Walter Selwyn Crosley, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1925, UC Berkeley, and the Naval War College. His assignments included staff service in the offices of the Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet, Chief of Naval Operations, Naval War College, Secretary of Defense, and Secretariat of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He subsequently held the positions of Chief of Staff to Commander Chief of Staff to Commander Cruiser Division Five, Assistant Chief of Staff for Communications with Commander Eastern Sea Frontier, and finally Chief of Staff. He retired in 1955 with the rank of Captain and became the Director of Naval Science, and head of the Department of Naval Instruction at the Honor Naval School of the Admiral Farragut Academy for ten years.
Powell and Lewis Crosley (of the Crosley radio and Crosley car fame), cousins of Bertha, manufactured many items during WWII including a Mark XIV gun sight for the Navy. The sight made it easier to line up the gun with the target resulting in better shooting accuracy. They did not invent this component but did improve it through their manufacturing processes.
Ferdinand Swift Crosley (1872–1931), brother of Bertha, was a Yale graduate and New York lawyer. During World War I he served in the New York Guard. He was also a member of the United War Work Campaign Committee of Eleven, was tasked with obtaining and providing information about establishing bases for the Third Naval District’s coast patrol, and was a signaling instructor for the U.S. Navy Reserve Force.
Ferdinand Crosley
