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THE JAPANESE ATTACK
In the predawn darkness that cloaked the Pacific Ocean 200 miles (322
kilometres) north of Oahu on 7 December 1941, Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's First Air Fleet, formed around the aircraft carriers HIJMS Akagi, HIJMS Kaga, HIJMS Soryu, HIJMS Hiryu, HIJMS Shokaku, and HIJMS Zuikaku - the most powerful concentration of such ships ever assembled - pressed inexorably southward. At 0550 hours local (1120 Eastern Standard Time or 1620 Greenwich Mean Time), the force commenced launch of 184 planes. A second strike would follow an hour later. Once airborne, the 51 Aichi D3A1, Navy Type 99 Carrier Bomber Model 11s (later assigned the Allied Code Name "Val"); 89 Nakajima B5N2, Navy Type 97 Carrier Attack Bomber Model 12s (later assigned the Allied Code Name "Kate"); and 43 Mitsubishi A6M2, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters Model 21s (later assigned the Allied Code Name "Zeke") of the first wave droned toward the south at 0616 hours. Ahead lay the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the Army and Army Air Forces bases that existed to protect that fleet, and the U.S. Naval Aviation facilities on Oahu - at Pearl, Kaneohe Bay, and Marine Corps Air Station Ewa.
Almost simultaneously, returning from ferrying Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats from Marine Fighting Squadron Two Hundred Eleven (VMF-211) to Wake Island, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), with Task Force 8 under Vice Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., was some 250 miles (402 kilometres) due west of Oahu. Between 0615 and 0629 hours, USS Enterprise launched 18 Douglas SBD Dauntlesses. The nine two-plane sections were to search ahead of the ship to a distance of 150 miles (241 kilometres) and then proceed to NAS Pearl Harbor. Task Force 8, which had been operating on a war footing since it had departed Pearl on 28 November was to make port that afternoon.
At 0630 hours, some 200 miles (322 kilometres) to the east, the general stores issue ship Antares (AKS-3), standing toward Pearl, summoned the destroyer USS Ward (DD-139), on harbor entrance patrol, to investigate what looked like a small submarine 1,500 yards (1,372 meters) off Antares' starboard quarter. At about the same time, Ensign William P. Tanner, USNR, was taking off from NAS Kaneohe in 14-P-1, a Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina (BuNo 2419) armed with two depth charges; it was one of three Catalinas slated to patrol assigned Fleet Operating Areas off Oahu with orders to bomb any submarine found outside regularly scheduled areas. Four other PBY-5s from VP-24, were aloft for training.
Twenty minutes later, 14-P-l's crew spotted a submarine about one mile (1.6 kilometres) south of the entrance to Pearl Harbor's channel, with a destroyer steaming close astern. Initially thinking that he was seeing a friendly submarine in distress, being escorted by a destroyer, Tanner refrained from dropping his depth bombs and released two float lights instead to mark the sub's position. As 14-P-l's perplexed pilot looked on, however, Ward opened fire and then dropped depth charges on what proved to be a Japanese midget submarine. After Ward's attack, the submarine began to turn toward Pearl and submerged. Continuing his approach, now certain of the submersible's unfriendly nature, Tanner dropped two depth bombs ahead of the swirling water. Both Ward and Ensign Tanner reported the incident around 0700 hours.
Meanwhile, Commander, Patrol Wing One (ComPatWing1), one of the addressees on Tanner's coded dispatch, requested confirmation at 0715 hours. Tanner radioed back: "SUNK ONE ENEMY SUBMARINE ONE MILE SOUTH [OF] PEARL HARBOR." Word of the encounter with the midget submarine reached ComPatWing 2's staff duty officer at 0735 hours and went to the operations officer, Commander Logan C. Ramsey, two minutes later. By 0750 hours, Ramsey had drafted a search plan.
At about 0757 hours, U.S. Coast Guard Lieutenant Frank Erickson, the aviator assigned to the cutter USCGC Taney, and NAS Pearl Harbor's duty officer that morning, who had been in the process of seeing to morning colors, heard the sound of two heavy explosions - probably bombs dropped by the first "Vals" bombing the VP-22 hangars and patrol aircraft arrayed on the ramp. He looked out just in time to see a "Kate" fly past 1010 Dock and launch a torpedo at the nearby battleship USS California (BB-44). Soon thereafter, Captain James M. Shoemaker, the NAS Commanding Officer, having heard the explosions, telephoned Erickson, demanding: "What the hell kind of drills are you pulling down there?!" As the Japanese attack descended "like a thunderclap," a dispatch soon emanated from Ford Island: "AIR RAID PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NO DRILL."
At that moment, U.S. Naval Aviation assets on Oahu under Rear Admiral Patrick N. L. Bellinger, Commander Patrol Wing Two (ComPatWing 2) and Carrier Task Force 9, consisted principally of 33 PBYs (-3s and -5s) from four squadrons: VPs 21, 22, 23, and 24 at NAS Pearl Harbor; and 36 PBY-5s, from VPs 11, 12, and 14 at NAS Kaneohe Bay. Over at MCAS Ewa, under the Commanding Office of Marine Aircraft Group Twenty One (MAG-21), sat Marine Scout Bombing Squadron Two Hundred Thirty One's (VMSB-231's) seven spare Chance Vought SB2U-3 Vindicators left behind when the squadron deployed onboard the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-2) bound for Midway Island, VMSB-232's 23 Douglas SBD-1 and 2 Dauntlesses and 11 Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats from Marine Fighting Squadron Two Hundred Eleven (VMF-211). At both Navy and Marine air facilities there sat the usual utility planes, the target towers, and transport aircraft that the irreverent usually called "various junk," 31 at NAS Pearl Harbor, one at NAS Kaneohe Bay and eight at MCAS Ewa. Fortunately, no aircraft carriers lay in port that Sunday.
