JDRiderCoach

After being presumably lost for nearly 20 years, my Dad was recently able to retrieve my Grandfather's handwritten account of Dec. 7th, 1941 from his files. A +29 year career Navy veteran, he died in 1992. He would never talk about his war experience much; so this letter was a real tough thing for him to do. I'm very proud of him and miss him dearly. I thought it'd be good to share it with you. I've converted his scribbling into text for ease of reading. I've also added footnotes as I researched the facts surrounding the boats he served on during WWII. I hope you enjoy my own personal connection to the history of our great nation, and the world.

JD

May 16th, 1989
My daughter, Elaine Ditmore, has been pestering me to set down on paper in my own handwriting, my experience on Dec 7, 1941, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, T.H.(note: at that time Hawaii was not a state but a territory).

In order to put this sad story in its’ proper frame, we should start some time before Dec. 7, 1941. I was stationed on the USS Narwhal, which at that time was one of the largest submarines in the world. Elaine’s mother and our oldest son Gary were in Hawaii with me. At this time Gary was about 3 years old. We lived in Palolo Valley on the Island of Oahu in private housing, which we paid some big figure of about $20.00 a month rent. I was a Motor Machinist 1st Class making something like $80.00 a month. However, bread at the Army Commissary was I think about .05¢ a loaf. Gasoline was .09¢ a gallon. You could take $5.00 and have one hell of a party.

We were always short of funds. No radio. No car. We would buy a Pepsi, put Gary in the buggy and go out on the street and listen to the Jack Benny program coming from some one’s house who had a radio and turned it up high. We were very happy.

Then, late November* we were ordered to prepare for a long period at sea. We all thought, two weeks? Nobody stayed out longer than that!! However, it turned out we were gone about 49 days. We ran out of cigarettes (I smoked at this time) and we would check all the ash trays and dig out the parts of butts that had not been smoked up, and re-roll them in a piece of toilet paper. We were down near Wake Island, and would submerge early in the morning and not surface until total darkness. The heat was terrible and you can’t believe the smells!! So this trip finally ends. We arrive back at the sub base in P.H. on Dec. 5, 1941.

While I was gone, so called Government Housing opened up just over the fence from Hickam field, an Air Force base very near Pearl Harbor. We qualified for one of the units so while I was at sea, Gladys and Gary moved into one of the units. We had very little furniture because Gladys was going to buy something better.

I am fortunate enough to have liberty when we get in (one of our crew members left behind told me about Gladys’ move and where to go.) I also got liberty on Dec. 6, 1941. These units we were living in had two stories, living qtrs. down stairs and bedrooms upstairs with a small balcony out side the master bedroom.

Early morning on Dec 7, 1941, I hear all these loud explosions and wondered what they were. So I got up, went out on the little balcony just in time to see a Japan torpedo plane, with the torpedo hung under the plane, and I could very plain see the pilot. To this day I can still see the Rising Sun on his wings (the plane).

There was a civilian walking towards where I was standing, so I shouted to him, “We are being attacked by the Japs!!” He shouted back, “go back to bed. We have been having drills for a month!!” I went to the bedroom and made Gladys get up. We got Gary out of bed and Gladys puts some clothes on him and we go out in the street with all the other people who are running out of their houses. It dawned on me, I’m in the Navy!!!

Prior to this, we had bought a Chev. Coupe, rumble seat and running boards. I put my uniform on, and Gladys said, “What am I going to do?” I said, “I don’t know, but I have to go to my boat, I have trained 12 years for this!”

May 17th, 1989

I went down and got my car started; sailors were running out of their house. As many as could hold on, got on the car and we headed for the sub base. The Marines at the gate would not let us drive the car in, so we parked it outside the sub base and walked and ran to our ships.
Meantime, Gladys with Gary got in touch with one of our friends, and they got in her car and drove through Honolulu up to one of our friends house. When they went in, the Collins did not know that there was an attack underway. As I remember, they stayed with the Collins over nite.
On my boat, the attack was in full swing+. I watched as all the battle ships were blown up, as well as the destroyer U.S.S. Shaw which was in dry dock at the ship yard. The oil on the water was on fire, people were brought to the sub in very bad shape. The attack was finally over, but no one knew what to do. We shot at our own people that night of Dec. 7th, and we fully expected there would be a landing by the Japanese that night or the next day.

