Earle Childs

Lieutenant Earle Wayne Freed Childs (1 August 1893 – 2 March 1918) was an officer in the United States Navy who died during World War I. A submariner, he died when the submarine he was on sank in a maritime collision.

Biography

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Childs was a member of the Naval Academy class of 1915.

He was married to Miss Gertrude Boucher on June 27, 1917. He attended his wedding with his head bandaged from an auto accident he was in that morning while driving in a storm and he was cut by flying glass from the windshield.

After graduation from the Naval Academy, as an ensign, was assigned to the USS Culgoa, a refrigerated supply ship. He was next assigned to the USS Celtic and another refrigerated supply ship. He then was detached from Celtic in June 1916 to the battleship USS Montana.

As a lieutenant, he served in World War I in the submarine L-2. On board the British submarine HMS H5 as an observer, Lieutenant Childs was lost when H5 sank with all hands after a collision with a merchantman off the English coast.

Namesake

The destroyer USS Childs (DD-241) was named for him.

References

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