Ulvert M. Moore

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Ulvert Mathew Moore
August 26, 1917 - June 4, 1942
Place of birth	Williamson, West Virginia
Place of death	KIA near Midway Island
Allegiance	USN
Years of service	1940-1942
Rank	Ensign
Battles/wars	Battle of Midway
Awards	Navy Cross

Ulvert Mathew Moore (26 August 1917 – 4 June 1942) was a U.S. Naval aviator during World War II, who died in the Battle of Midway.

Moore was born on 26 August 1917 at Williamson, West Virginia. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve on 15 October 1940 at Washington, D.C., and served as a seaman 2d class until appointed an aviation cadet on 14 January 1941. After flight training at Jacksonville and Miami, Fla., into the summer of 1941, Moore then received advanced carrier training at Norfolk, Va.

Assigned to Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8)—embarked in Hornet (CV-8)—soon thereafter, Moore was killed in action on 4 June 1942, during the Battle of Midway. Flying a Douglas TBD-1 Devastator torpedo bomber, Ensign Moore perished in VT-8's gallant torpedo attack—led by Lieutenant Commander John C. Waldron—against the Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi of the Midway-bound task force under Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo. Moore was awarded a posthumous Navy Cross for pressing home his attack despite being grimly aware that VT-8 had neither fighter cover nor enough fuel to return to Hornet. However, the sacrifice of "Torpedo 8" was not in vain. The attack drew down the Japanese combat air patrol and left the skies above open for the attack of the dive bombers which soon crippled three Japanese carriers on the first day of the battle and thus paved the way to an American victory.