Remembering December 7th, 1941

December 7th, a day that will live in infamy!

Late in November of 2006, Ken Taylor passed died, at the age of 86. Mr. Taylor was one of two Army Pilots able to get airborne in Curtis P-40 Warhawks, at Pearl Harbor, on the morning of December 7th. Mr. Taylor was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart, for his heroic actions during the attack. Mr. Taylor, shot down 2 two Japanese Planes, and his Wingman (Mr. George Welch), shot down 4 Japanese Planes.

Mr Ken Taylor ended his military career, in the mid 1960's

Mr. Taylor and Mr. Welch, were the only pilots to get planes airborne, during the attack on Pearl Harbor. A were at the disadvantage, when facing the Japanese Zero Fighter, which was lighter and more maneuverable than the P-40 Warhawk.


Curtis P-40 Warhawk with marking made famous by the "Fly Tigers Squadron" in China prior to December 7th.

The P-40 was heavier than the Zero, and could not dogfight with the Zeros. The only way that P-40 pilots could shootdown a Zero, was either by diving on the Zero, or shooting at the Zero headon. The P-40 had heavy armor on the front of the airplane to protect the engine and pilot compartment.

Specifications: (P-40):
Engine: 1360hp Allison V-1710-81 inline piston engine
Weight: Empty 6,000 lbs., Max Takeoff 11,400 lbs
Wing Span: 37ft. 4in.
Length: 33ft. 4in.
Height: 12ft. 4in.
Performance: Maximum Speed at 10,000ft: 378mph
Ceiling: 38,000ft
Range: 840 miles (with no external tanks)
Armament: Six 12.7mm (0.5-inch) wing-mounted machine guns. Up to 1,500lbs of bombs on three wing hard-points
Number Built: Approximately 15,000
Number Still Airworthy: 19

USS Ward (DD- 139) 1918 - 1944

I would like to also remember the crew of the USS Ward (DD-139), who fired the 1st shot at Pearl Harbor, prior to the Japanese Air Attack. Below is the official Naval records of the action of the USS Ward on December 7th, 1941. The crew was a Naval Reserve Company from Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was not until 60 years later that the Japanese Submarine that the USS Ward fired on, and sunk with a shot from Gun Position #3, was finally discovered. With the shot into the submarines conning tower, as reported on December 7th 1941. For over 60 years the men of the USS Ward, were denied the honor of firing the First Shot of WWII at Pearl Harbor.

USS Ward, Report of Pearl Harbor Attack DD-139
U.S.S. Ward Pearl Harbor, T.H.
December 13, 1941.

From: Commanding Officer.
To: The Commandant, Fourteenth Naval District.
(1) Commander Destroyer Division EIGHTY.
(2) Commander Inshore Patrol.

Subject: Sinking of a Japanese Submarine by U.S.S. Ward.

While patrolling Pearl Harbor Entrance on Sunday, December 7, 1941, the U.S.S. Ward attacked an unidentified submarine in the Restricted Area off the Harbor.
The facts are as follows:

At 0637 the Officer-of-the-Deck said, "Captain come on the bridge". A conning tower with periscope of submarine was visible. She was apparently headed for Pearl Harbor trailing the U.S.S. Antares. The Antares was standing toward the channel entrance towing a lighter.
At 0640 the attack was started. The Ward bore down on the submarine while accelerating from 5 to 25 knots.

At 0645 the Ward opened fire with No. 1 and 3 guns and began dropping depth charges. One shot was fired from each gun. The shot from No. 1 gun missed, passing directly over the conning tower. The shot from No. 3 gun fired at a range of 560 yards or less struck the submarine at the waterline which was the junction of the hull and coning tower. Damage was seen by several members of the crew. This was a square positive hit. There was no evidence of ricochet. The submarine was seen to heel over to starboard. The projectile was not seen to explode outside the hull of the submarine. There was no splash of any size that might results from an explosion or ricochet.

Immediately after being hit the submarine appeared to slow and sink. She ran into our depth charge barrage and appeared to be directly over an exploding charge. The depth charges were set for 100 feet.
The submarine sank in 1200 feet of water and could not be located with supersonic detector. There was a large amount of oil on the surface where the depth charges exploded.

The attack was made at 0645 which was before Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japanese planes.

A dispatch by voice transmission was sent to Commandant, Fourteenth Naval District at 0645 which stated:

"We have attacked, fired upon, and dropped depth charges on a submarine operating in defensive sea areas."

The performance of duty by the officers and men during this attack was in accordance with the traditions of this service.

Pertinent Information
Appearance of submarine: Cylindrical tube about 80 feet long with small oval shaped conning tower. It had no deck. It was painted dark green and was covered with moss indicating that it had been at sea for a considerable period.

