Leroy Kohntopp US Navy USS Maryland

At the time of the attack, Leroy Kohntopp was a fire controlmen second class aboard the USS Maryland.  He served in the "plotting room" where it was his responsibility to obtain information regarding potential targets (distance, angle, etc.)  The USS Maryland was hit, but was in low water and only sank about eight feet allowing many to escape.  The USS Oklahoma, which was alongside the USS Maryland at the time, was hit and rolled over.  Fires fueled by oil were blazing everywhere.  Being below deck, Kohntopp ran topside and then he, along with others grabbed fire hosed to put out the blazing fires.  No one slept that night.  They cleaned up for days afterward.  Underwater welders repaired the USS Maryland. I got off the Maryland just a few weeks before it went off to fight the Battle of the Philippine Sea.  It was just at the time when the Japanese were beginning to fly kamikaze strikes, and the battery where I would have been serving was hit by one of the first kamikazes.  Everyone was killed.  I would have been killed too.

Information provided by Leroy Kohntopp.