William Earle Smith, Jr

Captain Smith, USN (ret), 85, died 6 September 2019 in Kitsap County, Washington. He was born 15 March 1934 in Mobile, Alabama.

Captain Smith graduated in the USNA Class of 1957. He retired as a Navy Captain after 35 years of Navy Service. When he was a young officer (LT), he was credited for saving many shipmates during a torpedo accident on the USS TIRU (SS 416). He passed out twice, due to the toxic gases, but managed to pull several men up the ladder to fresh air. He was awarded the Navy/Marine Corps Medal for his efforts. He later had command of the submarine USS Remora (SS-487). As a Commander, he went back to the Naval Academy to serve as the Chairman of the Management Science Department and to teach Probability Statistics and Linear Programming. Captain Smith served as Executive Officer and Commanding Officer of SUBASE Pearl Harbor and then of SUBASE Bangor.

After retirement Captain Smith was selected to serve as the first Executive Director of the Economic Development Council (EDC) of Kitsap County. One important project he worked on during this time, was to bring the USS Turner Joy to the Bremerton waterfront and to write the grant to pay for the boardwalk that leads to the ship. Captain Smith was active in the USS Tiru Association and hosted its 2006 Reunion in Silverdale, Washington.