EMORY W. COIL, LCDR, USN

LCDR Emory Coil, USN '12 was originally a member of the class of 1910, but fell two classes due to sickness. A native of Ohio, he became Naval Aviator #96 in 1917 and was one of the earliest lighter-than-air instructors in the Navy.

In 1919 he commanded the airship C-5 during a record flight for non-rigid airships, covering 1,050 nautical miles in 25 hours 50 minutes. He and forty-three other men were killed on August 24, 1921 when the British airship R-38 crashed near Hull, England. The ship was intended for US Navy use as ZR-2.

His wife had died in 1919; they had no children.

1912_Coil_LB.jpg

https://usnamemorialhall.org/index.php/EMORY_W._COIL,_LCDR,_USN