William J. Yokes


William J. Yokes was a United States Navy sailor who distinguished himself during World War II and was killed in action. A U.S. Navy high-speed transport was named for him.

Navy career

William John Yokes was born in Franklin, Pennsylvania, on 15 November 1918. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy at Cleveland, Ohio, on 3 January 1942.
Yokes was a seaman second class attached to the Naval Armed Guard detachment aboard the merchant ship SS Steel Navigator, a straggler from Convoy ON-137, in the North Atlantic Ocean in October 1942. For several days, heavy seas and high winds had caused a dangerous shift in ballast in Steel Navigator. Yokes acted beyond the scope of his duty when he and his shipmates volunteered to go below and perform the physically exhausting task of shifting ballast to trim the ship, working for some 30 hours without rest.
On 19 October 1942, the attacked Steel Navigator. Lookouts aboard Steel Navigator spotted U-610s periscope, and the Naval Armed Guard unit swiftly manned its guns and opened fire. Soon the gunfire registered several near-misses on the periscope, and U-610 withdrew temporarily.
Later that day, U-610 returned and torpedoed Steel Navigator, sinking her immediately. Yokes was among the dead.

Recognition

Seaman Second Class Yokes was commended posthumously by the U.S. Navys Chief of Naval Personnel, who cited Yokes's "courageous and unfailing devotion to duty... fortitude, skill and bravery" in conduct "in keeping with the highest traditions of the naval service."

Namesake

The destroyer escort USS Yokes was named for Seaman Second Class Yokes. She was converted during construction into the high-speed transport USS Yokes and was in commission as such from 1944 to 1946.