Robert "Bob" R. Rose US Navy USS Nevada |
I was at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. I was on the USS Nevada that morning. The Nevada was just astern of the Arizona. The Nevada took a torpedo near the bow at the beginning of the attack. I was below decks in the after part of the ship, when the Arizona was hit and blown up. Our ship felt it very strong. Then there was lots of fire on the water. The oil from the Arizona was burning. The Nevada made preparations to get under way to get away from the fires. While under way, the Nevada took about five or six bombs from aircraft and we were ordered to beach the ship and not block the channel. We tried to beach at Hospital Point, but it was too sloping, so with the help of some tugboats, we were pulled over to Waipio Peninsula, and settled in the mud bottom. The main deck did not go under. The drills at sea were intense and the hours at general quarters longer and longer. In the last few days at sea, before the weekend of December 6th and 7th, one of our destroyer escorts spotted an enemy sub. The sub was sunk and we then knew that war was inevitable. Still, it was back to port for the weekend rest and liberty. I did write a letter to my sister the evening of December 6. I was going to post this letter in Honolulu the next day, and therefore dated the letter December 7. For some reason, I put the letter in the ships post office. That letter went down with the ship. It was recovered later, and my sister received it in February. The post office had placed the letter, all spotted with water and oil in another envelope and charged my sister 5 cents postage due for all their trouble. After the war started all mail went free. Instead of putting on a stamp, we would write "FREE" where the stamp should be. Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, was a beautiful sunny morning like most of the mornings in the islands. I was up early and had a good breakfast, dressed in my best white uniform, and ready to go on liberty at 0800. I was really looking forward to spending the day with a friend from Montana. The rest of the crew in the R Division were all sleeping in. I was standing at the after ladder just below the main deck. I was waiting for the band, which was already on topside to play colors, and then I would go to the quarter deck and catch the 0800 liberty boat. At 0755 the band was playing call to colors, and there was an accompaniment of machine gun firing. This was new to me, and wondering what was going on up there, I started up the ladder to see. I only got part way up and met the band coming down, shouting "The Japs are her, the Japs are here!" I have read several versions of what happened at this time. I am writing this as I remember it. I didn't question the band as they came down the ladder. I just knew it was true and ran to the carpenter shop to wake the men that were sleeping there. I was telling them to "man your battle stations, general quarters, this is the real thing. The Japs are here." One young red headed striker from Tennessee stuck his head out a porthole and said, "Look at those planes dropping water bombs!" I was telling the crew that this was the real thing. They didn't believe me, and were very unhappy with the early Sunday morning awakening. Just then the ship's alarm sounded general quarters, and saved my life as I think the crew was about ready to kill me. That was only the first time that I was almost killed that morning. In looking back and remembering, now I can see why all the drills were so important. When the general quarters bell rang, it started my adrenaline flowing; especially when you knew it was for real this time. My first duty was to go to the third deck and close all water tight doors and hatches. This is what I had been doing in drill after drill after drill. It was just like second nature, you don't think when you walk or run - do I put the left foot ahead of right? No, it just happens! This was for real and speed was important. I didn't even take time to turn on lights, because I would have to turn them off again. I guess we were in some kind of shock or whatever it is that gives a body super human power. Later when I went back to open some of the dorrs and hatches, I just couldn't open them without a wrench with we normally didn't need. It was during the time that I was closing up that I felt the ship jump or shake like an earthquake. It takes something big to move a 29,000 ton battleship. I knew something had happened, but I didn't know what until later. That was the Arizona explosion. The Arizona was the battleship just ahead of us in battleship row. I returned to my battle station after closing my part of the ship. Then I was sent forward in our area of the ship to look for damage, as it was reported we had taken a torpedo. I went forward to frame 40 and returned to report no damage in our section. The torpedo, we found out later, had hit us in the area of frame 30. We were standing around in our repair station area wondering what next! I was in my dress whites and wanted to go on liberty, as I had a date and didn't want to be late. The chief in charge kept saying, "Don't worry, these things never last long and then you can go ashore." Just shortly after that, the chief told me to take six men to topside, turn them over to the boatswain's mate, as he needed help in getting underway. I thought to myself, they can't do this, how am I going to get my liberty! Of course, we were getting all our orders from one man with headphones. We all wanted to know what was happening on topside, but they were too busy to tell us anything. This was my opportunity to go up and see just what was going on. We found the boatswain's mate on topside, and I released the six-man crew to him. Then I stood around a little to see what was going on. Most of the first attack was over. The deck crew, and anyone else they could get, were busy trying to cut the ship loose from the quays (or keys as we