USS Indianapolis CA-35
Lost At Sea

Name: Roy Edward McQUITTY
Rank / Rating: COX-Coxswain
Service #: 855 47 56
DOB: Jan 25, 1913
From: Amanda (Middletown), Ohio
Parents:
Went Aboard: Sep 01, 1943
Age When Ship Went Down: 32 years, 6 months, 5 days
Spouse: Alvina (Frye) McQuitty
Children: Sharon Elaine
Grandchildren: Tamara Elaine
Bio Submitted By: Admin
Date Posted: Jul 30, 2025

Coxswain McQuitty was born on January 25, 1913, in Amanda (Middletown), Ohio.

At the age of 30, Roy enlisted in the Navy on May 24, 1943 in Cincinnati, OH. After basic training at the Naval Training Station in Great Lakes, IL., Roy reported aboard USS Indianapolis on September 1, 1943. He went aboard as a S2c (Seaman 2nd class). He participated in all of the ship’s battles from late 1943 until the sinking. In addition to awards for the various battles, Roy was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. Roy married Alvina Frye on February 10, 1937 and became a member of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Middletown. He served there as a scout master for the church’s Boy Scout Troop. He and his wife Alvina had one daughter, Sharon Elaine who was born February 14, 1944. Roy only saw Sharon two times - when she was nine months old and when she was fifteen months old. Sadly, Sharon and her daughter, Tamara Elaine, who was born on March 20, 1965, were both killed in an auto accident in 1970.