I Remember
I was standing watch on the Oklahoma when the first wave of Japanese fighters came in low over the horizon. We thought they were our guys dropping practice bombs,until the first one went off.
I trained my binoculars on the planes and saw "the meatballs" painted on their sides - the red ball of Japan's rising sun.
Then the torpedo bombers came in and we saw them dropping fish. Torpedoes slammed into the Oklahoma, causing it to capsize. I remember diving into the black, oily water as the mast tipped into the water. I swam through blood and fire and body parts to the USS Maryland.
It was more horrible than you could imagine. By the end of the Japanese attack, 21 ships were sunk or damaged, roughly 200 aircraft were destroyed and 2,403 Americans were dead, almost 500 from the Oklahoma.
Maybe that's why I didn't talk about it for nearly 45 years. None of us talked for a long time. Now, you can't shut us up.
For days after the bombing they stacked the bodies up on a pier and had us walk past to see if we recognized anybody.
It was a month before my family learned I was OK. It was six weeks before I officially was back in the Navy. All of my records were gone, along with many friends.
As you may know I was a nonentity after the Pearl Harbor attack. For weeks we could not even get in the mess hall on Ford Island. We stole our food, clothes, etc. A truck we did not steal, only borrowed on a no return basis. I finally got back on the payroll in April. And, do you know to this day I have not been paid for 01 December to 06 December 1941. Although I had over $100.00 on the book, which I lost along with everything else I owned. The paymaster squelched my questioning his deduction of $12.00 with, "How do I know you didn't draw advance money?" How can a SM3c answer that???
Immediately I was on the payroll and back in the good graces of the US Navy. I was assigned to the USS Indiana. I remember my orders were to the Commissioning and Fitting Out detail. But because I had no uniform, and also transportation problems I did not report aboard until about a week after commissioning. So I missed being a plank owner of the Indiana. But, I did survive the ordeal of the Newport News Ship Yard. I recall there were about 225 fleet men, the rest were all recruits. We tried to hold class all over the ship, but with yard men working all over, the difficulties were prodigious. We finally got permission to take the signal gang to the office the captain had just vacated in the ship yard. Thank god we had two conscientious men, who shouldered the responsibilty the rest of us should have done. But we had a good time. Yes, I remember Casco Bay, and how the liberty boat went aground one midnight.
You know, of course, that William Howard Mann, John Albert McGinty, Lt (jg) Sidney Allen Sherwin Jr., Lt (jg) John Loy Bishop, and Lt (jg) James Albert Boorman, Jr. were also from the USS Oklahoma.
Paul Albert Goodyear, Signalman 3c, CS Division

Webmaster Note: Paul Albert Goodyear was born 06 May 1918. He enlisted in the navy at Detroit, MI on 21 Sept 1940. After the Pearl Harbor Attack he was assigned to the USS Indiana, and came aboard on 11 May 1942. He left the Indiana as a Signalman 1c on 06 Dec 1943 to join the staff of Battleship Division 8. After the war he was a Tool & Gauge Designer. He now lives with his wife Jean in Casa Grande, AZ.

Tight Fit
On Dec. 7, 1941, I was the junior officer of the boiler division of the battleship OKLAHOMA. Following late night duty, I had gone to sleep shortly after 4:00 a.m., that Sunday morning. Less than three hours later, the sound of a voice on the ship's loudspeaker, unmistakably different from the usual announcements, brought me quickly awake. "Air raid! Air raid! This is a real attack, real planes, real bombs!", followed by an obscenity, crackled from the loudspeaker. Wearing only a pajama trouser, I raced for my battle station in a boiler room, as the big ship leaped under my feet from explosions of torpedoes hitting deep in the hull. There were no lights. There was no chance of starting the engines. The order to abandon ship was passed along by voice as the ship began to list steeply.
I attempted to get to a compartment with large portholes through which I might escape when the veteran battleship turned turtle and I was propelled into the medical dispensary, its tiled floor, now the sloping ceiling.
I found myself with four other men in the dispensary with a small pocket of air trapped above the water, our only sourcefor life.
With my feet, I found a porthole below the water. I was able to duck down in the water and turn the knobs on the port by hand. It was an eleven-inch porthole. The first two men got out quickly. The steward was hesitant and I pushed his head through and he pulled himself out. The ship's carpenter,Mr. Austin, a large man weighing over 200 pounds, knew he'd never make it throughthe porthole. He reached down and held the porthole open for me. I tried to take a deep breath, but the oxygen supply was about gone. As I went out, I scraped my hips squeezing through. I think that is where I lost my pajamas. Mr. Austin couldn't get out. His was the most noble and heroic act a man could perform, knowing full well that his minutes were few.
I swam the 15 to 20 feet to the oil covered surface of the harbor. Then, I swam to ropes hanging from the ship's bottom that was still above water. Burning oil nearby sent pillars of smoke skyward. There was a deadly silence over the harbor, interspersed with violent explosions and bursts of gunfire.
As far as I can tell, I was the last man to escape from the ship without help. Cutting torches were used to try to free some of those trapped. I got away with nothing but my skin.
Following the war, Adolph Mortensen taught High School for 27 years in Oakland, California.
Adolph D. Mortensen, Ensign, PA Division

