High Numbers Canceled

On a day in July 1943, a sorry looking group of Navy men--officers and blue-jackets, all lucky to be alive--waded ashore on a Pacific island. Among them was Charles P. Cecil, tall, cold-eyed skipper of the heroic cruiser Helena (TIME, Nov. 1), which had been torpedoed in the July 7 Battle of Kula Gulf. With the others. Captain Cecil had floated for hours in the oil-covered waters. He had refused to be picked up until his men were rescued.

It was the second ship Cecil had lost to the enemy. In the Battle of Santa Cruz, in October 1942, he had commanded the lost destroyer Porter. He ruefully remarked: "I guess they have my number."

Last week his number was crossed out. Rear Admiral Charles P. Cecil, 50, holder of a Navy Cross with Gold Star (i.e., two crosses), died when an airplane in which he was riding crashed at a Pacific base. He was the ninth flag officer (plus one general officer of the Marines) lost by the Navy in operations or action in World War II. The Army's loss in opposite numbers: 15 general officers dead, six missing, 18 prisoners of war (from the Philippines).

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