Read an Interesting Historical Report today. John W. Wilcox Jr. USN

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On the morning of 27 March 1942, the second day of the voyage, Wilcox appeared unaccompanied and without a coat on Washington's deck while Task Force 39 was pushing through heavy seas off Sable Island in stormy North Atlantic winter weather. He held a few brief conversations with some of the men on deck before they lost track of his whereabouts. At 10:31, a member of Washington's crew reported a man overboard at 42°24'N 61°34'W and soon thereafter Tuscaloosa sighted a man struggling in the water and took evasive action to avoid running him down. The task force began a search and rescue operation. Mustering of Washington's crew found no one missing from the ship's company or Wilcox's staff, and it gradually became apparent that Wilcox himself had gone overboard.[43][44][45]

Wasp launched four SB2U-2 Vindicator dive bombers to assist in the search, one of which crashed astern of Wasp while attempting to land, killing its two-man crew. About 80 minutes after Wilcox went overboard, the destroyer USS Livermore (DD-429) sighted his body floating face down in the rough seas, but the bad weather prevented its recovery, and it was never seen again. Task Force 39 soon suspended its search and resumed its voyage to Scapa Flow.[45][46]

Board of investigation
Immediately after Wilcox's death, Rear Admiral Robert C. Giffen aboard Wichita took command of Task Force 39. He ordered a board of investigation into the loss of Wilcox to convene aboard Washington on the afternoon of 27 March 1942. It examined 43 witnesses over the next seven days. No one had seen how Wilcox had gone overboard. The heavy seas that morning could simply have swept him overboard, but the board explored other possibilities. Witnesses disagreed on Wilcox's mental state; there were claims that he seemed sad or nervous on the morning of 27 March and that he had exhibited unstable behavior in recent days, but these were balanced by other witnesses who said he seemed of sound mind and that, although he was known to exhibit eccentricities not common among officers of his grade, his behavior otherwise was not unusual on the morning of his death. One witness believed that Wilcox seemed pale and white during his last few minutes on deck and perhaps was ill, leading to speculation that he may have suffered a heart attack while on deck and fallen overboard.[45][47][48][49]

Many rumors circulated in the aftermath of Wilcox's death, including that he had been suicidal and had jumped overboard or that someone pushed him overboard, but none of these ideas could be substantiated. When the board concluded its proceedings on 2 April 1942, it found that no one aboard Washington had been negligent in Wilcox's death and that Wilcox had not died owing to any misconduct of his own.[45][47][4] Decades later, a new hypothesis surfaced based on the reports of Wilcox seeming pale and white while on deck on the morning of 27 March, speculating that he may have been seasick and had rushed to the ship's side to vomit, but had mistakenly selected an area where lifelines were not rigged, falling overboard as a result.[45] Wilcox was the first U.S. Navy admiral — and one of only two[note 2] — ever lost at sea.[3]

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