USS William Seiverling
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Laid down | 2 December 1943 |
Launched | 7 March 1944 |
Commissioned | 1 June 1944 |
Decommissioned | 21 March 1947 |
In service | 27 December 1950 |
Out of service | 27 September 1957 |
Stricken | 1 December 1972 |
Fate | Sold for scrap 20 September 1973 |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 1,350/1,745 tons |
Length | 306 ft (93 m) (oa) |
Beam | 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m) |
Draught | 13 ft 4 in (4.06 m) (max) |
Propulsion | 2 boilers, 2 geared turbine engines, 12,000 shp, 2 screws |
Speed | 24 knots |
Range | 6,000 nmi at 12 knots |
Complement | 14 officers, 201 enlisted |
Armament | 2 × depth charge throwers , 2 × depth charge tracks |
USS William Seiverling (DE-441) was a
William Seiverling was named in honor of William Frank Seiverling, Jr., who was awarded the
William Seiverling was laid down on 2 December 1943 at
Namesake
William Frank Seiverling Jr. was born on 22 September 1920 in
On 1 November 1942 during the Japanese attack across the
World War II Pacific Theatre operations
Following commissioning, William Seiverling conducted shakedown training in the vicinity of Bermuda. She returned to New York on 26 July and began post-shakedown availability at the New York Navy Yard. She completed repairs on 8 August and put to sea on the 9th, bound ultimately for the western Pacific. After several stops along the way, she transited the Panama Canal on 25 August. The warship remained at Balboa until the 30th, at which time she continued her voyage.
She stopped at
Antisubmarine operations
For the next three months, William Seiverling operated with the hunter-killer group from the base at Ulithi. She helped to patrol the sea lanes between various islands in the Central Pacific to keep them clear of Japanese
On the latter day, she sortied with the task group and set a course—via the Surigao Strait, the Sulu Sea, and the South China Sea—for Luzon. During the transit, enemy air attacks were frequent, but William Seiverling never got into the action until she arrived off Lingayen Gulf on 7 January. On that day, her guns warded off a single attacker whose approach was quite desultory in nature. She patrolled the waters off Lingayen Gulf until 17 January at which time she joined the screen of task group TG 77.4 and TG 77.3 and headed south. She conducted patrols with elements of the two task groups until 1 February when she began retirement through the Sulu Sea with TG 77.4.
On 5 February, the warship reentered the
Okinawa operations
William Seiverling remained at Ulithi completing logistics until 21 March at which time she got underway with TG 52.1 to support the assault on and occupation of
Under air attack
The warship arrived back in the lagoon at Ulithi on the afternoon of 3 May and commenced repairs. She completed repairs on 15 May and stood out of the anchorage on the 16th to escort
Philippine Islands operations
William Seiverling remained at Ulithi for about two weeks conducting repairs and provisioning. On 24 June, she departed the
On 23 July, she returned to Ulithi for repairs to her sound gear and to take on stores and provisions. She returned to sea on 25 July and rendezvoused with
End-of-war assignments
She continued patrols of that nature, operating from the base on Leyte near San Pedro Bay until 27 August at which time she set a course for Japan and duty in conjunction with the occupation. The warship arrived in Tokyo Bay on 2 September, the day Japan formally surrendered to the Allies. She supported the occupation forces in Japan until 17 October when she departed Yokosuka to escort a convoy of tank landing ships to Manila. She reached her destination on 25 October and remained there for repairs and provisions until 3 December.
On the latter day, the warship stood out of Manila Bay to return to the United States. After stops at Guam, Eniwetok, and Pearl Harbor, William Seiverling arrived in San Pedro, Los Angeles, on 26 November. The destroyer escort began preparations for inactivation almost immediately upon arrival. William Seiverling was placed in commission, in reserve, sometime in December. Though inactive, the warship remained in commission, in reserve, until formally decommissioned on 21 March 1947.
Reactivation for Korean War
The outbreak of the
Korean War operations
In July, the warship arrived in the Korean War zone. From the 6th to the 12th, she conducted shore bombardment missions near
Under fire from Korean shore batteries
On 8 September, while operating with minesweepers in the inner harbor at Wonsan, the destroyer escort drew fire from an enemy shore battery. She began maneuvering radically and opened counter battery fire. The enemy, however, proved far more accurate than did the American warship. Throughout the brief action, he consistently straddled William Seiverling and succeeded in scoring three hits, one of which struck the ship below the waterline at the number 2 fireroom. That hit caused William Seiverling to break off the action and retire to Sasebo for repairs. The warship remained at Sasebo for the remainder of that deployment. She returned to the United States on 22 November.
William Seiverling completed repairs and conducted normal operations along the California coast during the first 10 months of 1952. On 17 October 1952, she departed San Diego to return to the Far East. After stops at Pearl Harbor and at Midway Island, she arrived in the western Pacific at Yokosuka on 11 November. By 16 November, the destroyer escort was back on station with the Wonsan blockade. That duty—including shore bombardment missions—lasted until 26 December. After upkeep, she returned to the Korean coast on 5 January 1953. Her western Pacific deployment lasted until late May and included three more tours of duty in the coastal waters around Korea.
Assigned to training duty
She departed the Far East on 22 May and reentered San Diego on 9 June. She resumed local operations until January 1954 at which time the warship entered the
The final years
The warship's active career lasted just a little over two more years. During that time, she made two more deployments to the western Pacific. During the first 7th Fleet assignment, she operated in the old familiar northwestern Pacific near Japan and Korea. Also during that deployment, she visited Maizuru, Japan, where, in June and July 1955, she took custody of lend-lease ships being returned to the United States. Her second and final deployment of that period took her to the southwestern Pacific for visits to New Zealand and Australian ports before she headed north for duty on the Taiwan Strait patrol. She returned to San Diego from the last tour of duty in the Far East on 18 February 1957. She resumed normal operations until 15 June at which time she began preparations for decommissioning.
Final decommissioning
William Seiverling was placed out of commission at San Diego on 27 September 1957. She remained in the
Awards
William Seiverling earned the following awards:
- battle stars
- World War II Victory Medal
- Navy Occupation Medal
- National Defense Service Medal
- Korean Service Medal with three battle stars
- Philippine Liberation Medal
- United Nations Service Medal
References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.