SPRIGGS, MORRIS HOMER (52), Commander (no. O-009001), US Navy, °18/04/1892 ~ †24/10/1944
Born Paulding, Paulding County, Ohio
Parents, Frank P. and Margaret Spriggs
Wife, Mrs. Marie Angela Spriggs, La Jolla, Calif.
POW casualty of the Japanese hell ship Arisan Maru
Another cenotaph memorializing CDR Spriggs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISAN MARU - THE GREATEST LOSS OF AMERICAN LIFE IN MARITIME HISTORY
On 24th October 1944 Arisan Maru carrying 1782 US POW was hit by 3 torpedoes from American submarine USS Shark (not knowing the Japanese freighter was carrying US POW) in the South China Sea, 200 miles N.W. of Luzon Island, Philippines. Arisan Maru was carrying 1782 US prisoners, 125 Japanese passengers and 204 crew from Manila to Japan.
After 2 Japanese destroyers attacked and sank USS Shark they returned to Arisan Maru to look for survivors. No POWs were killed by the torpedo strikes and nearly all were able to leave the ship's holds but the Japanese did not rescue any of the POW that day, only Japanese. Japanese destroyers even deliberately pulled away from the men struggling in the water to reach them. 1777 POW died.
Only 9 of the prisoners aboard survived the event. Five escaped and made their way to China in one of the ship's two lifeboats. They were reunited with U.S. Forces and returned to the United States. The four others were later recaptured by Imperial Japanese naval vessels, where one died shortly after reaching land.
This makes Arisa Maru the greatest loss of American life in maritime history.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MORRIS H. SPRIGGS, CDR, USN (RET.)
Morris Spriggs '15
Date of birth: April 18, 1892
Date of death: October 24, 1944
Age: 52
Lucky Bag (United States Naval Academy Yearbook)
From the 1915 Lucky Bag:
Morris Homer Spriggs
Paulding, Ohio
"Snookums" "Snooks" "Busque" "Busquelo"
THE sly old fox! The dark-haired, dreamy-eyed, quiet, easy-going youth who, for two and a half long years, fooled the O. C.'s into thinking that he was the most innocent, peaceably inclined person in the whole Brigade. But during the last half of the third year, how things did drop! Navy about a hundred, Spriggs nothing. One Saturday morning, through the clever work of its sleuths, the Discipline Department discovered that artillery had been smuggled into Bancroft and certain sections heavily fortified. As a result of later investigations the Department became so alarmed that they held a council of war and decided that Snooks must go to sea; that it was not safe with him at large. The Sixth Company cry since that day has been:
"Close your windows and bolt your doors—
Snooks is loose with his forty-fours."
To know Snooks is to like him, and to know him well one should have lived three years in the old Sixth. He is very quiet and easy-going by nature, with but few, if any, worries. Occasionally he likes a good rough-house, and on all liberties he is out for a good time. One of his greatest pleasures is in fussing Walt's queens.
You would hardly call Snooks a savoir or a savant, but he stands about the middle of the class without a great deal of effort. He is, above all, a good, practical worker and a great advocate of there being two ways of doing things the right way and the wrong way. He can naturally show youth at his way is the right way. The Navy was made for Snooks and Snooks for the Navy, so there you are.
"Sure I'll drag for you, Walt."
"Rainbow, why didn't you tell me they were inspecting beds?"
Reina Mercedes (2).
Loss
Morris was lost when the Japanese "Hell Ship" he was aboard, Arisan Maru, was sunk by an American submarine on October 24, 1944.
Prior to his capture, he was on the retired list but serving in the "Office of Captain of the Yard" of Naval Station Olongapo, Philippines.
Other Information
He had command of USS Davis (Destroyer No. 65) for a week in August, 1919.
In 1924 and for some portion of 1925 Morris was commanding officer of USS S-8 (SS 113).
He was a Lieutenant Commander and a member of the engineering department aboard USS Mississippi in the late 1920s; he was awarded a letter of recognition from the Secretary of the Navy for his performance during this time per the Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 138 (August 16, 1930).
His wife, Marie, was listed as next of kin; he has a memory marker in Ohio.
Prisoner of War Medal
From Hall of Valor:
Lieutenant Commander Morris H. Spriggs (NSN: 0-9001), United States Navy, was captured by the Japanese after the fall of Corregidor, Philippine Islands, on 6 May 1942, and was held as a Prisoner of War until his death while still in captivity.
