ARTHUR WILSON CLARK JR.
Electrician’s Mate Second Class · Plankowner, USS Silversides (SS-236)
| Born / Died | 17 Nov 1918 / 24 Jan 1994 |
| Service no. | 381-23-32 |
| Commissioning rate | EM2c (15 Dec 1941) |
| Silversides tenure | 15 Dec 1941 – 5 Feb 1944 |
| Patrols aboard | 8 (20 ships credited, 113,962 t)² |
| Rate on leaving Silversides | CEM(AA) |
| Other vessels | Sculpin (plankowner) |
Prewar (1918–1941)
Arthur Wilson Clark Jr. was born on 17 November 1918, five months after the death of his father. Arthur Sr., born 20 October 1894, was a signalman in a logging camp and was killed in June 1918 when a falling tree fractured his skull.
The 1920 census finds the thirteen-month-old, enumerated as “Junior A. Clark,” in Los Angeles in the household of his maternal grandmother, Alice Randall. The house held several Randall and Oliver relatives and four lodgers. He joined the Navy before the war and was a plankowner of the new fleet boat Sculpin; his enlistment date has not yet been established.
On Silversides (Dec 1941 – Feb 1944)
Clark commissioned aboard *Silversides* on 15 December 1941 as EM2c and stayed for her first eight war patrols, the first five under C.C. Burlingame and the next three under J.S. Coye Jr. He rose to Chief Electrician’s Mate and left the boat on 5 February 1944, after the eighth patrol and ten days before the ninth sailed. Three other plankowners left on the same date: Patrick A. Carswell, William F. Marsh and Roy C. Riser. His file does not record where he went.
| Patrol | Dates | CO | Credited sunk | Credited damaged |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 Apr – 21 Jun 1942 | Burlingame | 5 (25,627 t)¹ | 1 (10,100 t) |
| 2 | 15 Jul – 8 Sep 1942 | Burlingame | 4 (15,250 t) | 2 (5,750 t) |
| 3 | 2 Oct – 25 Nov 1942 | Burlingame | 2 (12,500 t)² | 0 |
| 4 | 17 Dec 1942 – 31 Jan 1943 | Burlingame | 1 (10,010 t) | 3 (14,360 t) |
| 5 | 17 May – 1 Jul 1943 | Burlingame | 1 (10,000 t) | 0 |
| 6 | 21 Jul – 12 Sep 1943 | Coye | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 5 Oct – 8 Nov 1943 | Coye | 4 (22,075 t) | 1 (5,000 t) |
| 8 | 4 Dec 1943 – 15 Jan 1944 | Coye | 3 (18,500 t) | 2 (8,000 t) |
| Total | 20 (113,962 t) | 9 (43,210 t) |
¹ Tonnage as credited in endorsements. Patrol 1 includes a submarine credit that was likely a log or other debris.
² Patrol 3 figures come from the ship’s history, not a patrol report. The total therefore mixes bases.
Later War (1944–1945)
His service after leaving Silversides has not yet been traced.
Postwar (1945–1994)
No postwar record has been assembled yet. He died on 24 January 1994.
Research Notes
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Departure: 5 Feb 1944 is shared with SRS-004, 026 and 035. Check the muster for the destination and for what the shared date represents.
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Father’s death: the dates and the logging-camp accident come from the file note, with no source recorded.
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1920 household: “Nell Clark (20)” is probably his mother, but the note does not say so.
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Patrol 3:
secondary_source(ship’s history, not located on Fold3). -
Patrol 5 and 6 end dates: the table follows the index pages (1 Jul and 12 Sep 1943). The headings in the Silversides War Patrols note give 16 Jul and 4 Sep 1943.
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Sculpin: plankowner status comes from the file note; confirm against her muster. Four Silversides plankowners came from Sculpin: this profile, Michael L. Esposito, Elmer G. Huter and Peter J. Lewis.
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Open: enlistment date, BIRLS, 1930/1940/1950 census, obituary.
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Source notes (carried over, verbatim):
Father was Arthur W. Clark, born 20 Oct 1894. Killed when a falling tree fractured his skull in June 1918, 5 months before Arthur Jr was born. Father was a signalman in a logging camp.
1920 Census Living with his maternal grandmother in Los Angeles. Alice Randall (44). Dot B Oliver (22), Nell Clark (20), Myra Randall (18), Wayne Randall (16), Arthur Randall (13), Myra Oliver (6), Junior A. Clark (13 mo), and 4 lodgers.
Plankowner of SCULPIN
Sources: 1920 census; Silversides muster; Silversides patrol indexes 1–8.