Webmaster Note: Adolph D. Mortensen was born on 10 April 1916. Following the war he taught High School for 27 years in Oakland, CA. He now lives in Walnut Creek, CA.

I Remember
I was awakened at 0300 on the morning of 7 December to prepare to relieve the Port Side machine gun watch. My watch was from 0400 to 0800. My relief reported at 0745, as was the custom, to relieve the watch early. I went to the galley for some chow but found that the cook had failed to save anything, I told him I would eat on the beach.
I went to my locker to get dressed for Liberty. I was standing in just my shorts when I heard very loud voices over the loudspeakers saying All Hands Man Your Battle stations. My first thoughts were that we had been told there would be some drills all day long off and on even though it was Sunday and this made a very mad sailor that was being denied his Liberty.
A big explosion from the first torpedo to hit the ship was followed instantly by word being passed on the PA, "Man Your Battle Stations, This Is No Shit" I went immediately to my battle station at number four broadside. Here I was joined by three seaman recruits; none of them knew how to operate the gun or what exactly to do. Glancing out through the gun port I could see the enemy planes coming in for the attack. All I could do for the moment was to stare in disbelief at this incredible sight. Just then another torpedo hit the ship just below me and the ship really started to list. The terror that filled my heart was almost unbearable. A buddy and me dove out through the gun port into the water and started to swim. Looking around we could see that the ship was going to roll over us and we turned on the after burners and swam around the bow. We were swimming though burning oil covered water and just rounded the bow when she went over.
We swam over to the Maryland which had been tied along side us and were denied permission to come aboard. We swam for Ford Island instead and climbed out exhausted on a grassy covered area. We lay collapsed there and just then a Jeep came along and they yelled, "Your Laying On Top Of A Gas Storage Tank". My friend and I dove back into the water and swam back to the side of the Maryland where we remained until that wave of the attacking aircraft was over.
We were still without clothes and all covered with grease and both scared as hell. While we were there in the water we heard the Arizona explode and felt the percussion. We returned to Ford Island and got assigned to a motor launch. We then reported across the channel where the Nevada had been and got on a truck to go for ammunition from the Army Depot, which was about 15 miles away. This job lasted well into the right and with the blackout imposed we had to drive without lights. I had to sit on one fender and another guy on the other to direct the driver.
Some where on Ford Island I came across a CPO Raincoat and a pair of white Navy nansook shorts. This was my attire for several days. Finally we reported to the Navy receiving station and l was assigned a bed but sleep was not to be. About 0300 a guy came up and asked for volunteers for a work party. We went to the California to remove bodies of those killed aboard her. We worked at this gruesome task until 1000 the morning of the 8th I finally went to bed and I must have slept for 30 hours. I was eventually assigned to the USS Prebel.
George A. Smith