General Orders: NARA Database: Records of World War II Prisoners of War, created, 1942 - 1947
Service: Navy
Division: Prisoner of War (Philippine Islands)
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
https://usnamemorialhall.org
Born Paulding, Paulding County, Ohio
Parents, Frank P. and Margaret Spriggs
Wife, Mrs. Marie Angela Spriggs, La Jolla, Calif.
POW casualty of the Japanese hell ship Arisan Maru
Another cenotaph memorializing CDR Spriggs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISAN MARU - THE GREATEST LOSS OF AMERICAN LIFE IN MARITIME HISTORY
On 24th October 1944 Arisan Maru carrying 1782 US POW was hit by 3 torpedoes from American submarine USS Shark (not knowing the Japanese freighter was carrying US POW) in the South China Sea, 200 miles N.W. of Luzon Island, Philippines. Arisan Maru was carrying 1782 US prisoners, 125 Japanese passengers and 204 crew from Manila to Japan.
After 2 Japanese destroyers attacked and sank USS Shark they returned to Arisan Maru to look for survivors. No POWs were killed by the torpedo strikes and nearly all were able to leave the ship's holds but the Japanese did not rescue any of the POW that day, only Japanese. Japanese destroyers even deliberately pulled away from the men struggling in the water to reach them. 1777 POW died.
Only 9 of the prisoners aboard survived the event. Five escaped and made their way to China in one of the ship's two lifeboats. They were reunited with U.S. Forces and returned to the United States. The four others were later recaptured by Imperial Japanese naval vessels, where one died shortly after reaching land.
This makes Arisa Maru the greatest loss of American life in maritime history.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MORRIS H. SPRIGGS, CDR, USN (RET.)
Morris Spriggs '15
Date of birth: April 18, 1892
Date of death: October 24, 1944
Age: 52
Lucky Bag (United States Naval Academy Yearbook)
From the 1915 Lucky Bag:
Morris Homer Spriggs
Paulding, Ohio
"Snookums" "Snooks" "Busque" "Busquelo"
THE sly old fox! The dark-haired, dreamy-eyed, quiet, easy-going youth who, for two and a half long years, fooled the O. C.'s into thinking that he was the most innocent, peaceably inclined person in the whole Brigade. But during the last half of the third year, how things did drop! Navy about a hundred, Spriggs nothing. One Saturday morning, through the clever work of its sleuths, the Discipline Department discovered that artillery had been smuggled into Bancroft and certain sections heavily fortified. As a result of later investigations the Department became so alarmed that they held a council of war and decided that Snooks must go to sea; that it was not safe with him at large. The Sixth Company cry since that day has been:
"Close your windows and bolt your doors—
Snooks is loose with his forty-fours."
To know Snooks is to like him, and to know him well one should have lived three years in the old Sixth. He is very quiet and easy-going by nature, with but few, if any, worries. Occasionally he likes a good rough-house, and on all liberties he is out for a good time. One of his greatest pleasures is in fussing Walt's queens.
You would hardly call Snooks a savoir or a savant, but he stands about the middle of the class without a great deal of effort. He is, above all, a good, practical worker and a great advocate of there being two ways of doing things the right way and the wrong way. He can naturally show youth at his way is the right way. The Navy was made for Snooks and Snooks for the Navy, so there you are.
"Sure I'll drag for you, Walt."
"Rainbow, why didn't you tell me they were inspecting beds?"
Reina Mercedes (2).
Loss
Morris was lost when the Japanese "Hell Ship" he was aboard, Arisan Maru, was sunk by an American submarine on October 24, 1944.
Prior to his capture, he was on the retired list but serving in the "Office of Captain of the Yard" of Naval Station Olongapo, Philippines.
Other Information
He had command of USS Davis (Destroyer No. 65) for a week in August, 1919.
In 1924 and for some portion of 1925 Morris was commanding officer of USS S-8 (SS 113).
He was a Lieutenant Commander and a member of the engineering department aboard USS Mississippi in the late 1920s; he was awarded a letter of recognition from the Secretary of the Navy for his performance during this time per the Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 138 (August 16, 1930).
His wife, Marie, was listed as next of kin; he has a memory marker in Ohio.
Prisoner of War Medal
From Hall of Valor:
Lieutenant Commander Morris H. Spriggs (NSN: 0-9001), United States Navy, was captured by the Japanese after the fall of Corregidor, Philippine Islands, on 6 May 1942, and was held as a Prisoner of War until his death while still in captivity.
