Joining the War
Floyd Anthony Dick completed a high school education at Pascagoula High School while entering the work force at Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation. Floyd Anthony was registered for the United States Navy on June 30th of 1942, but he graduated from Pascagoula High School as the class of 1943. At the time of his registration, he was 5’9’’ and 147 pounds with brown eyes and black hair. A member of the United States Navy Reserves, he was ranked Electrician’s Mate Third Class. He completed his boot camp training in San Diego, California.
Upon joining the military, Floyd was assigned to the USS YO-159 off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii on August 27th, 1943. As an Electrician’s Mate Third Class, he learned to operate the ship’s electrical equipment necessary to maintain the ship and its artillery. USS YO-159 was a self-propelled oil/fuel barge ship. Aboard the ship alongside Dick were 12 other crew members named Morris Howard Brown, Roy Alfred Chappell Jr., Loyd Vidle Church, Adrian Joseph Diaz, Alfred Owen Hogue, Ray Raymond Jones, Leonard Willis Moore, Robert Lowell Polacheck, Gustave Joseph Robicheaux, Marvin Herman F. Schliebe, Bartholomew Joseph Taranto, and Allen D. Whitehead.
Little is known about the activity of the USS YO-159 prior to its demise, but it is believed it was delivering fuel to an unknown location when it was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine RO-42 on January 14th, 1944. This attack led the ship to explode 200 miles east of the coast of Pentecost Island, New Hebrides Islands. It’s believed that Floyd Anthony Dick died during the attack, but he was declared Missing in Action at the time, as he bodied was never recovered.
Upon joining the military, Floyd was assigned to the USS YO-159 off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii on August 27th, 1943. As an Electrician’s Mate Third Class, he learned to operate the ship’s electrical equipment necessary to maintain the ship and its artillery. USS YO-159 was a self-propelled oil/fuel barge ship. Aboard the ship alongside Dick were 12 other crew members named Morris Howard Brown, Roy Alfred Chappell Jr., Loyd Vidle Church, Adrian Joseph Diaz, Alfred Owen Hogue, Ray Raymond Jones, Leonard Willis Moore, Robert Lowell Polacheck, Gustave Joseph Robicheaux, Marvin Herman F. Schliebe, Bartholomew Joseph Taranto, and Allen D. Whitehead.
Little is known about the activity of the USS YO-159 prior to its demise, but it is believed it was delivering fuel to an unknown location when it was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine RO-42 on January 14th, 1944. This attack led the ship to explode 200 miles east of the coast of Pentecost Island, New Hebrides Islands. It’s believed that Floyd Anthony Dick died during the attack, but he was declared Missing in Action at the time, as he bodied was never recovered.