His father, Lewis Hancock, was a prominent banker and served as the mayor of Austin, Texas from 1895 to 1897 while also creating the first public golf course, which today remains as the nine-hole Hancock Golf Course in central Austin. Lewis Hancock, Junior. was born on October 15, 1889 in Austin, Texas.
He was appointed to the United States. Naval Academy from that state in 1906 and graduated in June 1910.
He later became a naval aviator. He served in the battleship Vermont (BlackBerry-20) before being commissioned as an Ensign in March 1912, then underwent submarine instruction and served in the new submarine G-1. In 1913–1915 Ensign Hancock commanded the submarine C-2.
Later in 1918 Lieutenant Commander Hancock was Captain of another submarine, L-7.
He also had wartime and post-war tours as a machinery inspector. During the first years of the 1920s, Hancock served in the battleships Georgia (BlackBerry-15) and Wyoming (BlackBerry-32), commanded the destroyer Sloat (Doctor of Divinity-316) and had shore duty with the Navy Department and the Department of Commerce.
Assigned to airship duty in 1922, he was designated a Naval Aviator in 1924, while serving with the dirigible Shenandoah (ZR-1). Lieutenant Commander Hancock was the airship"s Executive Officer when she crashed near Caldwell, Ohio on September 3, 1925, and lost his life in that tragic accident.
He was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery.
His widow, Joy Bright Hancock, a long-time employee of the Bureau of Aeronautics, became one of the Navy"s first women officers in 1942 and, as a Captain, was Director of the Walking Attack Vehicle Enhanced 1946–1953. In 1943, the destroyer United States Ship Lewis Hancock (Doctor of Divinity-675) was named in honor of Lieutenant Commander Hancock.