General Orders: NARA Database: Records of World War II Prisoners of War, created, 1942 - 1947
Service: Navy
Division: Prisoner of War (Philippine Islands)
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
https://usnamemorialhall.org
SPRIGGS, MORRIS HOMER (52), Commander (no. O-009001), US Navy, °18/04/1892 ~ †24/10/1944
Born Paulding, Paulding County, Ohio
Parents, Frank P. and Margaret Spriggs
Wife, Mrs. Marie Angela Spriggs, La Jolla, Calif.
POW casualty of the Japanese hell ship Arisan Maru
Another cenotaph memorializing CDR Spriggs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISAN MARU - THE GREATEST LOSS OF AMERICAN LIFE IN MARITIME HISTORY
On 24th October 1944 Arisan Maru carrying 1782 US POW was hit by 3 torpedoes from American submarine USS Shark (not knowing the Japanese freighter was carrying US POW) in the South China Sea, 200 miles N.W. of Luzon Island, Philippines. Arisan Maru was carrying 1782 US prisoners, 125 Japanese passengers and 204 crew from Manila to Japan.
After 2 Japanese destroyers attacked and sank USS Shark they returned to Arisan Maru to look for survivors. No POWs were killed by the torpedo strikes and nearly all were able to leave the ship's holds but the Japanese did not rescue any of the POW that day, only Japanese. Japanese destroyers even deliberately pulled away from the men struggling in the water to reach them. 1777 POW died.
Only 9 of the prisoners aboard survived the event. Five escaped and made their way to China in one of the ship's two lifeboats. They were reunited with U.S. Forces and returned to the United States. The four others were later recaptured by Imperial Japanese naval vessels, where one died shortly after reaching land.
This makes Arisa Maru the greatest loss of American life in maritime history.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MORRIS H. SPRIGGS, CDR, USN (RET.)
Morris Spriggs '15
Date of birth: April 18, 1892
Date of death: October 24, 1944
Age: 52
Lucky Bag (United States Naval Academy Yearbook)
From the 1915 Lucky Bag:
Morris Homer Spriggs
Paulding, Ohio
"Snookums" "Snooks" "Busque" "Busquelo"
THE sly old fox! The dark-haired, dreamy-eyed, quiet, easy-going youth who, for two and a half long years, fooled the O. C.'s into thinking that he was the most innocent, peaceably inclined person in the whole Brigade. But during the last half of the third year, how things did drop! Navy about a hundred, Spriggs nothing. One Saturday morning, through the clever work of its sleuths, the Discipline Department discovered that artillery had been smuggled into Bancroft and certain sections heavily fortified. As a result of later investigations the Department became so alarmed that they held a council of war and decided that Snooks must go to sea; that it was not safe with him at large. The Sixth Company cry since that day has been:
"Close your windows and bolt your doors—
Snooks is loose with his forty-fours."
To know Snooks is to like him, and to know him well one should have lived three years in the old Sixth. He is very quiet and easy-going by nature, with but few, if any, worries. Occasionally he likes a good rough-house, and on all liberties he is out for a good time. One of his greatest pleasures is in fussing Walt's queens.
You would hardly call Snooks a savoir or a savant, but he stands about the middle of the class without a great deal of effort. He is, above all, a good, practical worker and a great advocate of there being two ways of doing things the right way and the wrong way. He can naturally show youth at his way is the right way. The Navy was made for Snooks and Snooks for the Navy, so there you are.
"Sure I'll drag for you, Walt."
"Rainbow, why didn't you tell me they were inspecting beds?"
Reina Mercedes (2).
Loss
Morris was lost when the Japanese "Hell Ship" he was aboard, Arisan Maru, was sunk by an American submarine on October 24, 1944.
Prior to his capture, he was on the retired list but serving in the "Office of Captain of the Yard" of Naval Station Olongapo, Philippines.
Other Information
He had command of USS Davis (Destroyer No. 65) for a week in August, 1919.
In 1924 and for some portion of 1925 Morris was commanding officer of USS S-8 (SS 113).
He was a Lieutenant Commander and a member of the engineering department aboard USS Mississippi in the late 1920s; he was awarded a letter of recognition from the Secretary of the Navy for his performance during this time per the Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 138 (August 16, 1930).
His wife, Marie, was listed as next of kin; he has a memory marker in Ohio.
Prisoner of War Medal
From Hall of Valor:
Lieutenant Commander Morris H. Spriggs (NSN: 0-9001), United States Navy, was captured by the Japanese after the fall of Corregidor, Philippine Islands, on 6 May 1942, and was held as a Prisoner of War until his death while still in captivity.
General Orders: NARA Database: Records of World War II Prisoners of War, created, 1942 - 1947
Service: Navy
Division: Prisoner of War (Philippine Islands)
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
https://usnamemorialhall.org
Born Paulding, Paulding County, Ohio
Parents, Frank P. and Margaret Spriggs
Wife, Mrs. Marie Angela Spriggs, La Jolla, Calif.
