James Jones US Navy USS Tennessee

After boot camp, which was started January 3, 1941, I was assigned to the Battleship USS Tennessee, which was based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I rode as a passenger from California to Pearl Harbor aboard the USS Maryland and caught my ship in April 1941. I was assigned to the First Control Division, which had central control of firing the 14-inch cannons that were aboard. Our division also had to man the small boats assigned to the ship, such as the captain's boat on which I was a lineman. After several training missions, patrols and a visit to California above the USS Tennessee, I turned 19 on November 7, 1941, and along came the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941. I was in our quarters helping to clean up tables (folding) and benches when the battle station call came over the sound system. Everyone said, "why a training on a Sunday", but we headed for the stations anyway when the first explosion started. We realized then, it was the real thing. During the attack, my boat crew and I were to go over the side to help remove the small boats away from the side of the ship. About that time one of the Japanese planes was strafing our ship. When the plane was hit and it rolled crashing on the other side of Ford Island, where we were tied up. When the plane rolled, the pilot fell out on Ford Island so the 3 of us went onto the island to check him out with rifles but of course, he was dead and that was our first sight of the enemy. After the attack was over, we had taken 3 bombs plus a lot of strafing and our stern was cracked open from the explosion of the Battleship Arizona, which was tied up immediately behind us. We had 30 dead and over 200 wounded. The next few days were dedicated to clearing the dead and other debris from the harbor. Three days before Christmas, the USS Pennsylvania, USS Maryland and the USS Tennessee with two destroyer escorts sailed for Bremerton, Washington.  An enemy submarine was waiting for us out of Pearl Harbor but our Destroyer escort got it before they could do any damage. On the way to Washington, we ran into the worst storm and took on a lot of water and the Destroyers were under water more than above. After repairs and receiving new anti-aircraft guns, we left Brenenton in February 1942 and patrolled various areas of the Pacific.

Information provided by Jan Brown