Norman Brierley Hall (1 September 1886 – 26 April 1962) was an engineering officer in the
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...
who became the first aviation engineer in the Coast Guard in 1916.
Hall was born at
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
on 1 September 1886 and graduated from high school in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
in 1903. He then attended the
Webb Academy of Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture, graduating in June 1906. Hall worked at a
Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...
shipyard as a general draftsman for fifteen months
before becoming a cadet engineer in the
U.S. Revenue Cutter Service
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on 21 October 1907. He was commissioned a third lieutenant of engineers on 4 September 1908.
Hall was promoted to second lieutenant of engineers on 5 January 1911. He was assigned to on 11 August 1914.
[ While serving there, he discussed the possibility of using aircraft to aid search and rescue missions with his commander Captain Benjamin M. Chiswell and Third Lieutenant ]Elmer F. Stone
Elmer "Archie" Fowler Stone (January 22, 1887 – May 20, 1936) was a United States naval aviator and a commander in the United States Coast Guard.
Biography
Stone was born in Livonia, New York and grew up in Norfolk, Virginia. He joined the U.S. ...
. With Chiswell's encouragement, Commandant Ellsworth P. Bertholf sent Hall to study aircraft design, construction and maintenance at the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company
Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909 – 1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in its first decades ...
factory in Hammondsport, New York
Hammondsport is a village at the south end of Keuka Lake, in Steuben County, one of the Finger Lakes of New York, United States.
The Village of Hammondsport is in the Town of Urbana and is northeast of Bath.
History
Lazarus Hammond founded ...
on 31 October 1916.
Hall was promoted to first lieutenant of engineers on 26 April 1921 and then to lieutenant commander on 12 January 1923.[ On 1 July 1929, he was promoted to commander.][
On 23 September 1938, Hall was promoted to captain. In June 1942, he was made chief of the Port Security Division. In August 1942, Hall was given the additional assignment of Coast Guard liaison to the Facility Security Division of the Office of the Petroleum Coordinator for War. In July 1943, he was also made a member of the Merchant Marine Council.][ On 25 November 1944, Hall was promoted to commodore. Early in 1945, he replaced James A. Hirshfield as vice chairman of the Merchant Marine Council. Hall was awarded the ]Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...
for his World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
service.
At the time of his retirement on 1 November 1947, Hall was promoted to rear admiral.[
Hall died on 26 April 1962 in ]Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...
.[''The Bulletin'', U.S. Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association. May–June 1962, p. 92.] He was interred at Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several bl ...
in Brooklyn, New York next to his first wife Elizabeth (Hamilton) Hall (6 October 1892 – 8 October 1951). He had remarried with a widow, Gladys Marsh Footner, in 1954 and they were living in Chevy Chase, Maryland
Chevy Chase () is the name of both a town and an unincorporated census-designated place (Chevy Chase (CDP), Maryland) that straddle the northwest border of Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Several settlements in th ...
at the time of his death.[
]
References
External links
Rear Admiral Norman B. Hall
U.S. Coast Guard biography.
1886 births
1962 deaths
Webb Institute alumni
Recipients of the Legion of Merit
United States Coast Guard admirals
Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery
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