POW casualty of the Japanese hell ship Arisan Maru
Another cenotaph memorializing CDR Spriggs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARISAN MARU - THE GREATEST LOSS OF AMERICAN LIFE IN MARITIME HISTORY
On 24th October 1944 Arisan Maru carrying 1782 US POW was hit by 3 torpedoes from American submarine USS Shark (not knowing the Japanese freighter was carrying US POW) in the South China Sea, 200 miles N.W. of Luzon Island, Philippines. Arisan Maru was carrying 1782 US prisoners, 125 Japanese passengers and 204 crew from Manila to Japan.
After 2 Japanese destroyers attacked and sank USS Shark they returned to Arisan Maru to look for survivors. No POWs were killed by the torpedo strikes and nearly all were able to leave the ship's holds but the Japanese did not rescue any of the POW that day, only Japanese. Japanese destroyers even deliberately pulled away from the men struggling in the water to reach them. 1777 POW died.
Only 9 of the prisoners aboard survived the event. Five escaped and made their way to China in one of the ship's two lifeboats. They were reunited with U.S. Forces and returned to the United States. The four others were later recaptured by Imperial Japanese naval vessels, where one died shortly after reaching land.
This makes Arisa Maru the greatest loss of American life in maritime history.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MORRIS H. SPRIGGS, CDR, USN (RET.)
Morris Spriggs '15
Date of birth: April 18, 1892
Date of death: October 24, 1944
Age: 52
Lucky Bag (United States Naval Academy Yearbook)
From the 1915 Lucky Bag:
Morris Homer Spriggs
Paulding, Ohio
"Snookums" "Snooks" "Busque" "Busquelo"
THE sly old fox! The dark-haired, dreamy-eyed, quiet, easy-going youth who, for two and a half long years, fooled the O. C.'s into thinking that he was the most innocent, peaceably inclined person in the whole Brigade. But during the last half of the third year, how things did drop! Navy about a hundred, Spriggs nothing. One Saturday morning, through the clever work of its sleuths, the Discipline Department discovered that artillery had been smuggled into Bancroft and certain sections heavily fortified. As a result of later investigations the Department became so alarmed that they held a council of war and decided that Snooks must go to sea; that it was not safe with him at large. The Sixth Company cry since that day has been:
"Close your windows and bolt your doors—
Snooks is loose with his forty-fours."
To know Snooks is to like him, and to know him well one should have lived three years in the old Sixth. He is very quiet and easy-going by nature, with but few, if any, worries. Occasionally he likes a good rough-house, and on all liberties he is out for a good time. One of his greatest pleasures is in fussing Walt's queens.
You would hardly call Snooks a savoir or a savant, but he stands about the middle of the class without a great deal of effort. He is, above all, a good, practical worker and a great advocate of there being two ways of doing things the right way and the wrong way. He can naturally show youth at his way is the right way. The Navy was made for Snooks and Snooks for the Navy, so there you are.
"Sure I'll drag for you, Walt."
"Rainbow, why didn't you tell me they were inspecting beds?"
Reina Mercedes (2).
Loss
Morris was lost when the Japanese "Hell Ship" he was aboard, Arisan Maru, was sunk by an American submarine on October 24, 1944.
Prior to his capture, he was on the retired list but serving in the "Office of Captain of the Yard" of Naval Station Olongapo, Philippines.
Other Information
He had command of USS Davis (Destroyer No. 65) for a week in August, 1919.
In 1924 and for some portion of 1925 Morris was commanding officer of USS S-8 (SS 113).
He was a Lieutenant Commander and a member of the engineering department aboard USS Mississippi in the late 1920s; he was awarded a letter of recognition from the Secretary of the Navy for his performance during this time per the Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 138 (August 16, 1930).
His wife, Marie, was listed as next of kin; he has a memory marker in Ohio.
Prisoner of War Medal
From Hall of Valor:
Lieutenant Commander Morris H. Spriggs (NSN: 0-9001), United States Navy, was captured by the Japanese after the fall of Corregidor, Philippine Islands, on 6 May 1942, and was held as a Prisoner of War until his death while still in captivity.
General Orders: NARA Database: Records of World War II Prisoners of War, created, 1942 - 1947
Service: Navy
Division: Prisoner of War (Philippine Islands)
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
https://usnamemorialhall.org
Inscription
SPRIGGS MORRIS H - COMMANDER - USN - CALIFORNIA
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