December 7th

It is always hard to get by December 7th without noting that this is the day my father passed away in 2004.  But it is also the day that I remember his story of surviving Pearl Harbor on the USS Raleigh on the same date sixty three years earlier.  We could usually get him to tell the survival tale after having a beer this time of the year and we were so enthralled with his story that I once recorded him telling the story so I would not forget the tale.

The light cruiser, USS Raleigh was moored in berth F-12 ahead of the USS Utah on the west side of Ford Island.  It seems Dad, a Chief Engineer on the cruiser, was coming off duty that morning from the engine room when he and another sailor opted to stop for the usual Sunday buffet breakfast before going down to the showers.  Sitting at the mess tables with breakfast in hand and sipping his first cup of coffee, he tells that "suddenly all hell broke loose" as a torpedo hit below creating an eight foot diameter hole in the side of the ship and lifting the ship's fantail out of the water with the force of the explosion at 7:55 a.m.  Their eggs flew up into the air as the mess tables collapsed and a sailor came running toward the mess hall with his face and uniform all covered in black soot.  "What SOB just blew up something in the engine room?" Dad yelled to him as he jumped to his feet.

Then a dive bomber struck the ship with a bomb which passed through the carpenter shop and oil tank driving through the hull of the USS Raleigh before detonating on the bottom of the harbor.    Moments later they all understood the ship was actually under attack and Dad realized a torpedo had just passed through the showers he might have been using but for his earlier decision to eat first.  Scrambling to the deck, he and others pitched in to keep the gun crews supplied with ammunition as Japanese bombers continued to strafe the ship.  The crew began throwing everything off the ship they could to to keep it afloat.  Meanwhile, the USS Utah capsized behind them and some sailors were sent by the captain of the Raleigh to cut the trapped men out of the USS Utah's hull.  As they brought down five enemy planes, Dad noted that at times the sailors had to scramble to get their heads under the gun turrets to protect themselves from the Japanese strafing.  Dad wondered at the time if he was going to "lose his family jewels..."  I for one am glad he did not since this all occurred ten years before I was born!