From the moment the first bomb exploded on Ford Island, the officers and men at both naval air stations battled back with any means at their disposal. Men grabbed rifles or improvised machine gun mounts and fired at the attackers, sometimes from the rear cockpits of Grumman J2F Ducks, heedless of their personal safety. At NAS Kaneohe Bay, about nine enemy fighters circled at low altitude over the air station and attacked with machine guns the control tower located on a hill the four patrol planes moored in the bay. This was followed by an attack on the planes on the ramp. This attack lasted for some 15-minutes. The very first plane to attack attacked the Wing Commander's OS2U-1 on the landing mat. At the time a chief petty officer was turning over the propeller by hand and it was apparently thought to be a fighter preparing to take off. This plane was thoroughly riddled. After the first wave there was a few minutes lull and then another attack by an estimated six to nine fighters. All attacks were directed at the planes on the ground, in the water, and at the hangar. But there was some strafing of cars and quarters incident to the main attack. The first attack set on fire all planes on the water and some of those on the beach. The second attack hit additional planes, setting them on fire. At the very beginning of the first attack there was immediate action on the part of the personnel to get machine guns in action against the attacking planes. This was done before the completion of the first attack and on the first attack at least two enemy planes had their gas tanks punctured. Immediate action was taken to save the planes not then on fire and those not too far gone. Personnel attempting this were severely strafed. During both of the above attacks, personnel were strafed on the road in automobiles attempting to get to the hangar area. After the two above attacks all efforts were directed at getting all planes that could be possibly saved clear from the area of the burning planes.
At about 0930 hours a formation of nine, 2-seater bombers, came in formation over the Bay, more or less following the coast line from Kahuka Point, at an altitude of about 1000 to 1500 feet (305 to 457 meters) and dropped bombs on the hangar occupied by VP-11 and VP-12. This attack caused the loss of the greatest number of personnel as considerable men were in the hangar getting replenishment ammunition. Two bombs hit in the hangar, two close alongside, and one dud hit in the hangar in which Lieutenant Commander Buckley was supervising the obtaining of ammunition. He miraculously escaped other than minor injuries. Immediately behind this wave of bombers were nine additional bombers and it is uncertain whether or not they dropped bombs -- so much smoke was in the area and people stunned by the first wave that this point is uncertain. If they did not, it is certain that an additional drop was made by the first wave of bombers, aimed at the other hangar, but which fell between the hangar and the water, some falling in the water and did very little damage, except for holes in the parking area. This part is not a tribute to the bombing accuracy of the attacking planes as they were only a 1000 or 1500 feet (305 to 457 meters) high and did not drop, that both drops were by the first formation. These some observers contribute the belief that they did not drop the bombs because the central bomber in the leading plane had been killed, as the volume of machine gun fire was directed at the leading plane and tracers indicated that the nose of this plane was receiving severe punishment. 5.The conduct of all personnel throughout the entire attack was magnificent, in fact, too much so.
Two of the men who fired on the Japanese aircraft were ACOM John W. Finn and Radioman 2nd Class (RM2c) Robert J. Peterson mounted 50-calibre (12.7 millimeter) machine guns on instruction stands and blazed away at whatever Japanese planes came within range. Finn, wounded several times, nevertheless stood his ground until ordered to have his wounds dressed. Peterson, after one attack, proceeded to a group of exploding PBYs and singlehandedly saved one plane by extinguished a fire blazing in it. Finn, meanwhile, although still in pain, hobbled back to the squadron area after his wounds had been attended to and supervised the rearming of returning PBYs. For their heroism that morning, Peterson received the Navy Cross and Finn the Medal of Honor.
In addition, the tenders attached to the patrol wings - ranging from the seaplane tenders USS Curtiss (AV-4) and USS Tangier (AV-8); and the small seaplane tender USS Avocet (AVP-4) moored off Ford Island; and the seaplane tenders, destroyer USS McFarland (AVD-14), USS Thornton (AVD- 1 l), and USS Hulbert (AVD-6) at the Submarine Base - added to the barrage put up in the face of the attacking Japanese. Over at MCAS Ewa, Marines possessing little more than rifles and small arms fired back at the strafing Japanese planes that destroyed or heavily damaged every aircraft on the mat. Soon after the first bombs exploded near VP-22's hangar, Commander Ramsey's search plan was promulgated. Having the means to carry it out, however, was another matter. Rear Admiral Bellinger arrived at Ford Island during the first attack, and as the first phase ended, learned that only two PBYs remained operational at NAS Kaneohe Bay and one at NAS Pearl Harbor. He ordered the two from Kaneohe Bay to patrol to the west-northwest of Oahu, but wreckage, fires, and damaged planes prevented the only operable PBY on Ford Island from getting aloft. He also ordered available utility aircraft to look for the Japanese. The second wave of Japanese planes, however, attacked both stations and while the plane at NAS Pearl Harbor miraculously escaped destruction, the two Catalinas at Kaneohe Bay did not. Commander Knefler McGinnis, Commander Patrol Wing One (ComPatWing 1), at Kaneohe Bay, unable to send them out to cover the west-northwest sector, instead diverted two airborne PBYs - one of which was Ensign Tanner's - to cover the sector in question.
As the Japanese onslaught swept over the Naval Aviation facilities on Oahu, USS Enterprise's inbound aviators soon began encountering the enemy. A "Zeke" attacked Lieutenant Commander Howard L. Young, Enterprise's air group commander, and his wingman, Ensign Perry L. Teaff, near MCAS Ewa. They evaded the "Zeke" but had to weather a storm of friendly antiaircraft fire to reach Ford Island. There, Young and his passenger, Lieutenant Commander Bromfield B. Nichol, Vice Admiral Halsey's tactical officer, headed by car and boat to the headquarters of Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, at the Submarine Base.
Sadly, however, not all of the SBD pilots enjoyed such good fortune. "Zeke's" overwhelmed Lieutenant Clarence E. Dickinson and Ensign John R. McCarthy, USNR, who probably arrived near MCAS Ewa soon thereafter, and shot both Navy flyers down. Both pilots bailed out and survived. (Dickinson began a minor odyssey by foot and car to reach Ford Island, and McCarthy suffered a broken leg while trying to get out of the tree into which he had parachuted.) Their respective passengers, Radioman First Class (RMlc) William C. Miller and RM3c Mitchell Cohn, died. "Zeke"s off Barbers Point likewise attacked Lieutenant (jg) Frank A. Patriarca and Ensign Walter M. Willis, USNR. Patriarca managed to evade his antagonists, radioing a warning to USS Enterprise that the Japanese were attacking Pearl Harbor, but enemy fighters shot down Willis' SBD, killing him and his passenger, Coxswain Fred J. Ducolon. Patriarca searched in vain for USS Enterprise and later ended up at the Army's Burns Field on the island of Kauai.