sailors called them) to get underway. They were using axes, knives, machetes or anything else to cut the lines holding the ship. We were able to back away from the Arizona, which was in front of us. The Arizona was on fire and oil on the water was on fire. The heavy black smoke almost hid the Arizona. We had to back away from there to keep from getting in the burning oil. We did this in less than 40 minutes and then headed down the channel. This was all done without the help of tugs, which was an unheard of feat. We passed the burning Arizona and could see all the oil burning on the water around the ship. We had to stay clear of this burning oil. As we moved down the channel, I moved to midship on starboard side to see a little better, and stay out of the way of all the activity that was going on. About this time, I looked a little forward and saw what I thought for a moment was a large sub. I asked a fellow standing next to me, "What's that sub doing in her?" He answered, "That's no sub, that's the USS Oklahoma upside down - you are looking at the bottom of the ship." I then moved over to the portside to look toward the channel and shore side. I was standing on the main deck just under one of the 5-inch guns. It was being trained out, and I wandered why? I found out as the second raid was starting, and guns began to fire. They fired this 5-inch gun while I was still under the barrel. The explosion knocked out my hearing, and also a Jap plane that was headed for us. I was not able to hear a thing for some time, and that is why I have had a hearing problem the rest of my life. I realized that I didn't belong on topside, and I would feel a lot safer below the 14" armored deck and at my repair station. The Jap planes were coming back. They saw the Nevada in the channel and were trying to sink us there. I remember all the smoke in the air, and odor from the burning oil. We had taken a bomb or two and had some fires going. I started through the laundry to find a ladder to go down. The laundry was on fire from a bomb hit. I then went forward to the crews recreation compartment, and was about half-way deck, and it was because of the ceramic tile that it didn't come on through to where I was walking. The explosion did help me along, as it sent me through the hatch towards which I was headed. It was lucky that I didn't hit a bulkhead, or I would have been splashed all over it. I then turned to go down the ladder - we always walked down a ladder just like stairs in a house - and as I put my foot out for the first step, there was another bomb some place nearby. With the help of this bomb, it was just one big step and I was down on the second deck. I stood there somewhat dazed and thinking how lucky I was to be alive at this moment. When I got my senses back, I looked up and found that I was standing under a tube that was used to hoist signal flags in time of battle. I could see the sky as this tube was about 12 to 14 inches in diameter, and I thought the next bomb was sure to come down through this tube. I then moved over to the hatch that would take me back to the repair station. I asked permission to open the hatch to go through, but they wouldn't do - it too many bombs falling. Now what should I do? Just then the word was passed for the ship's doctor to report to sick bay on the third deck. In a couple of minutes the doctor came by and asked me how to get to the third deck. I pointed to the hatch that they wouldn't open for me. I then asked for the hatch to be opened for the doctor. You never saw two men go through a hatch as fast as we did. Back at my repair station I felt quite safe, and, of course, reported all that I had seen on topside. The chief then sent me and a seaman to go forward for damage inspection. As we were going around the barbette, which was the end of our area, there was another bomb hit very close. I was knocked down but not hurt. Then I continued on back to the repair station. It was then that I found out that the seaman was not with me. Two others went out to see where he was. They found that the concussion of that last bomb had blown him against the barbette and he had been killed. I lucked out again! I was just far enough around the barbette and had only been knocked down. About this time the second raid was over. The ship was beginning to list, and our station started the procedure of counter flooding to try to keep the ship from capsizing. We set up small pumps and tried to pump water from the low side to the high side. Also, in other parts of the ship, they were trying to counter flood, that is, flood some of the compartments below the third deck on the high side. I don't think any of this was doing any good because about this time we lost power, and we were in the dark except for battle lanterns. These were lanterns with batteries which wouldn't last very long. To keep the men in our repair station busy, we got all the buckets we could find and started a bucket brigade. This lasted until we were all called to topside, because it was felt that the ship was going to capsize. In the meantime, while this was going on in our part of the ship, the officer in charge was trying to beach the ship. We ran aground at Hospital Point. The bottom was too sloping at that point, and it was just going to help the ship capsize. About this time we were all called topside. We were standing around wondering what next? The chaplin an officer, who was standing next to me, asked me what I would do if the ship went over. I said I would just stay on the high side like staying on a log as it turned. At this time they called in a couple of yard tugs who helped us swing the stern around and get the bow out of the mud at Hospital Point. The tugs then pushed us stern first across the channel into the mud at Waipio Peninsula. This bottom was somewhat flatter. They brought in a barge load of large anchors. The R Division was now helping the deck crew, those of us that were not fighting fires. We put