Tora! Tora! Tora!

The rust bucket my father was aboard when the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941.

(We're going to step out of the editorial "we" for this one, it's personal, & to be referring to "our father" throughout this would sound even more idiotic than the items here usually do.)

Today is the 66th anniversary of the surprise Japanese air attack on the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, on the island of Oahu, in what was then the Territory of Hawai'i. My father was aboard the USS Tangier (AV8) a seaplane tender, berthed astern of the former battleship Utah, when the attack commenced at 0755 local time.

My father (for the sake of my anonymity, he shall remain nameless) was a gunner's mate, and was one of the first Americans to fire in anger (certainly one of the first to shoot at the Japanese planes) in the official beginning of WWII. Undeclared war had been occurring in the North Atlantic between U. S. Navy ships escorting convoys to Britain & German U-Boats since October 1941. (See: USS Reuben James) and the destroyer Ward (DD-139) had attacked & sunk a Japanese midget submarine near the Pearl Harbor entrance at 0645 on 7 December.

From the Commanding Officer of the Tangier's report:

Ship commenced firing as soon as men arrived on gun stations. Ship opened fire at 0800. It was the Commanding Officer's impression that this ship was the first to open fire or surely among the first.

[...]

At 0850 - Second wave of attackers started coming in. From now on the Japanese planes made deliberate bombing attacks on Tangier. Shot off tail of one Japanese plane just as he had passed abeam to starboard. This plane crashed in Middle Loch in back of Curtiss and Medusa. The plane was hit by .50 cal Machine gun bullets and the tail was shot off by the 3"50 cal forward battery.

Singled up all mooring lines.

At 0855 - Riddled another Japanese plane, which went out of control and crashed on the shore line, near Beckoning Point.

At 0910 - Third wave of bombing attack came in, again, about twenty seven planes. This might be delayed planes of second attack. Riddled another Japanese plane, flying up our port side, engine caught fire, then part of fuselage forward of pilot burst into flame, pilot got his plane around 90° to right and from the Commanding Officer's observation, deliberately crashed his plane into Curtiss. Plane crashed into Curtiss near after stack, into boat crane and A.A. gun station and started a good size fire.

[...]

Hits were observed from our gun fire on two more planes and it is entirely possible that these planes were forced to land, in that area between Pearl and Barber's point. This should be investigated. I definitely observed three planes, struck many times by our gun fire and saw the three planes crash, as reported above.

No more planes came near Tangier after 0920.

This ship expended the following ammunition:
217 rounds of 3" 50 cal. (Fwd Battery).
198 round of 3" 23 cal. (Aft Battery).
23,000 rounds of 50 cal. Machine Gun.

The conduct of the officers and crew was excellent throughout. The gun crews performed praiseworthily. The equipment worked without any casualty.
[...]
[signed]
C.A.F. SPRAGUE

The C. O. does not mention that most of the swabbies, including my father, were in their skivvies, as they had been in their hammocks when G. Q. was sounded. But that's some good shooting, from men in their skivvies. Note the number of 50 cal. machine gun rounds expended. Damn.

From the Executive Officer's report:

So far as is known the Tangier was the first ship to open fire on the enemy.

[...]

Inasmuch as the officers and men of the Tangier had never had the opportunity to fire the ship's guns except for test firing I think their performance on Sunday was one of the bright spots of a very sad day. I do not see how any one of them could have done his job better than he did, and that individually and collectively they should be commended on their performance of duty and their preparation for battle. It is noted that there were no machine gun casualties and the only time the guns stopped firing was when their ammunition was expended. This speaks exceedingly well for the maintenance personnel on the machine guns and the ordnance gunner.

[signed]
G.H. DE BAUN

Isn't the Internet great? I never would have known that the Tangier was probably the first ship to fire at the Japanese planes if it weren't for the digital age. As w/ so many veterans, my father never talked (to me at least) about his war experiences, though he must have told my mother some things, as I heard the "shooting in his skivvies" part of the Pearl Harbor attack from her. They started dating during the war (she had gone out w/ my father's best friend & shipmate before she started w/ my father) so he must have told her some stories. If it hadn't been for the war, she (middle-class daughter of a doctor) might not even have been dating sailors, & the peculiar genetic combo that I am would never have happened.

My father, the first son of dirt poor Texas farmers, had joined the Navy just less than a year before Pearl Harbor, at the age of seventeen. His parents signed the papers allowing him to enlist as soon as he reached seventeen. One less mouth to feed on the farm, & added income. What a deal.

He served in the Navy until 1947, reaching Gunner's Mate First Class. Again according to my mother, he would have made Chief Gunner's Mate, except for being caught making "jungle juice" on board the destroyer he later served on. That does not look good in your BuPers jacket.

That destroyer was the U. S. S. Samuel N. Moore (DD747) which was in a "daring raid" on Tokyo Bay in July 1945, described by someone else who was there. This apparently was the only time U. S. surface ships bombarded the Japanese mainland during WWII.

One other war-related note: My mother told me that for the first few yrs. after hostilities ceased, if someone suddenly started using a typewriter near him, my father would think it was a machine gun & at least flinch, if not actually jump.

Where is he today? Click here for depressing info.

The National Geographic has an interesting Pearl Harbor website, if anyone cares. You can spot the Tangier just aft of the Utah on the "Attack Map," northwest of Ford Island.