LUCAS, Ernest A.

ERNEST A. LUCAS

Seaman First Class · Plankowner, USS Silversides (SS-236)

Born / Died	15 Nov 1921 / 11 Dec 2013
Service no.	279-64-92
Commissioning rate	Sea1c (15 Dec 1941)
Silversides tenure	15 Dec 1941 – 25 Sep 1942
Patrols aboard	2 (9 ships credited, 40,877 t)
Rate on leaving Silversides	SC3c
Other vessels	Chivo (SS-341)
Service	Retired 1961 after 22 years (obituary)

Prewar (1921–1941)

Ernest Lucas was born on 15 November 1921. In 1930 the family lived in Canaan Township, Ohio, where his father Perry (32) was a farmer. Ernest was one of five brothers: Cecil, Clifford, Richard and Howard, the youngest at five months. His enlistment date has not yet been established.

On Silversides (Dec 1941 – Sep 1942)

Lucas commissioned aboard *Silversides* on 15 December 1941 as Seaman First Class and was rated Ship’s Cook Third Class when he left on 25 September 1942. On his dates he made her first two war patrols under C.C. Burlingame.

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)
Total			9 (40,877 t)	3 (15,850 t)

¹ Tonnage as credited in endorsements. Patrol 1 includes a submarine credit that was likely a log or other debris.

Later War (1942–1945)

His wartime service after Silversides has not yet been traced.

Postwar (1945–2013)

The 1950 census enumerates him aboard USS Chivo (SS-341), a Balao-class submarine, at the Submarine Base, Key West. He retired from the Navy in 1961 after twenty-two years’ service in World War II and Korea, and his headstone reads “CPO – US Navy” beside a submarine and anchor. His obituary says he retired in 1985 from the Chillicothe VA Medical Center, where he was Director of Social Services and Utilization Review, and had also retired from Adena Regional Medical Center after fifteen years in the same post. He belonged to the National Association of Social Workers and the Ohio Hospital Association of Social Workers. He died on 11 December 2013.

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Research Notes

• 1930 census: the note gives Ernest as nine, but a 15 Nov 1921 birth makes him eight in April 1930. verify

• Patrol count: silversides_patrols was blank; two comes from the dates (patrol 2 ended 8 Sep). verify against the muster.

• Service span: twenty-two years ending in 1961 puts his enlistment around 1939; confirm.

• Open: BIRLS, wartime service after Silversides.

• Source notes (carried over, verbatim):

  1930 Census Canaan Township. Perry Lucas (32) and Lily (30). Cecil (11), Earnest (9), Clifford (6), Richard (3) and Howard (5 months). Father was a farmer.
  1950 Census Enumerated aboard the USS Chivo (SS-341), a Balao-class submarine in Monroe County, FL in 1950.
  “Ernest retired from the U.S. Navy in 1961 following 22 years of service. He had served in World War II and the Korean War. In 1985, Ernest retired from the Chillicothe VAMC where he had worked as the Director of Social Services and Utilization Review and had also retired from Adena Regional Medical Center following 15 years of service having worked as their Director of Social Services and Utilization Review. He was a member of N.A.S.W. and the Ohio Hospital Association of Social Workers.” - Chillicothe Gazette 13 Dec 2013.

Sources: 1930 and 1950 census; Find a Grave; Chillicothe Gazette, 13 Dec 2013; Silversides muster and ROC; Silversides patrol indexes 1–2.