Fallen Heroes: Seaman 2nd Class Robert L. Hammersley

The story of this fallen hero traces a young Ohioan’s journey from his small-town roots to his ultimate sacrifice at sea during World War II.

The Hammersley family’s roots were firmly planted in Ohio by the time Thomas E. Hammersley (1896–1957) was born in Coshocton County. The family moved to Wheeling Township, Guernsey County where he grew up living with his railroad employed father, mother, and siblings. Thomas married Nellie Johnson (1898-1961), also a native of Ohio, in Coshocton County in 1916. The couple established their family on Chestnut Street in Newcomerstown, Ohio where Thomas was employed by James B. Clow manufactory for much of his adult life. Thomas and Nellie welcomed seven children in Newcomerstown, including their eldest son named Robert Lee Hammersley (1921-1943).

When Robert was born the family was briefly living in Dennison, Ohio where Thomas worked as a boilermaker in the railroad shops there. It was not long though before the move was made to Newcomerstown and the house on Chestnut Street became the Hammersley family home. After Robert completed his schooling, he found work in the Civilian Conservation Corps before eventually getting a job at the Heller Brothers Company in Newcomerstown. There he met a coworker from Kimbolton, Ohio named Grace Addie (1918-1985) and the two married in August 1941.

By the time that Robert Hammersley registered for the World War Two draft in February 1942 he and Grace already had one child. Grace was pregnant with another when Robert was inducted into the United States Navy in the summer of 1943. Robert was sent to the Great Lakes Naval Station in Illinois for training and Grace visited him there in the fall of 1943. Meanwhile, the ship Robert eventually served on, the twenty-five year old destroyer USS Leary (DD-158), was busy successfully escorting transatlantic convoys to Africa. After she returned to New York in December 1943 she was assigned to Task Group 21.41 and took on new sailors, including Seaman 2nd Class Robert L. Hammersley.

Task Group 21.41 was composed of four ships, the escort carrier USS Card (CVE-11) and three destroyers including the USS Leary (DD-158), USS Decatur (DD-341), and the USS Schenck (DD-159). The group was assigned the role of patrolling the southern North Atlantic searching for and eliminating German submarines, commonly known as U-boats. During the day, the USS Card launched aircraft to search for submarines and, if found, the destroyers then hunted them down. The ships also used sonar during the day and night to locate their submerged foes. Seaman 2nd Class Hammersley was aboard the USS Leary for his first ever assignment.

Task Group 21.41 was about 700 miles northwest of Lisbon, Portugal in the early morning of December 24, 1943 when the USS Leary’s sonar recorded the unmistakable ping of a German U-boat. It was too dark to launch aircraft so the group were unaware that they were in the midst of a “pack” of U-boats, including the U-275. Before the Leary could even get to battle stations, she was struck in an engine room by a torpedo from the U-275 and quickly started to sink. Sailors that could, jumped into the frigid water while some never made it that far. The USS Leary lost 97 of her 176 man crew, including Seaman 2nd Class Robert Hammersley.

Seaman Hammersley was, along with all the men lost on the ship, initially recorded as missing despite the fact that the Navy was aware of who had been rescued from the sinking Leary. Hammersley was not recorded as killed in action until after January 1945 and a memorial service not held until July 1945. Seaman 2nd Class Robert L. Hammersley is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial in England. His body rests at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

© Noel B. Poirier, 2024.