Behavior during attack: In spite of the five minute run from the time of sighting and time of attack, the submarine apparently did not see or detect the Ward. It was making from 8 to 10 knots and was apparently bent on following the Antares into port. Exact distances are not known but at the time of the first shot the range was not more than 100 yards and for the second shot the range was 50 yards or less. The submarine passed very close to our stern.

After December 7th, the USS Ward was retrofitted, and Gun Position #3 was removed from the ship for placement of torpedo tubes. Today the Gun Position #3 can be seen at the Minnesota Capital Grounds by the Veterans Affairs Building

The USS Ward was hit by a Kamikazi Airplane on December 7th, 1944, and had to be sunk by the USS O'Brian (DD-725), as the USS Ward was considered a navigational hazard for other ships in the area.

Now this is the weird part! The USS Ward was sunk 3 years to the day, after firing on (and sinking) the submarine at Pearl Harbor. The Commanding Officer of the USS O'Brian,which was ordered to sink the USS Ward, had been the Commanding Officer of the USS Ward on December 7th 1941.

[backbeach]

Thanks for the post, that was very interesting. I'm sitting here typing as I'm watching a Pearl Harbor special on the History Channel.

[Betty Hiner]

Parnelli,
This is from my collection (framed print, please excuse the reflection). USS Arizona steaming out of San Francisco, on her way to Pearl Harbor. Was taken, original, by a military photographer.
Betty

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[mjsmith1223]

A salute to the U.S.S. California (BB-44), sunk at Pearl Harbor. My grandfather was on the California that day and below is a recollection my dad managed to get not long before my grandfather passed a few years ago.

Briefly, a bit of background; On 7 December 1941 she was moored at the southernmost berth of "Battleship Row" and was with other dreadnoughts of the Battle Force when the Japanese launched their aerial attack. As she was about to undergo a material inspection, watertight integrity was not at its maximum; consequently the ship suffered great damage when hit. At 0805 a bomb exploded below decks, setting off an antiaircraft ammunition magazine and killing about 50 men. A second bomb ruptured her bow plates. Despite valiant efforts to keep her afloat, the inrushing water could not be isolated and California settled into the mud with only her superstructure remaining above the surface. When the action ended, 98 of her crew were lost and 61 wounded.

The first hand account of 22 year old, John B. Smith, Gunners Mate 2nd Class:

? I was in turret #1 -1st Division. We lived in those turrets. Slept on folding cots which we stored in an immersion tank, a pit in a 14? gun turret with 16 inches of space.

We had a crazy 1st Lt. who was always holding drills. I was pressing some whites to go ashore. General Quarters sounded. We all thought it was that crazy Lt. holding those drills.

My battle station was the upper powder handling room in Turret #1. Deck hands and other gun crew members were coming in, it takes 75 guys to fire a 14? gun. 10 were on the training deck, we thought it was a drill. By the time we got our phones on and checked in with the turret Captain the first torpedo hit. It felt like the ship ran aground. She felt pushed aside then another torpedo hit.

We were tied to a Quay on Ford Island. We were the battle force flag ship and had a four star Admiral aboard. We got a couple of bomb hits aft.

We had a mechanical cow on board and it made ice cream. Worst ice cream I ever tasted. We called it the Geedunk stand. One of the bombs hit the room it was in and blew it up. It was the best thing about the whole raid.

Fire and damage control people were fighting fires. The ship was listing to port. We made a mark on the water immersion tank and sure enough, the ship was listing to port.

The Captain and Staff and the OOD, (Officer of the Deck), said to train all turrets to starboard to counter-balance the list. Turret #1 tore right thru the canvass covering at 17 degrees. The turret relief valves were at maximum and they yelled for me to dog, (tighten) them down but the power went out and the guns never went any further.

The Chief Ship-Fitter went down and opened the flood valves to counter flood the list and it did so.

During this week and next we were going to have a landing force inspection. All the man hole covers were off. That?s why we ?? and sank like a rock. A battleship is a maze of water tight compartments, all were open.

About this time the word came to take my crew down four decks below the water line to a 5? AA magazine to hand pass the ammo as the electrical hoists were out. Water was slopping around us when we went down.

I had 12 men when we started out and arrived with 8. We nearly had the magazine emptied when they said Abandon Ship. We started up but then they said go down again. We finished the magazine. No others would come. I said to go back to our battle stations. I went out by a hatch near turret #2 with the rest of my men. 50 to 75 guys who went the other way were trapped below and drowned when the 50 ton main hatch cover was closed and locked. It was made of 5 or 6 inches of grade A steel.

Norman E. Scott was a machinist mate and a friend. He later got the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was supplying air to the 5? AA guns from an air compressor. I said to him, ?Scotty get out of here, he said no. as long as they want air to the guns I?ll stay here. That was the last I saw of him, he died at his post.

The old 5? AA shells had to have the fuses set by hand. Some of our shells were landing in Pearl City and exploding. They reported they were being bombed, some shells hit like bags of sand.