Three days later, the Navy let our dependents visit us for about ½ hour in the movie house. We could not leave the sub base, and were expected to be sent to sea any day. It turned out we were sent to a Marine railway in Honolulu where all of our leaky fuel tanks were repaired. If this had not been done, we would have left a streak of oil which would have been easy to pick up from the air.

Repairs were finally completed, we returned to the sub base, loaded up with supplies and departed on our first War Patrol, which took us all the way to the coast of Japan. We were gone almost 60 days and sunk two ships***, and fired torpedoes at an aircraft carrier (the Soryu**) but missed it. All the families of men on the Narwhal thought we had been lost. But we made it back ok. When I finally go over to Gladys and Gary, Gary was playing in the front yard and I asked him if he knew who I was and he said, “Sure, you are my Daddy” and kept right on playing with his friend.

So much for Dec. 7th, 1941. Gladys and Gary were shortly shipped back to the States. I stayed on the Narwhal until after the battle of Midway****, was promoted to officer rank, sent to diesel school in Richmond, Va., got sick of that and requested transfer back to a submarine in the Pacific, was ordered to the U.S.S. Sea Raven, made six, I think, or maybe seven War Patrols in the Sea Raven*****, until July 1945 I was sent back to the states, went to the ship yard in Philadelphia, Pa and was there when the war ended.

I never went back to submarines, but completed 29 years, 6 months and 14 days active duty and retired with the rank of Commander on April 1, 1960.

Cmdr. George E. ***, USN (Ret)

Note for additional info see:

1.SILENT VICTORY, THE US SUBMARINE WAR AGAINST JAPAN by Clay Blair, Jr. I have these books in the house.

2.Medals and Ribbons I am entitled to wear:
1.BRONZE STAR (W/V)
2.NAVY GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL ( 2 BARS)
3.YANGTZE SERVICE MEDAL (1932)
4.CHINA SERVICE MEDAL (EXTENDED)
5.AMERICAN DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL (7 STARS)
6.AMERICAN CAMPAIGN MEDAL
7.ASIATIC-PACIFIC MEDAL (4 STARS)
8.VICTORY MEDAL WWII
9.NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL
10.KOREAN SERVICE MEDAL
11.PHILIPPINE LIBERATION RIBBON
12.REPUBLIC OF KOREA PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION
13.SUBMARINE COMBAT PIN (5 STARS)

There is also in the House a graphic description with comments on the events at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941. The book is called “East Wind Rain”, which was the code that the P.H. attack was on. We witnessed most of the events in and around Pearl Harbor. This book tells it much better than I can. A picture of my submarine the U.S.S. Narwhal, is in the book, taken on the morning of Dec 7 while the attack was under way.

*I think the date is actually late Oct, since if he was at sea for 49 days and returned to port on Dec 5th there is no way they left in Nov.
** The Japanese aircraft carrier Soryu was sunk at the Battle of Midway by US dive bombers.
***The Narwhal heavily damaged the Maju Maru and sank the Taki Maru in the East China Sea on it's 1st war patrol.
****The Narwhal, Plunger and Trigger all were scouting east of Midway Island during the battle and basically did nothing of note
*****During this period the Sea Raven was credited with 2 confirmed sinkings: the Siraha Maru, a freighter and the Toa Maru, a navy transport ship. They claimed much more damage to other ships, firing a bunch of torpedoes, but only those two were confirmed.
+The Narwhal had two 6" deck guns. Within minutes of the attack the gunners started firing and were able to shoot down 2 torpedo bombers.

Erik S.

JD, as an American, thank you for sharing this. As a US NAVY Submariner, it was even more special.

Erik

kmm996