Donald Kenneth Hall
Sabetha Herald
2 Jul 1941
page 1
86 New Registrants
Sabetha Supplies 25 Young Men for Additional Selective Service Classification
Eighty six young men who reached the age of 21 between last October 16, 1940 and July 1, 1941, registered with the Nemaha county draft board in Seneca Tuesday. Of these, only a few are from outside the county. Sabetha supplied by far the larges number of registrants with a total of 25, Seneca provided 16, Baileyville 11, Goff, Wetmore and Oneida six each, Corning four, Centralia three, Axtell two and the following one each: Circleville, Bern, Kelly, Onaga, Marysville, Harper, Kas., and Farmersburg, Ind.
…
Baileyville: … Donald Kenneth Hall
Draft Registration Card dated Jul 9 1941
Courier Tribune
27 Aug 1942
page 2
Donnie Hall writes from San Diego that he likes naval school he is attending. There are boys enrolled form all over the United States and some form Cuba. His address is Donald Kenneth Hall, Internal combustion fleet school, US Destroyer base, San Diego, California. He is an Axtell boy.
Pawnee Republican
17 Dec 1942
page 1
News of Pawnee Boys
with the Colors
Donald Hall, mo.mm 2cl., arrived Sunday from San Diego, Calif., to visit his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Herb Hall, at the Tommy Johnson home south of Pawnee City, and with other relatives and friends. Mr. Hall, in whose home Donald was reared has been critically ill. Donald, who petty officer rating translates into “motor machinists’ mate, second class,” has been on duty ashore and afloat out of the U.S. destroyer base at San Diego, and has been in the navy a year. He is on furlough until Christmas morning, and was in town the first of the week visiting his uncle John Werner.
Courier Tribune
1 Jul 1943
page 2
With the Armed Forces
Relatives of Donald Hall received word that he graduated from Submarine School June 26 at New London, Conn. He will now enter engineering school. Donald is in the U.S. Navy.
Courier Tribune
24 Jan 1944
page 1
Donald Hall, serving in the U.S. Navy since December 942, is reported missing in action. He made his home with an uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. John Werner, Pawnee City, Neb., before entering service. He is the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Herb Hall of Pawnee City.
U.S. Navy Muster Rolls (available on Fold 3)
page 27
U.S.S. Corvina (SS226)
31 Oct 1943
Hall, Donald Kenneth 628 16 19 NR – V6 MoMM2c 6 Jan 42 Kansas City
Salt Lake Telegram
15 Jan 1944
page 9
Service Men from Utah Killed; Two Wounded, Two Missing
One Utahn has been killed in action, two are missing and two are wounded, according to word received form the war and navy departments Saturday.
…
Missing:
Motor Machinist’s Mate Second Class Donald Kenneth Hall, son of Mr. and Mrs. Adrian C. Hall, 538 Fifth East street, Salt Lake City.
The Salt Lake tribune
23 Jan 1946
page 13
Navy Declares S.L. Sailor War Casualty
MMM2/c Donald Kenneth Hall, USNR, son of Mr and Mrs. Adrian Hall, 538-5th East, Tuesday was declared dead by the naval department in a letter to his parents. He had been missing since Nov. 30, 1943.
Born Dec. 15, 1917, in Seneca, Kan., he entered the service in February, 1942 and served at Great Lakes naval training station in Illinois prior to going overseas in October 1943. HE was listed missing when the USS Corvina, submarine on which he was serving, failed to return from patrol operations in the Pacific.
Survivors besides his parents include three brothers, Raymond Hall, U.S. army in Manila; Herbert Louis Hall, USN, San Diego, Cal., and Glen Arthur Hall, Salt Lake City; four sisters, Mrs. George Bentley, Fall City, Neb.; Mrs. Oscar Warfel, Topeka, Kan., Miss Margaret Hall and Miss Vonia Grace Hall, both of Salt Lake City.
State Summary of War Casualties (on Fold3)
US Navy
1946
Utah
page 5
Hall, Donald Kenneth, Motor Machinist’s mate, 2c, USNR. Parents, Mr. and Mrs. Adrian Hall, 538 S. 5th East, Salt Lake City.
The Naval History and Heritage Command site give a history of the USS Corvina and its loss during World War II.
Venturing into enemy waters for her first time, Corvina (Commander R.S. Rooney) departed from Pearl Harbor on 4 November 1943. After topping off with fuel at Johnston Island she proceeded to an area south of Truk, there to attack enemy naval forces during our surface operations in the Gilbert Islands. She was to patrol as close to Truk as enemy antisubmarine measures would permit. On 14 December, she was to pass to command of Commander Task Force Seventy-Two and proceed to an eastern Australian port for refit and duty in SubSoWestPac.
When the major surface force operations in the Gilberts were finished,Corvina was directed by dispatch on 30 November to pass to command of Commander Task Force Seventy-Two on 2 December 1943. The message was repeated three times on each of two successive nights, and an acknowledgment was directed, but none was received. Because of the difficulty being experienced as a result of Japanese interference, Corvinawas considered to have passed to Commander Task Force Seventy-Two, despite her failure to acknowledge. She was directed to proceed to Tulagi and rendezvous with a surface escort, but she did not appear. Again transmissions directing answer were repeatedly sent, but were not fruitful. Since she had not appeared or been heard from since her departure from Johnston Island on 6 November, Corvina was reported as presumed lost on 23 December 1943.
Enemy records indicate that Corvina met her doom on 16 November 1943, by enemy action. An enemy submarine reported having sighted a surfaced submarine in Latitude 5°-50’N, Longitude 151°-10’E, and torpedoed her. Three torpedoes were fired and two were reported to have hit, causing “a great explosion sound.”
The website, On Eternal Patrol, lists the sailors on board the USS Corvina when it was sunk and provides a memorial page for each sailor.
The crew of the USS Corvina is memorialized in several locations.
There is a memorial plague in Seal Beach, California.
Corvina Base has a memorial for the USS Corvina SS-226 at the Veterans Cemetery in Fernley, NV. Information about this monument can also be found on Find A Grave.