the anchors in the shore side mud and tied lines to the ship to keep it from capsizing. This seemed to help as much as anything. As the ship was settling on the bottom, I was told to take a crew and go below to salvage all the clothing we could find. We broke open lockers and stuffed all the clothes into mattress covers. These were carried to topside, and later taken to a central place for redistribution as needed. We didn't know that as the time we thought they would just save it for us. We marked all of the mattress covers with the ship's name. While this was going on, I went to my locker and put all of my clothes in a mattress cover with my typewriter in the center. I then wrote my name and ship in big letters with shoe polish. I put my mattress cover with all the rest and expected to get it back in a few days. This didn't happen, as it was about three months before I got it back. All that I got back was my blue uniforms but no typewriter. I did have the foresight to put my electric razor in the back of my shirt. The razor and wallet were the only things that I was able to take with me when I left the ship. We salvaged clothes until the water drove us out from below decks. The ship settled very nicely in the mud and somewhat on an even keel. The main deck never did go under water, but the water was up close to the main deck. The next thing my men did was to rig a floating wharf to the beach, which was a cane field. I refer to my men because each petty officer was given a few men and different jobs to do. To rig the floating wharf, we took all the life rings from the ship and tied them en to end, and then got planks from lumber storage to make a catwalk. The floating wharf got a lot of use, because every time there was another air alert we would grab a gun, and hide in the cane field. Every once in awhile someone thought they saw the Japs coming back. It could be a morning star or one of our own planes. Just about anything would set off an alert, and away we would head for the cane field. The Japs never did come back, but we kept expecting them all the time. The next thing my crew had to do was build a head so the men would have some place to go when nature called. This was nothing fancy - just two planks extended over the fantail. The planks were about a foot apart, and all one had to do was walk out, squat down, and take care of his business. No privacy at all. About 1400 we finished the wharf and head. The fires were out and the chief asked us if we wanted to go get something to eat. We hadn't thought about it but we were hungry. We had been working on the portside aft and fantail and hadn't seen much of the damage on the ship from the bombs. The chief told us that there was a table set up on the bow under number one gun turret, and to go help ourselves. He warned us not to drink any water as it might be poisoned by the Japs - just drink juices or anything that was canned. I started forward and was taking time to observe some of the damage. I walked by the super structure which had taken a direct bomb hit, and saw the pile of rubble with a body in it. I recognized the body as one of the captain's mess attendants. I think this was the first casualty I had seen, and then I began to realize we were really at war. This was not a drill, this was for real. I went on over to the starboard side near the gangway and found where they were laying out the casualties in preparation to remove them from the ship. I think there were somewhere between 75 to 100 bodies. I recognized some of my shipmates, and I didn't feel too good about it. I must say there was all kinds of mutilation and blood around. I walked on up the starboard side to get something to eat. I came around the gun turret and saw the table where they had set out bread, canned fruit and Vienna sausages in a red sauce. That was when I lost my appetite and just kept on walking. I went back to work and kept busy the rest of the day and far into the night. I don't remember just what all we were doing, but we were trying to clean up the ship and get rid of some of the loose wreckage. About 0200, December 8, they told about 75 of us that it was finally our turn to get in the motor launch to be taken ashore for a meal, shower and a little sleep. The ride in the launch was something else! It was pitch dark, as I remember, and this was the first night of World War II with total blackout. There was not a light to be seen any place, except for some of the fires still burning from the Jap attack. When we disembarked from the launch, we were met by some marines and told to line up in close formation. Close formation meant close - everyone was touching everyone else. We were also told that if anyone should step out of place they would be shot. Everyone was trigger happy and their orders were to shoot first and ask questions second. There were lots of rumors that night, and some thought that the Japs had landed under the cover of darkness. We could hear rifle fire popping all around. They were shooting at anything that moved or at anything they thought they saw. There was not a sound as we were instructed not to talk - not even a whisper. We were marched to a large building - I don't know just which one - and got in a line outside the building. There was a kitchen set up inside and they were feeding thousands of sailors on a 24-hour continuous chow line. The building could seat several hundred at a time. I recall the line went around the outside at least twice and then inside another time. It took us more than two hours before we were served. I hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast before the raid - anything would be good. This was one of the best meals I ever had - cornbread, baked beans and coffee. We were given a tray, a spoon, a mug and plop plop, one for a large piece of cornbread, and one big ladle full of beans. We poured ourselves a mug of coffee and that was it. There were no seconds. If you wanted more, it was getting