Ensign Fred T. Weber, USNR, had become separated from his section leader, Ensign Manuel Gonzalez, during the course of their search, thus leaving Gonzalez alone to encounter six "Vals" from HIJMS Shokaku and HIJMS Zuikaku rendezvousing approximately 10 miles (16 kilometres) from Kaena Point to return to their ships. As the enemy planes approached, Gonzalez radioed at about 0833 hours: "THIS IS 6-B-3, AN AMERICAN PLANE. DO NOT SHOOT." Some pilots heard him instruct his passenger, "STAND BY TO GET OUT THE RUBBER BOAT," but no one ever saw Gonzalez, nor his passenger, RM3c Leonard J. Kozelek, again.
Lieutenant Wilmer E. Gallaher, Scouting Squadron Six's (VS-6's) Executive Officer, whose wingman, Ensign William P. West, USNR, had an inoperative radio, had heard Patriacra's voice over the radio and then Gonzalez. Seeing the heavy black smoke and antiaircraft fire spattering the sky over the harbor convinced Gallaher that something was dreadfully wrong.
Also approaching Barbers Point shortly after 0830 hours was VS-6's Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Hallsted L. Hopping, who had become separated from his wingman, Ensign John H.L. Vogt, USNR, when Hopping had gone down to scrutinize the Honolulu-bound SS Pat Doheny off Oahu. Hopping, too, had heard Gonzalez' message, and after he saw MCAS Ewa under attack, reported that Pearl Harbor was being attacked by Japanese planes. Then he, too, flew through a storm of antiaircraft fire over Pearl Harbor to land at Ford Island. Indications are that Ensign Vogt, meanwhile, had encountered a "Val" passing MCAS Ewa during its retirement from Pearl Harbor, and after a brief dogfight, collided with him. Vogt and his radio-gunner, RM3c Sidney Pierce, bailed out, but both died when they slammed into trees after their parachutes did not fully deploy.
Seeing the antiaircraft fire in the sky over Pearl Harbor, Ensign Edward T. Deacon, USNR, and Ensign Wilbur E. Roberts, USNR, sought safety at the Army Air Forces' Hickam Field; however, eager but inaccurate gunners at Fort Weaver and the Fleet Machine Gun School shot down Deacon's SBD. Ditching in the shallows off Hickam Field, Deacon and his wounded radioman, RM3c Audrey G. Coslett, were picked up by an Army crash boat. Roberts, meanwhile, landed at the bomber base without further incident.
Lieutenant Commanders Young and Nichol, meanwhile, reached Admiral Kimmel's headquarters. After they had reported and informed those they found there that other planes were trying to get in, too, the Commandant of the 14th Naval District signaled all ships present at Pearl Harbor at 0908
hours: "DO NOT FIRE ON OUR PLANES COMING IN."
In the proverbial heat of battle, though, it appeared that few paid attention. Gallaher and West, after seeing the flak over Pearl Harbor, circled between Barbers Point and MCAS Ewa, where Ensign Weber, having survived a brush with a Japanese plane near Kaena Point, joined them. Soon, Lieutenant (jg) H. Dale Hilton and Ensign Edwin J. Kroeger, USNR, and then Ensigns Carlton T. Fogg and Cleo J. Dobson, USNR, joined up, too. For several minutes, Gallaher's flock circled between MCAS Ewa and Barbers Point at an altitude of 400 to 500 feet (122 to 152 meters), before Gallaher saw Japanese planes 3,500 feet (1,067 meters) above. Knowing that without armor or self-sealing gas tanks he and his men stood little chance in aerial combat, he led them 5 to10 miles (8 to 16 kilometres) out to sea to await further developments. Back at Ford Island, VP-21's Ensign Theodore W. Marshall, USNR, at the Bachelor Officer Quarters (BOQ) when the attack started, commandeered a squadron truck. After driving it between the quarters, the enlisted barracks, and NAS Pearl Harbor, ferrying officers and men to their battle stations - practically oblivious to the bomb fragments and strafing that nearly riddled the vehicle - Marshall proceeded to the flight line. Although unfamiliar with landplanes, he climbed into a Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat, the spare aircraft assigned to Fighting Squadron Three (VF-3). Finding that it had been damaged by strafing, Marshall, undaunted, spotted a Douglas TBD-1 Devastator (BuNo 0289, an ex-USS Enterprise machine that had been assigned to the Battle Force pool on 18 November), climbed in, and coaxed the engine into life. Despite being as unfamiliar with a Devastator as he had been with a Wildcat, Marshall took off and attempted to track the Japanese planes as they retired from Pearl Harbor. For 150 miles (241 kilometres), he tried to keep up with the enemy, until his flagging fuel state compelled him to return to Ford Island, where he managed to land the lumbering plane successfully. For his heroism that day, Marshall was awarded the Silver Star.
In the meantime, the airborne PBYs also searched for the enemy. Ensign Otto F. Meyer, Jr., commanded 14-P-2, one of the two PBYs dispatched by ComPatWing-1 to search north of Oahu. Around 1000 hours, a formation of about nine planes crossed his bow. When they turned menacingly toward 14-P-2 and then attacked; Meyer's gunners returned the fire. One of the PBY's tormentors headed north, trailing a thin wisp of smoke, while the other eight gave up and turned away, too. Meyer kept 14-P-2 -which had been holed 14 times - heading back toward Oahu until the last of the Japanese disappeared in the haze. At that point, he wheeled the Catalina around and resumed the search, ultimately flying out 380 miles (612 kilometres) without sighting anything but clouds and whitecaps.
Ensigns Raphael Semmes, Jr., and Maurice Thornton, USNR, meanwhile, from the aviation unit of the light cruiser USS St. Louis (CL-49), took off in their obsolete Curtiss SOC Seagull biplanes during the raid and attacked - unsuccessfully - a formation of "Vals". Neither man had taken along a radio-gunner, and Thornton ran out of gas during the return flight, necessitating his rescue by a destroyer on 9 December.
