SENATE RESOLUTION

                             8712

By Senators Eide and Sheldon, B.

     WHEREAS, the USS William Seiverling (DE-441) was commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on June 1, 1944, under the command of Lt. Commander Charles F. Adams, Jr..  Since its de-commissioning on September 27, 1957, an annual reunion is held in remembrance of the ship and its mates; and

     WHEREAS, Tony Mola served on board the USS William Seiverling as a Chief Machinist Repairman from 1944 to 1945 and is the host for the 2001 reunion.  Tony resides in Kent, Washington, and the 2001 reunion is the first ever to be held on the West Coast; and

     WHEREAS, The destroyer escort reached Oahu on September 17, 1944, and began a series of missions out of the Pearl Harbor base including torpedo, surface gunnery, and shore bombardment exercises.  After October 8, 1944, she began antisubmarine warfare duty; and

     WHEREAS, The USS William Seiverling arrived on December 2, 1944, in Ulithi and helped patrol the sea lanes between various islands in the Central Pacific to keep them clear of Japanese submarines. On January 7, 1945, during the transit to Luzon, her guns warded off a single plane attack; and

     WHEREAS, On March 21, 1945, the USS William Seiverling got underway with Task Group 52.1 to support the assault and occupation of Okinawa.  Upon her arrival in the Ryukyus on May 20, 1945, she began patrol duty on various antisubmarine and anti-aircraft defense stations around Okinawa.  During this phase of her Okinawa duty, the USS William Seiverling came under numerous air attacks-including the attack on May 25, 1945.  She claimed three kills and a number of hits but suffered no damage herself; and

     WHEREAS, the USS William Seiverling was de-commissioned on March 21, 1947.  However, the outbreak of hostilities in Korea during the summer of 1950 brought many warships in the reserve fleet back to active duty.  Accordingly, on December 27, 1950, the USS William Seiverling was re-commissioned at San Diego, under the command of Lt. Comander Walter C. Cole; and

     WHEREAS, In July, the USS William Seiverling arrived in the Korean war zone.  From the 6^th to the 12^th in 1951, she conducted shore bombardment missions near Songjin.  On September 8, 1951, the destroyer escort drew fire from an enemy shore battery.  Throughout the brief action, the enemy consistently straddled the ship and succeeded in scoring three hits, one of which struck the ship below the waterline at the number two fire-room.  That hit caused her to break off the action and retire to Sasebo for repairs.  She returned to the United States on November 22, 1951; and

     WHEREAS, the USS William Seiverling was placed out of commission at San Diego on September 27, 1957.  The warship earned four battle stars during World War II and three battle stars during the Korean conflict;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate acknowledge and honor the accomplishments of the USS William Seiverling and the bravery of her mates in defending our country, and recognize the ship=s thirty-seventh reunion between October 3-7, 2001; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the mates of the USS William Seiverling attending the 2001 reunion.

I, Tony M. Cook, Secretary of the Senate,

do hereby certify that this is a true and

correct copy of Senate Resolution 8712,

adopted by the Senate July 21, 2001.

TONY M. COOK

Secretary of the Senate