William Houston Haynes US Navy USS Conynghan |
Fireman William Haynes just finished his breakfast that bright Sunday morning and was heading toward the fantail at the rear of the destroyer on which he was serving, the USS Conyngham docked just off Ford Island. The twenty-year-old Haynes glanced up and noticed smoke coming from Hickman Field. The fireman thought a drill was in progress, so he said to those around him, "I guess we might as well go to our fire stations." The young man looked into the air to see a plane with the "rising sun on the wing" bank around from Ford Island. Haynes immediately began passing the word that they were under attack by Japanese forces. He was in turn told he was "crazy". No one felt the Japanese had the capability to enforce such an attack. They soon believed the fireman. Fireman Haynes and his shipmates responded to the attack almost immediately. Five 5-inch anti-aircraft guns were manned by six to eight people as they fired randomly at the enemy planes. The USS Conyngham had no electricity, so the ship began borrowing electricity from a tender ship docked alongside. Machine guns burned up due to the lack of cooling water, but the men kept fighting with the equipment that remained operable. "We watched the bombs come down, but it looked like they were missing as much as they were hitting," Haynes said. The fighter planes were coming over in waves; first were the initial attacks then came the high-level bombers. "We were mad as fire, at our helplessness mostly." Once the attack was over, Haynes and the crew noticed where the ship had taken a few hits on the side from small fire, but no major damage was reported. With no coordinated directions supplied, the USS Conyngham and her crew set out to sea that very evening in search for Japanese forces. |
Information provided by William H. Haynes. |
Rate / Rank MM1 Service Branch US NAVY Service Dates 6/1940 - 6/1946 Born 9/16/1921 UNIONVILLE, TN Duty Stations NTS NOB NORFOLK, VA USS CONYNGHAM DD-371 USS CROATAN CVE-25 USS HORNET CV-12 Awards AMERICAN DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL ASIATIC PACIFIC CAMPAIGN MEDAL W/11 STARS EUROPEAN AFRICAN MIDDLE EASTERN CAMPAIGN MEDAL NAVY GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL - AMERICAN CAMPAIGN MEDAL PHILIPPINE LIBERATION RIBBON W/2 STARS |
My Memories of the Navy |