The courage evidenced by Ensigns Marshall, Semmes, and Thornton matched that of the pilots of the utility squadrons who took off in VJ-l's Sikorsky JRS-1s. Ensign John P. Edwards, USNR, took up the first, followed by Lieutenant (jg) James W. Robb, Jr., USNR, Lieutenant Gordon E. Bolser, USNR, and Ensign Nils R. Larson, USNR. Lieutenant (jg) Wesley H. Ruth, USNR, with Aviation Chief Machinist Mate (ACMM) (Naval Aviation Pilot) Emery C. Geise as his copilot in JRS-1 (BuNo 1063), encountered a "Zeke" from HIJMS Shokaku 200 miles (322 kilometres) off Oahu in what was probably the last aerial engagement between U.S. Navy and Japanese planes on 7 December. For courageously piloting utility amphibians armed with only Springfield rifles, Edwards, Robb, Bolser, Larson, and Ruth were all awarded the Navy Cross. While the brave men who accompanied them in their scratch crews received appropriate commendations, too, only one - Sergeant Thomas E. Hailey, USMC - would receive the Navy Cross. Hailey had quit the battleship USS Oklahoma (BB-37) after she had been ordered abandoned, helped rescue his shipmates from the oily water, and then manned an antiaircraft gun on board the battleship USS Maryland (BB-46). Once on Ford island, he unhesitatingly volunteered to go up in one of the Sikorskys, armed with only a rifle and still wearing only the skivvies in which he had swam away from the capsized battleship.
In addition, pilots of other SOC Seagulls proved that courage and initiative were not just the preserve of the fighter pilot. Lieutenant Malcolm C. Reeves and Ensign Frank H. Covington, USNR, from the heavy cruiser USS Northampton (CA-26) in Task Force 8, searching for the Japanese west of Oahu, experienced more success in the unaccustomed role of dogfighters as they battled a"Zeke" and sent it away trailing smoke. As the day wore on, there was little rest for the USS Enterprise aviators, who had flown into the middle of hostilities with no warning. Lieutenant Commander Hopping, shot at by American guns as he took off, had investigated reports of two Japanese carriers southwest or west of Barbers Point between 25 and 40 miles (40 and 64 kilometres) on a midmorning solo reconnaissance flight. Rear Admiral Bellinger then ordered Hopping to take a nine-plane group out to 175 miles (282 kilometres) to search from the north-northeast to the north-northwest of Oahu and to attack any enemy forces encountered. Remaining available planes were to investigate reports of hostile surface ships and sampans south of Barbers Point. Around noon, Hopping and his group took off.
Soon thereafter, Ensign Teaff noted alarming oil temperature in his SBD's engine. Although Hopping authorized him to return at his own discretion, Teaff remained with the group as it sought the enemy for over three hours, On the return leg, his Wright Cyclone began to "miss" badly, and he found it difficult to lower the landing gear. After landing, he discovered damage to the engine and hydraulic system. Teaff's courageously continuing the search, when little chance for rescue existed, earned him the Navy Cross.
A search launched from USS Enterprise late that afternoon was equally futile. In response to a sighting of "Japanese ships" off Oahu, the carrier launched a 31-plane strike group of TBD Devastators, SBD Dauntlesses, and F4F Wildcats under Lieutenant Eugene E. Lindsey, Commanding Officer of Torpedo Squadron Six (VT-6), late that afternoon. The group returned to the ship not having sighted any enemy warships: Enterprise recovered the scouts and the torpedo planes but directed the fighters to fly to Ford Island, which lit up in expectation of their arrival. Jittery gunners opened fire, however, as Lieutenant (jg) Francis F. Heel of Fighting Squadron Six (VF-6) brought in his six F4Fs, shooting down four; three pilots, including Heel, died. Two Enterprise SBD ended up landing at NAS Kaneohe Bay despite the attempts by the men at that base to render the landing mat unusable by parking vehicles on it!
Not all acts of heroism on 7 December 1941, were performed strictly in contact with or search of the enemy. A Chance Vought OS2U-3 Kingfisher from the battleship USS Maryland (BB-46), one of six such aircraft dispatched after 1400 hours, piloted by Lieutenant (jg) James B. Ginned, with RM2c William R. Roberts as his radioman-gunner, crashed in heavy seas at around 2000 hours about 8 miles (13 kilometres) off Barbers Point on the way back to Pearl Harbor; the impact knocked both men unconscious.
Regaining his senses, Roberts freed himself from the after cockpit, inflated his life jacket, and in the blackness, located the unconscious Ginned trapped in the front cockpit with his right leg pinned between the seat and the fuselage side. Freeing him, Roberts inflated Ginned's life jacket, placed him on a wing float, and then, after repeated dives, succeeded in freeing the rubber boat from its housing. Placing the pilot in the boat, Roberts paddled toward Barbers Point where the surf capsized it. In the turbulent, crashing water, Ginned momentarily disappeared, but after the radioman located him, he dragged him ashore, made him as comfortable as possible, and then hiked inland in search of a truck - no mean feat given the state of tension on Oahu. Roberts succeeded in locating help but too late for Ginned, who died of his severe injuries. Nevertheless, for his heroic exertions to save his pilot's life, Roberts received the Navy Cross.
In the stygian darkness on the night of 7 December 1941, Naval Aviators reflected on the tumultuous events of the day. Although surprised by a resourceful foe, the officers and men at NAS Pearl Harbor and NAS Kaneohe Bay had fought back resolutely, exhibiting their own brand of bravery. Fortunately, the Japanese had not caught any carriers in port, USS Enterprise and USS Lexington (CV-2) providentially at sea when the blow fell. They, like the base itself which had escaped destruction due to the Japanese emphasis on sinking the battle line, would prove a part of the means by which the United States Navy would begin to battle back in the Pacific and take the war to the enemy who had begun the conflict with such swift and terrible suddenness. U.S. Naval Aviation would indeed "Remember Pearl Harbor."
