Walter J. Friske US Navy USS Cummings |
I had had liberty Saturday night, the 6th, but being short of funds, I elected to stay on board. We made very little money in those days ($21.00 a month). I was on my way to get some breakfast on Sunday morning, the chief water tender, Ford, stopped me and told me to go up and take the No. 1 stack cover off. We were in dry dock receiving all our power from the dock at the time. Actually we were waiting to go into dry dock for overhaul. William Snow removed the cover from No. 2 stack. While I was up there holding on with one hand, loosening the rope with the other, I could look right into the planes. Clearly seeing the pilots. Edwin Bready rammed projectiles into a 5" gun with a splintered 4" x 4". A zero flew so close it was a dangerous place to be! We got underway and out of the harbor. The zero's were more interested in the larger ships than the destroyers. When bombs were dropped on the ships they would bounce before exploding. I saw a bomb go down the stack on the Arizona. We were perhaps a half a mile away, just across the bay. As I was a fireman 3rd class, my place was the engine room, so I didn't see much activity; I was busy helping to get us out of the harbor. Our destroyer didn't suffer much damage, some shrapnel, a couple of sailors injured, no fatalities. We were lucky! |
Information provided by Walter J. Friske. |
