Project 888
Name: Stanley Walter LIPSKI
Rank / Rating: CDR-CommanderService #: 75116 DOB: Sep 22, 1911 From: Northhampton, MA Parents: Antoni and Marta Lipski Went Aboard: Apr 12, 1943 Age When Ship Went Down: 33 years, 10 months, 8 days Spouse: Sigrid Johnson Lipski Children: Grandchildren: Bio Submitted By: Carl Fahnestock (Admin) |
 LIPSKI, Stanley W |
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Commander Stanley Lipski was born on September 22, 1911, in Northampton, Massachusetts.
He entered the US Naval Academy in 1931 graduating in 1935.
For a time he was stationed at Pensacola Naval Air Station but was transferred to Naval Intelligence at outbreak of war.
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 He was regarded as an expert in the Russian language.
In September 1939, he was with American Legation in Berlin. After the fall of Poland he was shifted to Moscow, later to Rega Latvia, then to Helsinki, Finland.
He served as an Assistant Naval Attache to Finland and Sweden. Naval Intelligence wanted to keep him in Washington, DC but he insisted on seeing combat and joined USS Indianapolis in April 1943. He was on board Indy for over 2 years as a gunnery officer.
When Indianapolis was struck, Lipski was in the area of the quarterdeck and was severely burned. He knew his injuries were very severe and didn't think he would live.
Although in serious pain, Commander Lipski made sure that the men around him all had life jackets and ordered them to abandon ship. He made it into the water and was held up by Aviation Machinist Anthony Francis Maday for almost 24 hours.
While in the water, Commander Lipski made sure to give those with him a message to give to his wife. He said he loved her and wanted her to marry again. (1) He was one of the last of the severely wounded in the initial blast to remain alive.
He received the Silver Star for Gallantry in Action for July 30, 1945. Also, he was awarded the American Defense Medal World War II Victory Medal and a Purple Heart, posthumously.
An interesting side note to close his bio is to share about how Lipski acquired the nickname "Leo" while attending the United States Naval Academy:
Lipski’s bio in “LUCKY BAG” (1935 United States Naval Academy Yearbook) presented the following key information:
“Leo obtained his nickname back in Trigonometry when he demonstrated to Math profs how theorems were proven. One member of his section thought him so brave that he dubbed him “Leo, the Lion-Hearted. His advice to Plebes is, 'get wise to the Academic Department before it gets wise to you, and you’ll never bilge out’.” (2)
View the “Additional Photos” section below to access and read Stanley Lipski’s full entry in the 1935 “LUCKY BAG” yearbook.
As a United States Naval Academy graduate who served on board Indianapolis on that fateful last voyage, Stanley joined eight other naval academy graduates who also lost their lives as a result of the July 30, 1945 sinking of the ship:
Robert Burton Billings, Ensign
Edwin Mason Crouch, Captain
Joseph Ambrose Flynn, Commander
Robert Huntley Hurst, Lieutenant
Johns Hopkins Janney, Commander
Stanley Walter Lipski, Commander
Harold Clifton Moynelo, Jr., Ensign
Michael R. Pessolano, Lieutenant
James Douglas Spencer, Lieutenant
View the “Additional Photos” section below to see pictures and brief information on each of these nine officers. (3)
Sources:
(1) Hulver, Richard A. (2018) A Grave Misfortune, Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington; p. 118.
(2) LUCKY BAG Yearbook, United States Naval Academy, 1935.
(3) United States Naval Academy Virtual Memorial Hall, www.usnamemorialhall.org
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