In the predawn darkness that cloaked the Pacific Ocean 200 miles (322
kilometres) north of Oahu on 7 December 1941, Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's First Air Fleet, formed around the aircraft carriers HIJMS Akagi, HIJMS Kaga, HIJMS Soryu, HIJMS Hiryu, HIJMS Shokaku, and HIJMS Zuikaku - the most powerful concentration of such ships ever assembled - pressed inexorably southward. At 0550 hours local (1120 Eastern Standard Time or 1620 Greenwich Mean Time), the force commenced launch of 184 planes. A second strike would follow an hour later. Once airborne, the 51 Aichi D3A1, Navy Type 99 Carrier Bomber Model 11s (later assigned the Allied Code Name "Val"); 89 Nakajima B5N2, Navy Type 97 Carrier Attack Bomber Model 12s (later assigned the Allied Code Name "Kate"); and 43 Mitsubishi A6M2, Navy Type 0 Carrier Fighters Model 21s (later assigned the Allied Code Name "Zeke") of the first wave droned toward the south at 0616 hours. Ahead lay the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the Army and Army Air Forces bases that existed to protect that fleet, and the U.S. Naval Aviation facilities on Oahu - at Pearl, Kaneohe Bay, and Marine Corps Air Station Ewa.
Almost simultaneously, returning from ferrying Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats from Marine Fighting Squadron Two Hundred Eleven (VMF-211) to Wake Island, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), with Task Force 8 under Vice Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr., was some 250 miles (402 kilometres) due west of Oahu. Between 0615 and 0629 hours, USS Enterprise launched 18 Douglas SBD Dauntlesses. The nine two-plane sections were to search ahead of the ship to a distance of 150 miles (241 kilometres) and then proceed to NAS Pearl Harbor. Task Force 8, which had been operating on a war footing since it had departed Pearl on 28 November was to make port that afternoon.
At 0630 hours, some 200 miles (322 kilometres) to the east, the general stores issue ship Antares (AKS-3), standing toward Pearl, summoned the destroyer USS Ward (DD-139), on harbor entrance patrol, to investigate what looked like a small submarine 1,500 yards (1,372 meters) off Antares' starboard quarter. At about the same time, Ensign William P. Tanner, USNR, was taking off from NAS Kaneohe in 14-P-1, a Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina (BuNo 2419) armed with two depth charges; it was one of three Catalinas slated to patrol assigned Fleet Operating Areas off Oahu with orders to bomb any submarine found outside regularly scheduled areas. Four other PBY-5s from VP-24, were aloft for training.
Twenty minutes later, 14-P-l's crew spotted a submarine about one mile (1.6 kilometres) south of the entrance to Pearl Harbor's channel, with a destroyer steaming close astern. Initially thinking that he was seeing a friendly submarine in distress, being escorted by a destroyer, Tanner refrained from dropping his depth bombs and released two float lights instead to mark the sub's position. As 14-P-l's perplexed pilot looked on, however, Ward opened fire and then dropped depth charges on what proved to be a Japanese midget submarine. After Ward's attack, the submarine began to turn toward Pearl and submerged. Continuing his approach, now certain of the submersible's unfriendly nature, Tanner dropped two depth bombs ahead of the swirling water. Both Ward and Ensign Tanner reported the incident around 0700 hours.
Meanwhile, Commander, Patrol Wing One (ComPatWing1), one of the addressees on Tanner's coded dispatch, requested confirmation at 0715 hours. Tanner radioed back: "SUNK ONE ENEMY SUBMARINE ONE MILE SOUTH [OF] PEARL HARBOR." Word of the encounter with the midget submarine reached ComPatWing 2's staff duty officer at 0735 hours and went to the operations officer, Commander Logan C. Ramsey, two minutes later. By 0750 hours, Ramsey had drafted a search plan.
At about 0757 hours, U.S. Coast Guard Lieutenant Frank Erickson, the aviator assigned to the cutter USCGC Taney, and NAS Pearl Harbor's duty officer that morning, who had been in the process of seeing to morning colors, heard the sound of two heavy explosions - probably bombs dropped by the first "Vals" bombing the VP-22 hangars and patrol aircraft arrayed on the ramp. He looked out just in time to see a "Kate" fly past 1010 Dock and launch a torpedo at the nearby battleship USS California (BB-44). Soon thereafter, Captain James M. Shoemaker, the NAS Commanding Officer, having heard the explosions, telephoned Erickson, demanding: "What the hell kind of drills are you pulling down there?!" As the Japanese attack descended "like a thunderclap," a dispatch soon emanated from Ford Island: "AIR RAID PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NO DRILL."
At that moment, U.S. Naval Aviation assets on Oahu under Rear Admiral Patrick N. L. Bellinger, Commander Patrol Wing Two (ComPatWing 2) and Carrier Task Force 9, consisted principally of 33 PBYs (-3s and -5s) from four squadrons: VPs 21, 22, 23, and 24 at NAS Pearl Harbor; and 36 PBY-5s, from VPs 11, 12, and 14 at NAS Kaneohe Bay. Over at MCAS Ewa, under the Commanding Office of Marine Aircraft Group Twenty One (MAG-21), sat Marine Scout Bombing Squadron Two Hundred Thirty One's (VMSB-231's) seven spare Chance Vought SB2U-3 Vindicators left behind when the squadron deployed onboard the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-2) bound for Midway Island, VMSB-232's 23 Douglas SBD-1 and 2 Dauntlesses and 11 Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats from Marine Fighting Squadron Two Hundred Eleven (VMF-211). At both Navy and Marine air facilities there sat the usual utility planes, the target towers, and transport aircraft that the irreverent usually called "various junk," 31 at NAS Pearl Harbor, one at NAS Kaneohe Bay and eight at MCAS Ewa. Fortunately, no aircraft carriers lay in port that Sunday.