One Of Thirty-two
One Sunday morning 59 years ago, on 07 December 1941, while serving on the USS Oklahoma, crewman Garlen Eslick chopped carrots and lettuce, sorting the vegetables into two, big stainless steel vats as part of the kitchen detail.
He diced the produce alongside another sailor, talking about the upcoming admiral's ship inspection scheduled for the next day.
But that morning, Dec. 7, 1941, Eslick and his friend could not have realized that the inspection would never take place for the USS Oklahoma, stationed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
The first hint that something was wrong came when the 19-year-old Eslick heard roaring engines, an unusual noise for 7:30 Sunday morning. Eslick watched Japanese planes approaching the ship with bright flashes escaping from the wings. As they flew closer, splinters ripped from the floor of the ship.
A loud voice from the public address system ordered the sailors to immediately man their battle stations. Eslick looked toward his kitchen partner and saw him slumped over a vat, torn in half.
Eslick's station was four decks down in a powder room for 14-inch guns. As he climbed down the first two decks, three torpedoes hit the Oklahoma. The ship raised out of the water from the impact of the strike.
He continued down two more flights to his station. Two more torpedoes rocked the ship, and Eslick knew he had to abandon the boat.
The ship started to capsize, and Eslick entered a secluded hatch. The ship rolled, knocking out the lights - and Eslick.
When Eslick awoke, he was floating on water.
He felt around, and his hand kept touching bodies. Eslick searched for a way out of the ship with no luck.
Being the only man left alive in the small powder room, he began to question whether he would ever again see dry land.
He dove down two decks and met with 12 other sailors trapped in the capsized ship. With the water rising, the men assumed the only way out would be to dive four decks down until they reached the topside.
Two men volunteered to try out the idea. The sailors tied their clothes together to make a rope to attach to the men. The two disappeared into the water and never returned.
The 11 men left found a wrench and began to bang out SOS signals on the ship's metal. After several tries, they heard an answer.
With the available oxygen continuing to decrease, the men tried to wait patiently for their rescue.
Workers on the outside of the ship could not use torches to cut through the ship because of the oil floating on the water. Instead, they chiseled by hand a triangle.
The naked men climbed out one at a time. Eslick was the next-to-last man to escape.
"It was a sight that was unbelievable," he said of his first look at Pearl Harbor after the attack. "I don't know how I got out of there."
Eslick was trapped in the USS Oklahoma for 28 hours after it was attacked.
He spent two days aboard a hospital ship, then was assigned to the USS Saratoga in California.
Garlen W. Eslick, Seaman 2c, 04 Division

Webmaster Note: For three more years, Eslick would serve his country helping to fight during World War II. He eventually returned to the U.S. and worked for the Santa Fe Railroad Co. He and his wife, Betty, moved to Amarillo, TX in 1946.But Eslick, as one of only 32 survivors rescued from the capsized USS Oklahoma was missing something. Only last year did the Marines present Eslick with a Purple Heart.