back in line and waiting another two or three hours. We didn't have that much time, as we had to line up in four hours to go back to the ship. The shower room was in another part of the building. We were instructed to strip off all our clothes outside the shower room, take a shower and out the other side. We were handed a towel and told to find something to put on from a pile of clean clothes. Some of the clothes may have been some of the things we salvaged out of the ship. We put on anything that halfway fit, and then went into an auditorium to lay down on some concrete steps to sleep for about an hour before time to catch the launch back to the ship. Back on the ship it was much the same as the day before. We continued making busy work in between running to the cane field for false alerts. I remember the time a tug was alongside helping us pump water out of the ship. I saw the tug's galley was open so I hopped aboard and asked the cook if he could fix me a sandwich. The cook made me a real dagwood. Just as I was about to sit down to eat it another alert sounded. The tug had to cast off and I had to jump back on my ship. There wasn't enough time to grab a gun and run to the cane field. Anyway, I wanted to enjoy my sandwich. I crawled under the overhang of a gun turret. As I was eating my sandwich, someone asked me where I got it, I said, "On the tug." Then I looked closer to see who was there with me. It was the captain of the ship. I guess that is where he had been going for each raid. I went ahead eating as the captain drooled. In the afternoon of December 8, it was decided that the crew had to be broken up, and some were sent ashore for temporary duty on some other ship. There wasn't enough things to do aboard to keep everyone busy - I was one. Leaving the Nevada wasn't easy. It had been my home for just over two years. Also going to another ship meant going to war. I thought that I had seen enough already. We didn't receive any special going away remarks, but I would like to quote from a report made by Captain F.W. Scanland: "The commanding Officer finds it extremely difficult to single out individual members of the crew as deserving of special praise. Every officer and man aboard, without exception, performed his duties in a most commendable manner and without regard to personal safety. The courage and spirit of the anti-aircraft gun crews, were bomb hits caused most of the casualties, was of the highest order. Every man on the ship carried on in accordance with the best traditions of the service. It is considered that Lieutenant Commander Francis J. Thomas, US Naval Reserve, Commanding Officer during the greater part of the attack, is deserving of special commendation. This officer got the ship underway within forty minutes and headed down channel. Although the Nevada had been torpedoed and had received one or two bomb hits, Lieutenant Commander Thomas correctly decided that it was urgently necessary to get underway to avoid destruction of the shipi dur to the proximity of the Arizona which was surrounded with burning oil and afire from stem to stern. Throughout the action, Lieutenant Commander Thomas coolly and calmly fought the ship despite many bomb hits and casualties. After the attack and for two days afterward, Lieutenant Commander Thomas performed damage control duties in a most creditable manner although near the point of exhaustion by his two days of strenuous work. The Commanding Officer believes that all members of the crew of the Nevada who were aboard during the attack are deserving of special praise, and the courage and spirit of the crew both during and after the attack cannot be over-emphasized. The performance of duty of the Medical Department under the difficult conditions is most gratifying, and the members of that Department exhibited the same courage and devotion to duty under fire as any other member of the crew. The dead and wounded were quickly and effectively handled." I reported to the receiving station at Pearl Harbor to receive my orders and new ship assignment. I was told to hang around the base until I was called. This gave me a chance to relax and get some rest. We didn't have any special place to stay, so we did the best we could to stay out of the way of work parties. I learned fast how to hide out right on the base. We had a place to eat and sleep and the rest of the time was our own, that is, if we didn't get caught and put on some work party. This time gave me a chance to look up the girl that I was supposed to have had a date with on Sunday morning. She worked on the base and I was able to find her office. We had coffee on one of her breaks. That was the only time that I got to see her. She did help me out as she was able to write back to the States and tell them that I was O.K. At first we couldn't' write or call anyone. The chaplin did have a penny postcard for us to send home. It had two things on it for us to check. One was "I am in the hospital" and the other was "I am OK". Of course, I checked the OK and signed my name. The next day they had a form telegram that said the same thing that we could send home. The penny postcard arrived home first, about three or four weeks later. The telegram took even longer. At least, we had sent the message home; we didn't know that it took so long to get there. Whenever a ship would come into port, they would be asked how many survivors and what rates could they take aboard. They would post this list and we would watch to see if our rate was on the list. I would ask around about the different ships in hopes of getting the one that I wanted. I was able to hide out this way for about a week. Two cruisers came in, and I was told that the USS Minneapolis was the best. I was the last carpenter's mate second class on the list, and decided I had better report for that ship. When I reported, I was asked where I had been. Anyway, they were not about to let me out of their sight until the papers were ready for me to