From the moment the first bomb exploded on Ford Island, the officers and men at both naval air stations battled back with any means at their disposal. Men grabbed rifles or improvised machine gun mounts and fired at the attackers, sometimes from the rear cockpits of Grumman J2F Ducks, heedless of their personal safety. At NAS Kaneohe Bay, about nine enemy fighters circled at low altitude over the air station and attacked with machine guns the control tower located on a hill the four patrol planes moored in the bay. This was followed by an attack on the planes on the ramp. This attack lasted for some 15-minutes. The very first plane to attack attacked the Wing Commander's OS2U-1 on the landing mat. At the time a chief petty officer was turning over the propeller by hand and it was apparently thought to be a fighter preparing to take off. This plane was thoroughly riddled. After the first wave there was a few minutes lull and then another attack by an estimated six to nine fighters. All attacks were directed at the planes on the ground, in the water, and at the hangar. But there was some strafing of cars and quarters incident to the main attack. The first attack set on fire all planes on the water and some of those on the beach. The second attack hit additional planes, setting them on fire. At the very beginning of the first attack there was immediate action on the part of the personnel to get machine guns in action against the attacking planes. This was done before the completion of the first attack and on the first attack at least two enemy planes had their gas tanks punctured. Immediate action was taken to save the planes not then on fire and those not too far gone. Personnel attempting this were severely strafed. During both of the above attacks, personnel were strafed on the road in automobiles attempting to get to the hangar area. After the two above attacks all efforts were directed at getting all planes that could be possibly saved clear from the area of the burning planes.
At about 0930 hours a formation of nine, 2-seater bombers, came in formation over the Bay, more or less following the coast line from Kahuka Point, at an altitude of about 1000 to 1500 feet (305 to 457 meters) and dropped bombs on the hangar occupied by VP-11 and VP-12. This attack caused the loss of the greatest number of personnel as considerable men were in the hangar getting replenishment ammunition. Two bombs hit in the hangar, two close alongside, and one dud hit in the hangar in which Lieutenant Commander Buckley was supervising the obtaining of ammunition. He miraculously escaped other than minor injuries. Immediately behind this wave of bombers were nine additional bombers and it is uncertain whether or not they dropped bombs -- so much smoke was in the area and people stunned by the first wave that this point is uncertain. If they did not, it is certain that an additional drop was made by the first wave of bombers, aimed at the other hangar, but which fell between the hangar and the water, some falling in the water and did very little damage, except for holes in the parking area. This part is not a tribute to the bombing accuracy of the attacking planes as they were only a 1000 or 1500 feet (305 to 457 meters) high and did not drop, that both drops were by the first formation. These some observers contribute the belief that they did not drop the bombs because the central bomber in the leading plane had been killed, as the volume of machine gun fire was directed at the leading plane and tracers indicated that the nose of this plane was receiving severe punishment. 5.The conduct of all personnel throughout the entire attack was magnificent, in fact, too much so.
Two of the men who fired on the Japanese aircraft were ACOM John W. Finn and Radioman 2nd Class (RM2c) Robert J. Peterson mounted 50-calibre (12.7 millimeter) machine guns on instruction stands and blazed away at whatever Japanese planes came within range. Finn, wounded several times, nevertheless stood his ground until ordered to have his wounds dressed. Peterson, after one attack, proceeded to a group of exploding PBYs and singlehandedly saved one plane by extinguished a fire blazing in it. Finn, meanwhile, although still in pain, hobbled back to the squadron area after his wounds had been attended to and supervised the rearming of returning PBYs. For their heroism that morning, Peterson received the Navy Cross and Finn the Medal of Honor.
In addition, the tenders attached to the patrol wings - ranging from the seaplane tenders USS Curtiss (AV-4) and USS Tangier (AV-8); and the small seaplane tender USS Avocet (AVP-4) moored off Ford Island; and the seaplane tenders, destroyer USS McFarland (AVD-14), USS Thornton (AVD- 1 l), and USS Hulbert (AVD-6) at the Submarine Base - added to the barrage put up in the face of the attacking Japanese. Over at MCAS Ewa, Marines possessing little more than rifles and small arms fired back at the strafing Japanese planes that destroyed or heavily damaged every aircraft on the mat. Soon after the first bombs exploded near VP-22's hangar, Commander Ramsey's search plan was promulgated. Having the means to carry it out, however, was another matter. Rear Admiral Bellinger arrived at Ford Island during the first attack, and as the first phase ended, learned that only two PBYs remained operational at NAS Kaneohe Bay and one at NAS Pearl Harbor. He ordered the two from Kaneohe Bay to patrol to the west-northwest of Oahu, but wreckage, fires, and damaged planes prevented the only operable PBY on Ford Island from getting aloft. He also ordered available utility aircraft to look for the Japanese. The second wave of Japanese planes, however, attacked both stations and while the plane at NAS Pearl Harbor miraculously escaped destruction, the two Catalinas at Kaneohe Bay did not. Commander Knefler McGinnis, Commander Patrol Wing One (ComPatWing 1), at Kaneohe Bay, unable to send them out to cover the west-northwest sector, instead diverted two airborne PBYs - one of which was Ensign Tanner's - to cover the sector in question.
As the Japanese onslaught swept over the Naval Aviation facilities on Oahu, USS Enterprise's inbound aviators soon began encountering the enemy. A "Zeke" attacked Lieutenant Commander Howard L. Young, Enterprise's air group commander, and his wingman, Ensign Perry L. Teaff, near MCAS Ewa. They evaded the "Zeke" but had to weather a storm of friendly antiaircraft fire to reach Ford Island. There, Young and his passenger, Lieutenant Commander Bromfield B. Nichol, Vice Admiral Halsey's tactical officer, headed by car and boat to the headquarters of Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, at the Submarine Base.
Sadly, however, not all of the SBD pilots enjoyed such good fortune. "Zeke's" overwhelmed Lieutenant Clarence E. Dickinson and Ensign John R. McCarthy, USNR, who probably arrived near MCAS Ewa soon thereafter, and shot both Navy flyers down. Both pilots bailed out and survived. (Dickinson began a minor odyssey by foot and car to reach Ford Island, and McCarthy suffered a broken leg while trying to get out of the tree into which he had parachuted.) Their respective passengers, Radioman First Class (RMlc) William C. Miller and RM3c Mitchell Cohn, died. "Zeke"s off Barbers Point likewise attacked Lieutenant (jg) Frank A. Patriarca and Ensign Walter M. Willis, USNR. Patriarca managed to evade his antagonists, radioing a warning to USS Enterprise that the Japanese were attacking Pearl Harbor, but enemy fighters shot down Willis' SBD, killing him and his passenger, Coxswain Fred J. Ducolon. Patriarca searched in vain for USS Enterprise and later ended up at the Army's Burns Field on the island of Kauai.
