William Eugene Seely was born Oct. 8, 1922, in New London, Connecticut, the son of Paul Seely, a power company lineman, and Frances Bailey Seely, a homemaker.

The son attended Pleasant Valley and Robert E. Fitch High School, both in Groton. His father died while fishing off the coast in 1936. William, who worked at a hardware store after school, graduated in 1940. He enlisted in the Navy in October.

Mr. Seely was a seaman first class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

The next fall his mother, who worked in the drafting department at the Electric Boat Co. in Groton, Connecticut, was chosen in a vote of her 10,000 co-workers as the sponsor of a new submarine, the U.S.S. Jack. She presided over its launch into the city’s Thames River.

The Jack patrolled the Pacific during the war, sinking 16 Japanese vessels ranging from cargo ships to oil tankers, a trawler and a minesweeper.

In 1954, in response to the need for more schools near new Navy housing on the west side of Groton, the school board built William Seely Elementary. Its students collected $59 to help construct the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Admiral Chester Nimitz sent them a thank you letter in 1955. 

Every Dec. 7 the principal would explain the significance of the day and who William Seely was, a student recalled years later. On the 25th anniversary of the attack the school held a memorial service, attended by Mr. Seely’s mother and by the Marine color guard from the submarine base at Groton. The school also sponsored an essay contest on the meaning of the event. William Seely Elementary closed in 2004.

One odd side note to Mr. Seely’s history is that Navy records say his last name was spelled Seeley. When he applied to join the Navy, his hand-written application said Seely, and that’s also how he signed at the bottom of the document. But by the time he formally enlisted two weeks later, he signed as Seeley. As standard practice before he enlisted, the Navy reached out to local record-keepers to confirm his date of birth.  The document returned by the New London town clerk did confirm his date of birth, but it also said his last name was Seeley. Perhaps to proceed expeditiously with the enlistment, he went along with the mistake. Whatever the reason, there is no doubt that Seely is correct.

Sources: the Hartford (Connecticut) Courant; The Day of New London, Connecticut; the book “Groton: Historical Bits and Pieces,” by James L. Streeter; family grave markers; Census; Navy enlistment records and muster rolls. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.