We jumped out of the hatch by turret 2 and I landed on a pile of wooden Church chairs. Banged up my knees and legs. A bunch of our guys lay dead on blankets on the deck. I took ?? guy burned all over with crisp ??? to the turret. We had ?? tubs of grease and I covered him with it. I went back to get another but they had removed them.

The ships Doctor came along and took me to a large bomb hole in the deck and we pulled out the torso?s only, arms and legs of the guys killed. Then they said abandon ship. I ran forward to turret #1. Jessie Pike, turret Captain said, ?where have you been, they are all gone. I have been waiting for you. Get your shoes off and lets go.?

I jumped over the side. The water had oil on it, some of it burning. Boats were nearby but I waved them off and swam 50 yards to the beach on Ford Island. Pike and I had oil all over us. Some Hawaiian girls on the beach had buckets of kerosene and helped us get the oil off.

They took us to a hangar and we got clean clothes. Jessie and I got 2 browning machine guns from a plane and we set those guns up with plenty of ammo. 3 or 4 sailors helped us.

I was bleeding when I came ashore and they sent my parents in Beaver Crossing a telegram that I was wounded and then killed.

The dumbest thing those Jap guys did was sink the ships in shallow water. If they had waited until we were underway they could have gotten everything.

We stayed with the machine guns a couple of hours. A Coke machine was nearby as we were getting thirsty but we had no money. We opened it with an iron bar and I had a Dr. Pepper but I have never had one since.

The Arizona blew up behind us, the Oklahoma rolled over.

As soon as it got dark they said anything coming down the channel will be unfriendly. Two planes came down and we shot them down.

They hauled us over to Honolulu and fed us baloney, sardines and beans. When we went to chow there were powder grains lying all over the island from the Arizona. She blew up so fast these grains did not have time to explode. There were pieces of iron and angle iron blown three to four miles.

A man on the Oklahoma escaped through a 14 inch porthole. He was a lot larger than a 14 inch port hole.

The ships Chaplain, (Lt. William J. Kergaly), a good friend ? a great cribbage and checker player was the bravest man I ever saw. He had a set of phones and described the attack like a football game to the crew below. The men idolized him. He survived.?

Jamie Smith:

Thank you for sharing your grandfather's remembrance of Pearl Harbor. 2,600 men died that day, half of them died on the USS Arizona, and they rest for all eternity inside the ship. I had to smile when you mention the ice cream machine, that is true combat black humor, having seen the elephant I fully appreciate the candor.

My father served in the US Army from 1936 until 1974. Worked his way up the ranks from Private to Brigadier General, received his High School Diploma in 1963.

I am the 6th Generation to serve in the US. Army, and I will be the last. I have no sons, and my daughters have be told by me, that they will never serve. I have told my daughter that my Grandson will not serve, that is my request. My family has done enough sacrifice for the nation, while others get deferments or find exemptions from duty. Before I was born, 5 Uncles and 3 Aunts, died while serving in uniform,during WWII. Lost two more Uncles in the Korean War.

My father during his years of service was award 10 Purple Hearts, 2 Bronze Stars (with valor notation), and the Silver Star. He was also awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, and served 8 years in combat. My service record is pale, in comparison to those of my ancestors.

Platoon Sergeant Steven H. McGarthwaite
3rd Infantry Regiment (Old Guard)
US Army, Retired, 1968-1995

[nighthawk]

Parnelli,
I got to see exhibits featuring Mr. Taylor and Mr. Welch at both the U.S. Army Aviation Museum and the U.S. Air Force museum.

Have the movie Tora, Tora, Tora ( long considered the most factual representation of the attack) on DVD. I hope to get to see Pearl Harbor, U.S.S. Arizona and the U.S.S. Missouri someday.

Thanks for the wonderful post.

My wifes uncle (Robert Parker) served on the USS Missouri, from it launching, all the way through WWII, until it returned to its home port (San Francisco) after the end of WWII Ceremonies in Tokyo Bay.

[nighthawk]

My buddies dad, Richard Carlson, was a plank owner on the "Old Mo".

[Mike Thomas]

Hello everyone, just a bit of a different view on the attack on Pearl Harbour, by the time of Pearl Harbour the British and there allies ( Canada, N.Z. Australia, India etc) had been at war for two long years praying for the Americans to get involved. The attack from a european perspective was a god send, forcing America to get involved and signaling the begining of the end for the forces of evil.
I think we all can salute the brave men at Pearl Harbour, they all did there bit and many paid the ultimate price. But if the Japs had not attacked then Germany may well have had time to finish off the Allies in Europe and North Africa and changed the world for good. Churchill himself is supposed to have greated the news with words along the lines of Thank God, now we are assured of victory.
So please take a minute and Thank the vets from all the Allies, they truly did save the world from disaster.
All the best.
Mike