F3/C Donald Charles Davis was born on August 8, 1924, in Oak Park, Illinois, to Francis M. Davis and Elenor A. Evans-Davis. With his two sisters, he grew up at 419 North Sixteenth Avenue, Maywood, Illinois. He graduated from Lincoln Grade School and Proviso Township High School in 1942.
After high school, he enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve and trained in the V-5 Naval Training Program at Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, Illinois. He was issued the serial number 7037663. He was inducted into the US Navy on October 16, 1942, and trained at Great Lakes Naval Station, Great Lakes, Illinois, and earned the rank of Fireman Third Class.
After completing his training, Donald was assigned to the USS Warrington and escorted transports in South Pacific. It was then assigned to escort duty and took part in the landings at Bougainville, New Guinea. The ship next took part in the invasion of Biak Island. The Warrington was sent to New York for repairs and refitting. After the ship was repaired it made a shakedown cruise in the Atlantic Ocean off Maine. The ship went to Norfolk, Virginia, where it was ordered to sail to Trinidad.
The Warrington sailed from Norfolk, with another ship, and ran into a hurricane three days later. The ships began separated since the USS Hyades was large and handled the seas better. While navigating its way in a hurricane began taking on water. Water poured into her vents causing a loss of electrical power which set off a chain reaction. Her main engines lost power, and her steering engine and mechanism went out, which caused the ship to wallow in the trough of the swells. She continued to take on water. She regained power, briefly made headway, and turned upwind. The ship’s radiomen desperately, but fruitlessly, tried to raise Hyades. Finally, an uncoded plain-language distress call was sent out to any ship or shore station. On September 13th by noon, it was apparent that Warrington‘s crew could not save their ship, and they were ordered to abandon ship. The ship sank at approximately 12:50 pm.
Other ships arrived in the area, including the Hyades and a search was made for the Warrington’s crew. Of the 20 officers and 301 crewmen, only 5 officers and 68 enlisted men were rescued. Donald was not one of them.. F3/c Donald C. Davis’ name was placed on the East Coast WWII Memorial, New York City, New York. He also was awarded three battle stars.
