Irving Wiltsie

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Wiltsie graduated in the United States Naval Academy class of 1921. He then served at sea in a succession of ships, including Arizona (BB-39), Wyoming (BB-32), Raleigh (CL-7), and Cleveland (CL-21). Next he underwent flight instruction at NAS Pensacola, Florida, from 1925 to 1927 and was designated as a Naval Aviator. He subsequently served in seaplane aviation units embarked aboard Milwaukee (CL-5), Memphis (CL-13), and Texas (BB-35) before he returned to NAS Pensacola as an instructor. After another tour of sea duty—in Louisville (CA-28)—Wiltsie commanded the Naval Reserve Aviation Base at Minneapolis, Minnesota, from 29 June 1935 to 4 June 1937. He later commanded the bombing squadrons attached to Saratoga (CV-3) from June 1937 to June 1939, before he served at the Naval Air Station San Diego, California. He subsequently joined Yorktown (CV-5) as navigator on 27 June 1941 and received a promotion to commander on 1 July.

Wiltsie remained in Yorktown until her loss at the pivotal Battle of Midway from 4 to 6 June 1942. During the early stages of the action, Wiltsie displayed "outstanding professional ability" as he provided complete and accurate navigational information to air plot, thus enabling the carrier's air group to pinpoint their targets.

During the Japanese torpedo attacks on 4 June, when "Kates" from the carrier Hiryū located Yorktown and carried put a successful attack against her, Wiltsie, on instructions from the captain, conned the ship from his battle station in the conning tower and was later deemed directly responsible for the ship's evading a pair of torpedoes. When injuries sustained during the attack incapacitated the carrier's executive officer, Commander Wiltsie assumed these duties and directed the organization of a salvage party which fought valiantly to save the ship.

When Yorktown eventually succumbed to her damage and the coup de grace administered by Japanese submarine I-168, Wiltsie coolly and calmly directed the salvage party and the wounded to rescuing vessels alongside the doomed carrier.

Wiltsie was promoted to captain in September 1942 and commanded the seaplane tender Albemarle (AV-5) from 6 October 1942 to 12 June 1943. After this tour, he supervised the fitting-out of escort carrier Glacier (CVE-33) at the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Company and went on to supervise the same kind of activities of Liscome Bay (CVE-56). Wiltsie would command this escort carrier until the ship's loss off Makin, in the Gilbert Islands, in the autumn of 1943.

In the predawn darkness of 24 November 1943, I-175 torpedoed Liscome Bay—the flagship of Rear Admiral Henry M. Mullinnix—and started fires among bombs and ammunition. Fed by aviation gasoline, the flames spread rapidly, and the carrier rocked with explosions. Wiltsie immediately left the bridge and proceeded along the starboard gallery deck level to ascertain the damage to his ship, as communications had been severed early-on. Despite the tremendous structural damage and raging fires, the captain bravely headed aft to determine the full extent of the damage. Damage control efforts failed, however, and the carrier sank soon thereafter, carrying the intrepid Wiltsie, Admiral Mullinix, and 644 officers and men down with her.

The citation for Captain Wiltsie's posthumous Navy Cross noted his "calm, courageous action and valiant devotion to duty" which inspired the surviving members of the crew.

USS Wiltsie (DD-716) was named for him.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

Noles, James L. (2004). Twenty-Three Minutes to Eternity: The Final Voyage of the Escort Carrier USS Liscome Bay, University of Alabama Press.