Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Contributed By And/Or Copyright
	59k	William Carey Cole was born in Chicago, III., on 23 August 1868. He was appointed a naval cadet on 05 September 1885 and graduated from the Naval Academy on 07 June 1889. At the end of the two years of service at sea then required by law, in Iroquois and Charleston, Cole received his commission as an ensign on 01 July 1891. After further sea service in Nipsic, Cole headed the branch hydrographic office in Cleveland, Ohio, from 23 October 1894 to 10 September 1896 before he went first to the cruiser Raleigh and later to dispatch boat Dolphin. After a stint in the hydrographic office in Washington, D.C., and a brief tour at the Washington Navy Yard, Cole reported once more to Dolphin and, while in that ship, took part in the Spanish-American War off Santiago, Cuba. Subsequently serving at the Washington Navy Yard and commanding, in succession, tug Tecumseh and yacht Sylph, Cole went to the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. in the summer of 1905 to familiarize himself with the work of a naval inspector of equipment before assuming that office in the General Electric Co., of Schenectady, N.Y., and later in the New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, N.J. On 18 April 1907, Cole, by then a lieutenant commander, became the navigator of the new battleship Kansas when she was first commissioned. He subsequently became her executive officer before reporting to the Naval Academy. Promoted to commander on 20 October 1910, Cole subsequently assumed simultaneous command of all of the ships at the Naval Academy, including the steam sloop Hartford and the cruiser Olympia. Cole next went to the Asiatic Station and reported for duty at Olongapo, Philippine Islands, on 10 March. There, he assumed command of the monitors Monadnock and Monterey (in first reserve) but was detached from that duty on 04 December. He took command of the gunboat Helena two days after Christmas of 1913 and assumed the concurrent duties of Senior Officer, Yangtze Valley. Detached in the spring of 1915, Cole attended the long course at the Naval War College, Newport, R.I., and then became Inspector of Engineering Material in the Boston District. On 10 April 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I, Cole took command of the armored cruiser Frederick (Armored Cruiser No. 8) and remained in that warship until 23 September when he was given command of Nevada (Battleship No. 36). For "exceptionally meritorious service in a duty of great responsibility" commanding Nevada during World War I, Cole received the Navy Cross. After leaving Nevada on 07 May 1919, Cole served in London as assistant attache before he went to Washington, D.C., where he became, in time, the Assistant Chief of Naval Operations, remaining in that duty into 1922. Attaining flag rank on 28 January 1922, he was detached from his Assistant CNO duties on 10 March and went to the Panama Canal Zone where he became Commander, Special Service Squadron, a naval force colloquially known as the "Banana Fleet," on 29 April 1922, hoisting his two-starred flag in the cruiser Birmingham. In the spring of 1923, Cole fleeted up to duty as chief of staff to the Commander in Chief, United States Fleet and remained in that billet for two years before he became Commandant of the Norfolk Navy Yard in the autumn of 1926. Subsequently serving as Commander, Battleship Division 4 from 11 July 1928 to 21 May 1929 and as Commander, Scouting Fleet, with the rank of vice admiral, from 21 June 1929 to 14 June 1930, Cole became Commandant of the 12th Naval District in the summer of 1930. Relieved on 01 June 1932, he briefly served as Inspector of Petroleum Reserves from 28 June to 06 August 1932, before he was retired on 01 September 1932. Cole died at the Naval Hospital, Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, Calif., on 28 May 1935. USS William C. Cole (DE 641) (1944-1948) was the first ship to be named in his honor. (U.S. Navy photo #NH 51680 from the Naval History and Heritage Command)		Mike Smolinski Clifton, N.J. Archive Manager DE / FF / LCS Archive Navsource
	19k	undated wartime image		Jerry Church
	124	18 May 1944: San Francisco Bay - port beam view of William C. Cole. (Photo by Bethlehem Steel Co., Shipbuilding Div.)		Robert M. Cieri
	410k	18 May 1944: San Francisco Bay. (These two photos courtesy of  Chris Wright)		Ed Zajkowski Narvon, Pa.
	422k
	275k	23 May 1944: San Francisco Bay - USS William C. Cole, showing her in a aerial starboard bow view, while on a speed run. (Official U.S. Navy Photograph by NAS Alameda)		Robert M. Cieri
	235k	23 May 1944: San Francisco Bay - USS William C. Cole, showing her in a aerial port bow view. (Official U.S. Navy Photograph by NAS Alameda)

Additional Memorabilia

Commissioning Invitation Courtesy of Robert M. Cieri

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been made to list the newest contact. However, our entry is only as good as the latest information that's been sent to us. We list
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Additional Resources

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Tin Can Sailors
The U.S. Navy Memorial
Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
The Destroyer History Foundation
Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS William C. Cole

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