Ensign Fred T. Weber, USNR, had become separated from his section leader, Ensign Manuel Gonzalez, during the course of their search, thus leaving Gonzalez alone to encounter six "Vals" from HIJMS Shokaku and HIJMS Zuikaku rendezvousing approximately 10 miles (16 kilometres) from Kaena Point to return to their ships. As the enemy planes approached, Gonzalez radioed at about 0833 hours: "THIS IS 6-B-3, AN AMERICAN PLANE. DO NOT SHOOT." Some pilots heard him instruct his passenger, "STAND BY TO GET OUT THE RUBBER BOAT," but no one ever saw Gonzalez, nor his passenger, RM3c Leonard J. Kozelek, again.
Lieutenant Wilmer E. Gallaher, Scouting Squadron Six's (VS-6's) Executive Officer, whose wingman, Ensign William P. West, USNR, had an inoperative radio, had heard Patriacra's voice over the radio and then Gonzalez. Seeing the heavy black smoke and antiaircraft fire spattering the sky over the harbor convinced Gallaher that something was dreadfully wrong.
Also approaching Barbers Point shortly after 0830 hours was VS-6's Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Hallsted L. Hopping, who had become separated from his wingman, Ensign John H.L. Vogt, USNR, when Hopping had gone down to scrutinize the Honolulu-bound SS Pat Doheny off Oahu. Hopping, too, had heard Gonzalez' message, and after he saw MCAS Ewa under attack, reported that Pearl Harbor was being attacked by Japanese planes. Then he, too, flew through a storm of antiaircraft fire over Pearl Harbor to land at Ford Island. Indications are that Ensign Vogt, meanwhile, had encountered a "Val" passing MCAS Ewa during its retirement from Pearl Harbor, and after a brief dogfight, collided with him. Vogt and his radio-gunner, RM3c Sidney Pierce, bailed out, but both died when they slammed into trees after their parachutes did not fully deploy.
Seeing the antiaircraft fire in the sky over Pearl Harbor, Ensign Edward T. Deacon, USNR, and Ensign Wilbur E. Roberts, USNR, sought safety at the Army Air Forces' Hickam Field; however, eager but inaccurate gunners at Fort Weaver and the Fleet Machine Gun School shot down Deacon's SBD. Ditching in the shallows off Hickam Field, Deacon and his wounded radioman, RM3c Audrey G. Coslett, were picked up by an Army crash boat. Roberts, meanwhile, landed at the bomber base without further incident.
Lieutenant Commanders Young and Nichol, meanwhile, reached Admiral Kimmel's headquarters. After they had reported and informed those they found there that other planes were trying to get in, too, the Commandant of the 14th Naval District signaled all ships present at Pearl Harbor at 0908
hours: "DO NOT FIRE ON OUR PLANES COMING IN."
In the proverbial heat of battle, though, it appeared that few paid attention. Gallaher and West, after seeing the flak over Pearl Harbor, circled between Barbers Point and MCAS Ewa, where Ensign Weber, having survived a brush with a Japanese plane near Kaena Point, joined them. Soon, Lieutenant (jg) H. Dale Hilton and Ensign Edwin J. Kroeger, USNR, and then Ensigns Carlton T. Fogg and Cleo J. Dobson, USNR, joined up, too. For several minutes, Gallaher's flock circled between MCAS Ewa and Barbers Point at an altitude of 400 to 500 feet (122 to 152 meters), before Gallaher saw Japanese planes 3,500 feet (1,067 meters) above. Knowing that without armor or self-sealing gas tanks he and his men stood little chance in aerial combat, he led them 5 to10 miles (8 to 16 kilometres) out to sea to await further developments. Back at Ford Island, VP-21's Ensign Theodore W. Marshall, USNR, at the Bachelor Officer Quarters (BOQ) when the attack started, commandeered a squadron truck. After driving it between the quarters, the enlisted barracks, and NAS Pearl Harbor, ferrying officers and men to their battle stations - practically oblivious to the bomb fragments and strafing that nearly riddled the vehicle - Marshall proceeded to the flight line. Although unfamiliar with landplanes, he climbed into a Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat, the spare aircraft assigned to Fighting Squadron Three (VF-3). Finding that it had been damaged by strafing, Marshall, undaunted, spotted a Douglas TBD-1 Devastator (BuNo 0289, an ex-USS Enterprise machine that had been assigned to the Battle Force pool on 18 November), climbed in, and coaxed the engine into life. Despite being as unfamiliar with a Devastator as he had been with a Wildcat, Marshall took off and attempted to track the Japanese planes as they retired from Pearl Harbor. For 150 miles (241 kilometres), he tried to keep up with the enemy, until his flagging fuel state compelled him to return to Ford Island, where he managed to land the lumbering plane successfully. For his heroism that day, Marshall was awarded the Silver Star.
In the meantime, the airborne PBYs also searched for the enemy. Ensign Otto F. Meyer, Jr., commanded 14-P-2, one of the two PBYs dispatched by ComPatWing-1 to search north of Oahu. Around 1000 hours, a formation of about nine planes crossed his bow. When they turned menacingly toward 14-P-2 and then attacked; Meyer's gunners returned the fire. One of the PBY's tormentors headed north, trailing a thin wisp of smoke, while the other eight gave up and turned away, too. Meyer kept 14-P-2 -which had been holed 14 times - heading back toward Oahu until the last of the Japanese disappeared in the haze. At that point, he wheeled the Catalina around and resumed the search, ultimately flying out 380 miles (612 kilometres) without sighting anything but clouds and whitecaps.
Ensigns Raphael Semmes, Jr., and Maurice Thornton, USNR, meanwhile, from the aviation unit of the light cruiser USS St. Louis (CL-49), took off in their obsolete Curtiss SOC Seagull biplanes during the raid and attacked - unsuccessfully - a formation of "Vals". Neither man had taken along a radio-gunner, and Thornton ran out of gas during the return flight, necessitating his rescue by a destroyer on 9 December.
