KENNETH J. HARTLEY, LCDR, USNR
Kenneth Hartley '33
Lucky Bag
From the 1933 Lucky Bag:
KENNETH JAMES HARTLEY
Jamestown, New York
"Ken" "Shah" "Oscar"
Tall, dark, handsome, straight from the wilds of Jamestown he came in answer to Uncle Sam's bidding. By some last minute shrinking, he passed the height test and became a "first-day," charter member of '33. Never having heard of water polo, he chose it as his Plebe Summer pastime. Although he later turned to crew (a trip across on the Leviathan was nothing to be sneezed at for all the "strawberries" in the world!), he always was rounded up for the inter-class water polo games.
His mild and sunny disposition is ruffled only at meals, where he gets slightly on the rough side of "grabby." To him a study hour without a "Post" was as unbearable as it was unknown. If ever a day went by without a letter from the O.A.O. Oscar found it insufferable.
His ambitions, as near as mortal can discern, are to get married, own a yacht; and sail around the world, forgetting all the cares and navigation he ever had.
When it comes time for sad farewell, his friends will shake his hand and say, "Beware the calms and togs, oh Kenneth dear. Remember—worry makes you bald. Awaiting you is victory and all, but first choose well the course to steer."
Crew 4, 3, 2; Class Water Polo 4, 3, 2, 1; 2 P. O.
KENNETH JAMES HARTLEY
Jamestown, New York
"Ken" "Shah" "Oscar"
Tall, dark, handsome, straight from the wilds of Jamestown he came in answer to Uncle Sam's bidding. By some last minute shrinking, he passed the height test and became a "first-day," charter member of '33. Never having heard of water polo, he chose it as his Plebe Summer pastime. Although he later turned to crew (a trip across on the Leviathan was nothing to be sneezed at for all the "strawberries" in the world!), he always was rounded up for the inter-class water polo games.
His mild and sunny disposition is ruffled only at meals, where he gets slightly on the rough side of "grabby." To him a study hour without a "Post" was as unbearable as it was unknown. If ever a day went by without a letter from the O.A.O. Oscar found it insufferable.
His ambitions, as near as mortal can discern, are to get married, own a yacht; and sail around the world, forgetting all the cares and navigation he ever had.
When it comes time for sad farewell, his friends will shake his hand and say, "Beware the calms and togs, oh Kenneth dear. Remember—worry makes you bald. Awaiting you is victory and all, but first choose well the course to steer."
Crew 4, 3, 2; Class Water Polo 4, 3, 2, 1; 2 P. O.
Loss
Kenneth was commanding officer of USS Brough (DE 148) when he died of injuries suffered in heavy seas on November 12, 1943.
From History of USS Brough (DE 148) at the now-broken link https://www.desausa.org/images2/uss_brough_de_148.htm:
BROUGH was commissioned 18 September at Orange, TX, LCDR Kenneth J. Hartley, USN, in command. DE-148 departed Orange, TX 27 September and entered the Gulf of Mexico enroute to Galveston for ship degaussing. The next port of call was New Orleans, LA early in October 1943.
From 9 October through 11 November, Brough was involved with her shakedown cruise off Bermuda. She departed Bermuda 11 November enroute to Charleston, SC. During this return trip, on 12 November, very high seas were encountered which caused the death of Captain Hartley. He was inspecting a problem with the number one gun mount and a large wave threw him against the gun's splinter shield causing fatal head injuries. BROUGH returned to Bermuda the same day where Capt. Hartley's body was delivered for burial.
Other Information
From the 1953 edition of the book "Double Three Roundup," published by the class of 1933:
Ken resigned on graduation and was commissioned in the Naval Reserve. He went to work in the family business, the Jamestown Finishing Products, Inc., as treasurer. Until 1940 when he was called to active duty, he was, in addition to his regular vocation as treasurer of the firm, very active in St. Lukes Church and with the Masonic Lodge and Jamestown Consistory, taught night school, and served with the Naval Reserve unit at Dunkirk, New York.