Day Not Soon Forgotten
At 0550, 7 Dec. 1941, the Japanese launched their first strike of 185 planes. Actually 183 aircraft got into the air, one crashed on takeoff, the other developed engine trouble. The flight consisted of 43 fighters, 49 high-level bombers, 51 dive bombers and 40 torpedo planes.
At 0640 the USS Ward, a destroyer, engaged a hostile submarine and sank it with gunfire and depth charges. Shortly after, a patrol plane reported it had sunk a submerged submarine about a mile off the entrance to Pearl Harbor.
The reports were sent to the various duty officers. However, no one wanted to put the base on alert. If the reports proved to be false and the ships in harbor had gotten under way and aircraft launched, some one would have to answer for it. As a consequence, no word was passed down the line to be on the alert. It was going to be just another Sunday, with every one but those on watch taking it easy.
The USS Oklahoma plan of the day called for reveille at 0600. At 0615 sailors would sweep down all weather decks and living compartments.
Breakfast, consisting of hot cakes and bacon, was at 0700 and the port watch would have the duty. The starboard watch would be allowed liberty from 1000 until curfew at 2200.
I was in the port watch and so had the duty. I was also coxswain of No. 3 motor launch. It was the duty boat, which meant that whenever a boat was needed we would be called on to do the job. Our duty would last until 0200. After 2200 our base would be the liberty landing in Pearl Harbor. We would be under the command of the shore patrol.
At 0740 the Japanese launched the second strike force of 148 planes, 78 dive bombers, 54 horizontal bombers and 36 fighters.
At 0745 we manned our boat. We had to clean up the seats and wipe dew off the poop deck. The ships band and marine guard had assembled on the fantail preparing to hoist the colors, and we were on the starboard side of the ship between the USS Oklahoma and the USS Maryland. Astern of us, the USS West Virginia was tied up out board of the USS Tennessee.
We would cast off and proceed to the gangway on the port side as soon as colors were raised. On the same halyard, above the flag, would be the church pennant. It is the only flag to ever fly above the colors. I was standing at the tiller, the engineer was at his post and the other two hands were at their positions. We were all facing the fantail, waiting for the bugle to sound attention.
I heard a plane diving but didn't think too much of it, because the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Army Air Force were always diving at each other in mock dog fights. As the plane came over I looked up and saw two red "meat balls" on the wings.
Then there was an explosion on Ford Island, where the Navy had a sea plane base. I called to my crew, "This ain't no drill, get the hell out of here!" At about this time, roughly 0755, the first torpedo struck the USS West Virginia. A fraction of a second later the first of seven struck the USS Oklahoma. Seven minutes later she was upside down. She had more than 500 men who were trapped below her decks. At final count there were about 429 who never made it.
As I made my way up the boat deck to the bridge, I saw two planes swooping into their approach. One headed for the USS California and the other headed for us. It was only about 25 feet off the water. I was lookingright at the spinning hub of the propeller. I also heard the scream of ricocheting bullets as they bounced off the gun mounts and ready boxes. I ran to the bridge, I saw the pilot drop his torpedo. A second later there was an explosion. The ship bucked and shivered.
As I climbed the two ladders (stairways on board ship are called ladders) to my battle station above the bridge, the ship started listing to port. I was a gun director operator for the starboard 5 anti-aircraft battery. My buddy and I were the only ones there. There should have been five men manning the director. After a futile effort trying to train the director without power, I looked out the door and saw men leaving the ship. I told my buddy, "Let's get the hell out of here!"
I had a problem getting over to the starboard side of the deck, because the ship was slowly tilting and the deck was becoming ever steeper to climb. The last few feet were almost straight up. It is hard to explain but I felt myself slipping backward on that teak wood deck. I could picture myself gaining momentum as I slid back to the other side of the ship or maybe dropping off the sheer side of the vessel into the waters of Pearl Harbor. With God's help I finally reached the starboard life lines. I found myself standing on the starboard side of the ship looking down at its bottom.
Deciding it was safer to slide down the bottom than trying to jump, I picked a spot that had no intakes jutting out. However, it would still be a pretty bumpy trip as there were inch and one-half rivet heads about an inch and one-half apart jutting out at each seam of the bottom plates. I sat down and started to push off. As I did the USS Arizona blew up. I was looking right at her. She seemed to lift up out of the water, then settled back down with a broken back, her masts pointing at opposite angles.
I swam to the USS Maryland, and as I was climbing through the lifelines, I saw my brother, who also had been stationed on the Oklahoma. He was just starting his enlistment and I should have been ending mine. He was facing me as we were going through the lifelines. I thanked God that he had made it. He had been below decks.
I went to what would have been my battle station, above the bridge. The officer in charge put all of us who were not otherwise engaged as sky lookouts. We were trying to make it out of the harbor and the enemy was trying to sink her in the channel thus bottling us up. One of the planes broke off and headed for us. I watched him go into his dive. There were three of us standing almost shoulder to shoulder, a lieutenant on my right and a seaman on my left. I watched the bomb leave the underside of the wing and watched as it fell toward the ship. I stood there in awe looking right at the business end of that missile of destruction. It was going to land right where I was standing. Or so it seemed. The thought crossed my mind that I should seek cover, but there wasn't any. I thought about moving or ducking but something held me steady. The bomb landed about a hundred feet away amid the anchor chain and threw shrapnel and chain all over the forward part of the ship. The links in the anchor chain of a battleship are about a foot long and weigh close to fifty pounds or more.
The officer on my right was killed. The man on my left got a big chunk in his leg. A piece hit my chest, bruised some ribs and broke the skin. Had I moved to the right I probably would have gotten the piece that killed the officer. Had I moved to my left I would have gotten the piece that hit the enlisted man. Between my feet was a chunk of metal about the size of a grapefruit. Had I ducked I would have gotten that right in the head.
For another five minutes or so it was fairly quiet, then a thick pall of black smoke enveloped the ship. Hold your nose and try to breathe, that was what it was like for those few minutes that seemed like hours. Then almost like something had reached out a net and snared that smoke and pulled it away, the smoke left. You can't imagine how sweet and cool that balmy Hawaiian air felt.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt said that it was a day that would live in infamy. It is a day I won't soon forget. Not one minute of it.
Ray Bowden, Coxwain, 5th Division

Webmaster Note: Ray Bowden enlisted in the Navy on Nov. 9, 1938. He was assigned to the USS Oklahoma on March 5, 1939. He is now a resident of Vacaville, CA

Last Updated 07 January 2002

rise out of the ashes like the Phoenix

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