Background
Harold Ellison was born in Buffalo, New York, and was appointed Ensign 20 October 1941 after completing flight training.
Harold Ellison was born in Buffalo, New York, and was appointed Ensign 20 October 1941 after completing flight training.
Soon afterwards he reported to Torpedo Squadron 8 on board the aircraft carrier United States Ship Hornet (CV-8). In the pivotal Battle of Midway on 4 June 1942 Ellison, piloting a Douglas TBD-1 Devastator torpedo bomber, and his comrades led a torpedo attack on Japanese ships, pressing home the attack without fighter cover and knowing they had insufficient fuel to return to Hornet. Though no hits were scored and all of the squadron"s aircraft were shot down in this first attack, its torpedo bombers and those of Torpedo Squadron 6 and Torpedo Squadron 3 diverted the Japanese ships, decoyed their combat air patrols away from United States. Navy dive bombers which attacked the Japanese aircraft carriers very successfully soon afterward, and thus contributed importantly to the great American victory in the battle.
Ensign Ellison was classified as "presumed dead" on 5 June 1942.
The United States. Navy destroyer escort United States Ship Harold J. Ellison (Delaware-545) was named in honor of Ensign Ellison, but was cancelled in 1944 while under construction. The destroyer United States Ship Harold J. Ellison (Doctor of Divinity-864) then was named for him, and was in commission from 1945 to 1983.