The courage evidenced by Ensigns Marshall, Semmes, and Thornton matched that of the pilots of the utility squadrons who took off in VJ-l's Sikorsky JRS-1s. Ensign John P. Edwards, USNR, took up the first, followed by Lieutenant (jg) James W. Robb, Jr., USNR, Lieutenant Gordon E. Bolser, USNR, and Ensign Nils R. Larson, USNR. Lieutenant (jg) Wesley H. Ruth, USNR, with Aviation Chief Machinist Mate (ACMM) (Naval Aviation Pilot) Emery C. Geise as his copilot in JRS-1 (BuNo 1063), encountered a "Zeke" from HIJMS Shokaku 200 miles (322 kilometres) off Oahu in what was probably the last aerial engagement between U.S. Navy and Japanese planes on 7 December. For courageously piloting utility amphibians armed with only Springfield rifles, Edwards, Robb, Bolser, Larson, and Ruth were all awarded the Navy Cross. While the brave men who accompanied them in their scratch crews received appropriate commendations, too, only one - Sergeant Thomas E. Hailey, USMC - would receive the Navy Cross. Hailey had quit the battleship USS Oklahoma (BB-37) after she had been ordered abandoned, helped rescue his shipmates from the oily water, and then manned an antiaircraft gun on board the battleship USS Maryland (BB-46). Once on Ford island, he unhesitatingly volunteered to go up in one of the Sikorskys, armed with only a rifle and still wearing only the skivvies in which he had swam away from the capsized battleship.
In addition, pilots of other SOC Seagulls proved that courage and initiative were not just the preserve of the fighter pilot. Lieutenant Malcolm C. Reeves and Ensign Frank H. Covington, USNR, from the heavy cruiser USS Northampton (CA-26) in Task Force 8, searching for the Japanese west of Oahu, experienced more success in the unaccustomed role of dogfighters as they battled a"Zeke" and sent it away trailing smoke. As the day wore on, there was little rest for the USS Enterprise aviators, who had flown into the middle of hostilities with no warning. Lieutenant Commander Hopping, shot at by American guns as he took off, had investigated reports of two Japanese carriers southwest or west of Barbers Point between 25 and 40 miles (40 and 64 kilometres) on a midmorning solo reconnaissance flight. Rear Admiral Bellinger then ordered Hopping to take a nine-plane group out to 175 miles (282 kilometres) to search from the north-northeast to the north-northwest of Oahu and to attack any enemy forces encountered. Remaining available planes were to investigate reports of hostile surface ships and sampans south of Barbers Point. Around noon, Hopping and his group took off.
Soon thereafter, Ensign Teaff noted alarming oil temperature in his SBD's engine. Although Hopping authorized him to return at his own discretion, Teaff remained with the group as it sought the enemy for over three hours, On the return leg, his Wright Cyclone began to "miss" badly, and he found it difficult to lower the landing gear. After landing, he discovered damage to the engine and hydraulic system. Teaff's courageously continuing the search, when little chance for rescue existed, earned him the Navy Cross.
A search launched from USS Enterprise late that afternoon was equally futile. In response to a sighting of "Japanese ships" off Oahu, the carrier launched a 31-plane strike group of TBD Devastators, SBD Dauntlesses, and F4F Wildcats under Lieutenant Eugene E. Lindsey, Commanding Officer of Torpedo Squadron Six (VT-6), late that afternoon. The group returned to the ship not having sighted any enemy warships: Enterprise recovered the scouts and the torpedo planes but directed the fighters to fly to Ford Island, which lit up in expectation of their arrival. Jittery gunners opened fire, however, as Lieutenant (jg) Francis F. Heel of Fighting Squadron Six (VF-6) brought in his six F4Fs, shooting down four; three pilots, including Heel, died. Two Enterprise SBD ended up landing at NAS Kaneohe Bay despite the attempts by the men at that base to render the landing mat unusable by parking vehicles on it!
Not all acts of heroism on 7 December 1941, were performed strictly in contact with or search of the enemy. A Chance Vought OS2U-3 Kingfisher from the battleship USS Maryland (BB-46), one of six such aircraft dispatched after 1400 hours, piloted by Lieutenant (jg) James B. Ginned, with RM2c William R. Roberts as his radioman-gunner, crashed in heavy seas at around 2000 hours about 8 miles (13 kilometres) off Barbers Point on the way back to Pearl Harbor; the impact knocked both men unconscious.
Regaining his senses, Roberts freed himself from the after cockpit, inflated his life jacket, and in the blackness, located the unconscious Ginned trapped in the front cockpit with his right leg pinned between the seat and the fuselage side. Freeing him, Roberts inflated Ginned's life jacket, placed him on a wing float, and then, after repeated dives, succeeded in freeing the rubber boat from its housing. Placing the pilot in the boat, Roberts paddled toward Barbers Point where the surf capsized it. In the turbulent, crashing water, Ginned momentarily disappeared, but after the radioman located him, he dragged him ashore, made him as comfortable as possible, and then hiked inland in search of a truck - no mean feat given the state of tension on Oahu. Roberts succeeded in locating help but too late for Ginned, who died of his severe injuries. Nevertheless, for his heroic exertions to save his pilot's life, Roberts received the Navy Cross.
In the stygian darkness on the night of 7 December 1941, Naval Aviators reflected on the tumultuous events of the day. Although surprised by a resourceful foe, the officers and men at NAS Pearl Harbor and NAS Kaneohe Bay had fought back resolutely, exhibiting their own brand of bravery. Fortunately, the Japanese had not caught any carriers in port, USS Enterprise and USS Lexington (CV-2) providentially at sea when the blow fell. They, like the base itself which had escaped destruction due to the Japanese emphasis on sinking the battle line, would prove a part of the means by which the United States Navy would begin to battle back in the Pacific and take the war to the enemy who had begun the conflict with such swift and terrible suddenness. U.S. Naval Aviation would indeed "Remember Pearl Harbor."
