For the full-length version of this article, visit “Seaman 1st Class Robert J. Donovan (1923–1943)” at Delaware's World War II Fallen.

Family and Early Life

Robert James Donovan was born in Newark, Delaware, on January 30, 1923. He was the son of William Everett (1885–1970) and Anna or Annie Elizabeth Donovan (née Webb, 1892–1973). He had four siblings and grew up in Newark. He attended two years of high school before dropping out and working as a tubemaker at the nearby Continental Diamond Fibre factory.

U.S. Navy Career

Donovan joined the U.S. Naval Reserve in Wilmington, Delaware, on November 9, 1942. After training at Newport, Norfolk, and Little Creek, Donovan reported for duty at the U.S. Navy Armed Guard Center at Brooklyn, New York. On March 22, 1943, he transferred to a gun crew aboard the Panamanian-flagged armed merchant vessel S.S. El Almirante.

On April 18, 1943, El Almirante departed New York City as part of Convoy H.X. 235, en route to Liverpool. There were at least three dozen merchant ships assigned to the convoy (plus a variety of escorts for portions of the voyage). Several days into the voyage (probably April 20 or 21), El Almirante was lost after a collision with another vessel, Elias Boudinot. According to an entry in the Royal Navy’s Admiralty War Diaries: “EL ALMIRANTE sunk in collision with unknown ship convoy H.X. 235 at 1920Z/21. 41° 08’ N. 64° 27’ W. (12?) men missing.” If accurate, the ship sank approximately 250 nautical miles due east of Nantucket, Massachusetts. An entry the following day stated that El Almirante “sank in 8 minutes” and that “56 survivors landed [in] Halifax by NEW WESTMINSTER”, but Donovan was not among them.

Since his body was not recovered, Donovan is honored on the World War II East Coast Memorial in Battery Park, New York City. He is also honored on memorials in Newark and New Castle, Delaware.

Special thanks to the Newark History Museum for the use of their photo and Ron Carlson (Webmaster, Armed Guard/Merchant Marine website http://www.armed-guard.com) for his feedback about this article's mysteries (see below).

According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, as of January 30, 2021, Donovan is one of 104 Delawareans who went missing during World War II who are still unaccounted for.

Bibliography

Admiralty War Diaries. Fold3. https://www.fold3.com/image/301330438, https://www.fold3.com/image/301998908, https://www.fold3.com/image/301330280

“Annie Donovan.” Find a Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/206672491/annie-donovan

“Convoy HX.235.” Arnold Hague Convoy Database. http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hx/index.html?hx.php?convoy=235!~hxmain

“Convoy HX 235.” Warsailors.com. http://www.warsailors.com/convoys/hx235.html

Donovan, William E. Individual Military Service Record for Robert James Donovan, dated December 8, 1944. RG 1325-003-053, Delaware Public Archives.

https://cdm16397.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15323coll6/id/18489/rec/1

“Reported Missing in Action.” The Newark Post, May 20, 1943. https://udspace.udel.edu/bitstream/handle/19716/18876/np_034_17.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

“Smn Robert James Donovan.” Find a Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57941230/robert-james-donovan

United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6224/images/4531890_00829

United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940.

WWII Draft Registration Cards for Delaware, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 19. The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2238/images/44003_09_00003-01666

World War II Memorial Volume. Public Archives Commission, State of Delaware. https://archives.delaware.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/156/2017/05/WWIIMemorialVolume.pdf

Article last updated on December 9, 2022