HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 2001-4654, by Representatives McMorris, Sump, Cairnes, B. Chandler, Roach, Casada, Skinner, Hunt, Ahern, Esser, Marine, Pearson, Ericksen and Conway

      WHEREAS, The U.S.S. Washington, a battleship citizen of the state of Washington, was officially launched on June 1, 1940, and was formally commissioned on May 15, 1941, with Captain Howard H.J. Benson in command; and

      WHEREAS, The U.S.S. Washington, while serving for four months in early 1942 with the British Home Fleet at Flagship Task Force 39, escorted convoys to Murmansk and Archangel, Russia; and

      WHEREAS, The U.S.S. Washington served in numerous bombardments, battles, and air strikes, including the Bombardment of Nauru, the Battles for Leyte Gulf, and the Air Strikes on Kyushu; and

      WHEREAS, The U.S.S. Washington served a total of thirty-eight months in combat zones, damaged three enemy cruisers and a destroyer, sank a battleship, a destroyer, and an oil tanker, and shot down twelve enemy planes, bombarded ten enemy islands, and repelled fifty-three air attacks; and

      WHEREAS, The U.S.S. Washington won a classic ship-to-ship duel with the Japanese Battleship Kirishima and sunk Destroyer Ayanami on November 14-15, 1942, becoming the first U.S. battleship to fight an enemy destroyer and the only one to ever singly destroy one; and

      WHEREAS, The U.S.S. Washington, while being the only U.S. battleship in the Pacific, patrolled enemy waters for five weeks alone, set a record steaming 31,494 miles in seventy-nine straight days, steamed 289,609 miles in World War II alone, fueled destroyers fifty-nine times, was fueled sixteen times itself, and sank more combat tonnage than any other U.S. battleship in World War II; and

      WHEREAS, The U.S.S. Washington fired 3,535 rounds of sixteen-inch shells, 28,062 rounds of five-inch projectiles and over 350,000 rounds of twenty-millimeter machine gun bullets, as well as earning fifteen Battle Stars and was never hit or lost a man to the enemy; and

      WHEREAS, The U.S.S. Washington finally arrived at the Puget Sound Navy Yard on June 23, 1945, and on June 1, 1960, the U.S.S. Washington was struck from the Navy list; and

      WHEREAS, Delmar L. Faulks, a resident of Oroville, Washington, is one of the few surviving members of the brave crew who served onboard the U.S.S. Washington;

      NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the state of Washington recognize and honor the exemplary and patriotic service Delmar L. Faulks and the other officers and crewmen of the U.S.S. Washington gave their country, and the critical part they played in ensuring an Allied victory in World War II; and

      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be immediately transmitted to Delmar L. Faulks on behalf of the officers and crewmen of the U.S.S. Washington.

      I hereby certify this to be a true and correct copy of

      Resolution 4654 adopted by the House of Representatives

                          April 22, 2001.

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Timothy A. Martin, Co-Chief Clerk  Cynthia Zehnder, Co-Chief Clerk