Walter Harold Mosley
Encyclopedia
Navy career
Mosley enlisted in the Navy 12 February 1940. Appointed an aviation cadetCadet
A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...
21 June 1940, he completed flight training at Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...
, and was commissioned ensign 11 March 1941.
Assigned to Patrol Squadron 22, he was based at Ford Field during the Japanese
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
attack on Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
7 December. In January 1942 he flew with his squadron to Darwin, Australia, to support the Allied attempt to halt the Japanese advance through Southeast Asia. Based on USS William B. Preston (AVD-7), Mosley flew patrols north of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
into the Java Sea
Java Sea
The Java Sea is a large shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf. It was formed as sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age. The Java Sea lies between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south; Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east...
and surrounding waters plotting the movements of the Japanese.
As copilot of a PBY-5
PBY Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
, he departed for a patrol south of Amboina, Moluccas, 19 February. With Lt. Thomas H. Moorer (later admiral and Chief of Naval Operations
Chief of Naval Operations
The Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy...
) as pilot, the patrol plane spotted a merchant ship off Melville Island
Melville Island, Northern Territory
Melville Island or Yermalner Island lies in the eastern Timor Sea, off the coast of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is west of the Cobourg Peninsula in Arnhem Land and north of Darwin....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and turned to investigate. About 0920, nine Japanese fighters, part of a 70 plane force en route to bomb Darwin, Australia, jumped the PBY. Soon the plane was in flames, its port engine out and fuel streaming along the fuselage. Despite the attacking fighters, Lieutenant Moorer and Ensign Mosley skillfully landed the plane. In Lieutenant Moorer’s words, Mosley assisted by handling the throttle “although dazed and bleeding profusely from a wound in the head.”
SS Florence D., an American merchant ship carrying ammunition to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, rescued the crew. Later that day, Japanese carrier planes attacked the unarmed ship with 500 pound bombs. Survivors, including Mosley, made Bathurst Island
Bathurst Island
A member of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Bathurst Island is one of the Queen Elizabeth Islands in Nunavut Territory, Canada. The area of the island is estimated at , making it the 54th largest island in the world and Canada's 13th largest island. It is uninhabited.The island is low-lying with...
in two lifeboats
Lifeboat (shipboard)
A lifeboat is a small, rigid or inflatable watercraft carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard ship. In the military, a lifeboat may be referred to as a whaleboat, dinghy, or gig. The ship's tenders of cruise ships often double as lifeboats. Recreational sailors sometimes...
about midnight, and a RAAF patrol plane spotted them on the 21st. The next morning, HMAS Warrnambool (J202), an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n subchaser, rescued them and carried them to Darwin 23 February.
Early in March Mosley returned to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
where he joined VP 44 for operations out of Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
. Late in May he flew search patrols out of Midway Island
Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tokyo, Japan. Unique among the Hawaiian islands, Midway observes UTC-11 , eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time and one hour...
in anticipation of an enemy attack. During the first air attack against the island 4 June Mosley was serving as copilot in 44-P-12. His patrolling PBY-5A was attacked by two Japanese seaplanes, and the bomber was shot down in flames.
Awarded the Silver Star
Ensign Mosley was posthumously awarded the Silver StarSilver Star
The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
for “extremely gallant and intrepid conduct” during the air action 19 February 1942.
Namesake
Mosley (DE-321) was named in his honor. The ship was laid down by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, TexasOrange, Texas
Orange is a city in Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 18,643. It is the county seat of Orange County, and is the easternmost city in Texas. Located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, it is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur...
, 6 April 1943; launched 26 June 1943; by Mrs. A. G. Mosley; and commissioned at Orange 30 October 1943, Lt. Comdr. James A. Alger, Jr., USCG, in command.