In 1940 Ken received orders to active duty and was first assigned to the YP-52 engaged in patrol duty. He later assisted in fitting out the PC-496 at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, and assumed command of that vessel when it was placed in commission early in World War II. In November 1942 he was ordered as Commanding Officer of the MIGHT from her commissioning in December 1942 until July 1943. Ken then had one month's instruction at the Miami Submarine Chaser Training Unit and in August 1943 reported to Brown, Texas, to fit out and commission the BROUGH as Commanding Officer. On November 12, 1943, while the BROUGH was at sea near Bermuda, Ken was knocked down by a heavy sea while standing near a gun shield and received serious head injuries from which he did not recover.
Ken had married Mary Sands of Jamestown in Buffalo in August 1933. They had two daughters, Sue age 18, and Sabina age 11. Mary reports that Ken was a wonderful husband and father, provided his family with every material comfort and gave them also of his fine mind and spirit. The oldest daughter, Sue, is entering a midwestern University in September of 1952, while the youngest, Sabina, will still be growing up under her mother's wing for seven more years. Mary and the two girls make their home at 15 Spruce Street, Jamestown, New York.
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Kenneth graduated from Jamestown high school in 1928. He was on the Meritorious Roll. Silhouettes: Kenneth: Deep libraries – poplars – greyhounds. Class Prophecy: 12 noon. Jane tunes in at the midst of stock reports. “Hartley Water Stock 197.” Oh, yes! She read about that. Kenneth Hartley had just described a method of using water for fuel, and his business was indeed booming. Well, she recalled that Kenneth always did do well in chemistry.
In May 1928, Kenneth was selected as 2nd alternate for the Naval Academy by Congressman Reed.
Kenneth was an ensign in the Dunkirk Naval Militia and was promoted to lieutenant (jg) in 1940. In January 1938, Kenneth and Ensign Casper Zacharias, commander of the Dunkirk Naval Militia, attended the annual convention of the New York National Guard at the Hotel Astor in New York City.
In April 1939, the inspection board of the state and federal bureaus of the navy department came for the annual inspection of the militia. From the Dunkirk Evening Observer, April 28, 1939: “While several hundred spectators sat on the south side looking at the proceedings, the men were put through their paces, consisting of close order drill, manual of arms, fire, collision, abandonship and battle drills. The officers of the Dunkirk unit were given a battle problem in a certain length of time and they had it cleaned up perfectly in double quick time, much to the satisfaction of the visiting men. Captain H. B. Riebe, U. S. N., fired questions of every kind at the men. He made Lieut. Kenneth Hartley perspire by unfolding sudden and new problems before him while “running the ship.” Enemy planes were sighted, submarines were threatening the dreadnaught but the gun and radio crews were moving fast and carried out their duties well. The hospital staff carried away the injured and the inspecting officers watched all work carefully.”
In November 1940, Kenneth and Lt. (jg) Caspar Zacharias were assigned to take the YP-52, the local naval militia patrol boat, to New York when repairs in North Tonawanda were completed. The boat was sent via the Erie barge canal with a crew of nine. After replacement of engines, repairs to her bow structure and deck strengthening, a new gun firing a 3-pound shell and mounts for a number of 50-calibre machine guns were fitted.
In December 1940, Kenneth and his YP-52 crew wrote the Dunkirk Evening Observer to thank it for sending the local newspaper to them. “Receiving your paper is like receiving a letter from home, for after all Dunkirk boys like Dunkirk best.”
A few days before his death, Kenneth met a Dunkirk chief petty officer who wrote a friend that Kenneth was in command of a corvette.
Kenneth’s father was James, mother Gladys, and sister Francis. They all took a trip to England when Kenneth was three years old returning on the SS Winifredian.
Kenneth is buried in New York.
Photographs
From his high school yearbook. "Kennie Hartley, the knicker fiend,
Sure is big in this Red and Green;
He’s never sore or full of wrath,
And we hope he quickly climbs the path.
Kenneth pictured with his team, including Albert Gray '31, Howard Shelton '32, and John Phillips, Jr. '33. From The Ithaca Journal on April 20, 1931.
The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.
The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.
The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.
April 1941
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