go aboard. Going aboard the Minneapolis was an interesting experience. Both the USS Indianapolis and Minneapolis came in together and were tied up together. I had been warned about the Indi being a flagship and not go get on it - it was too strict a ship. They put me in charge of four of us and I carried the transfer papers. While waiting on the dock for a boat to the Minne, a boat came in from the Indi. The liberty party was boarding for the Indi, and I asked the coxswain if we could ride back with them. We were a sorry looking bunch of sailors in all kinds of mismatched uniforms. I think I had on an army shirt and marine pants - none of us had a hat. All of the liberty party from the Indi were spick and span. We approached the officer of the deck for permission to cross his deck to the Minne. The officer of the deck didn't even hear us, and was calling for the master at arms to put us on report for coming back in such a condition. I was able to wave some papers in the O.D.'s face and got his attention. We just wanted to cross his deck to the Minne. He finally did get the message and had the master at arms escort us to the Minne, and made sure we got off his ship before someone saw our condition. Now the difference between black and white was like the difference between those two ships. Coming aboard the Minne, the O.D. didn't even want to see our papers and sent us right down to the mess hall for a real good meal. He said he would check us in later. We enjoyed our meal and met a lot of the crew. We were some kind of heroes who had been through the attack on Pearl Harbor. There were all kinds of questions about what we had seen. A couple of hours later, the master at arms came down and took our papers and signed us aboard. We then went to ship stores for issue of complete outfits to replace what we had lost. There was no charge, it was "all on the house." The next day the crew took up a collection and gave all the survivors that had come aboard some pocket money to tide us over until our records caught up with us. The Minne was a good ship, and I enjoyed my stay on board. It wasn't as big as the Nevada and I wasn't sure about going to battle on her. We left the next day for places unknown with a task force of one aircraft carrier, the USS Saratoga, some cruisers and destroyers. It was the policy not to tell anyone where we were heading. At least, I knew we were heading southwest - I could tell that by the sun and stars. One evening just as dusk I was sitting on deck enjoying the quiet and peaceful Pacific. I was looking over towards the Sara and thinking how nice it would be to be on a big ship like that one. Just then I saw a geyser of water go up along the side of the Sara, and at the same time general quarters sounded on the Minne. The Sara had taken a torpedo from a sub, but we didn't know just what was happening. There went the peaceful Pacific. Sara had enough underwater damage to make it impossible for us to go on. We had to escort her back to Pearl Harbor. There we were assigned the aircraft carrier the USS Lexington. We again were headed southwest on the same mission as before. We didn't have anything unusual happen on this trip that I recall. We were out looking for the Japs. I think that I was hoping that we wouldn't find them. We did cross the equator several times, and, of course, on the first crossing all of us lowly polliwogs got initiated into the Realm of King Neptune as shellbacks. It really was a simple ceremony I was told, because of the war, and being in Jap waters we had to keep the guns manned and on a ready alert. King Neptune did come aboard holding his trident, a three prong spear. He held court for all the lowly polliwogs that were off duty. The polliwogs were herded together and read all the charges. Each polliwog was purified by having grease rubbed in his hair and washed down with salt water fire hose. Then each polliwog, one at a time, had to kneel in front of King Neptune and kiss his belly button. Then crawl down a double line of shellbacks holding paddles. Each shellback tried to see how many licks he could get in to cover all the charges against you, and the polliwogs that were on the guns. I seem to remember that King Neptune and his big belly resembled one fat boatswain mate we had aboard. In peace time this ceremony would have lasted all day, and every last one of the polliwogs would have earned the title of shellback. Oh yes, this also included the officers. Every few weeks we would return to Pearl Harbor for supplies and a short liberty. With martial law in the Islands, we were restricted to a four-hour liberty from noon until 1600. About the middle of January, I was returning from a four-hour liberty. While we were sitting on the dock waiting for the boat to take us back to the ship, a sailor approached me and asked if I was Rose. I said, "Yes, what do you want?" He then told me that the boatswain's mate back in tent city had my typewriter and was holding it for me. I told the sailors not to let the boat leave without me. I ran up to the tent city and found the boatswain's tent and my typewriter. I thanked him as fast as I could, and ran back to the dock just in time to jump in the boat as it was moving away. I was sure glad to have my typewriter back. There was no identification on it. The boatswain's mate told me he was helping sort clothes and found the typewriter. He knew it was mine and expected to find me sometime. Back on the ship I went right to work building a heavy box out of plywood to ship the typewriter back to the States. I took the box to the ship's post office and told them to send it airmail. I don't remember what it cost, but it wasn't cheap. It just happened that we were under way to the Southwest Pacific again, and it was over a month before any mail left the ship. At least, I had it in Uncle Sam's post office, and it was insured so if it was lost - and I wasn't - I would get paid for it. |
Information provided by Bob Rose. |
