Elliott Loughlin
United States Navy admiral; All-American basketball player
Charles Elliott Loughlin (February 19, 1910 – October 31, 1989) was an officer of the United States Navy, where he reached the rank of Rear Admiral. He is best known for his court-martial following the controversial sinking of the Japanese passenger/cargo ship Awa Maru sailing as a relief ship under Red Cross auspices. Archie Miyamoto described the sinking as one of the more controversial naval incidents of the Pacific War, particularly because Awa Maru had been granted safe passage for humanitarian relief under Red Cross auspices.. "Placing the Awa Maru Incident in the History of Maritime Disasters". He was the commanding officer of the USS Queenfish (SS-393) during four war patrols. Loughlin earned two Navy Crosses, two Legions of Merit and one Silver Star during his time in the United States Navy.
Early life and career
While at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, Loughlin played on the Midshipmen men's tennis and basketball teams and was named a consensus First Team All-American for basketball in 1932–33. Loughlin graduated from the Academy in 1933 and served in the battleship USS New Mexico (BB-40), part of the time as an assistant to Lieutenant Hyman G. Rickover. Following this, he went to submarine school and served in various submarines before taking command of the USS S-14 (SS-119) in the Panama area. Aboard S-14, Loughlin made four unremarkable Atlantic patrols.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Elliott Loughlin” is united States Navy admiral; All-American basketball player. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Elliott, Loughlin and United, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “united States Navy admiral; All-American basketball player” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5365691. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1910, 1989, 1932 and 1933.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Elliott Loughlin”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Elliott Loughlin primary sources, Elliott Loughlin archive and Elliott research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Elliott Loughlin”?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Elliott Loughlin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.