Harold Alvin Spriggs US Navy USS ANTARES |
Harold Alvin Spriggs Age: 25 Metalsmith Petty Officer 2nd Class USS ANTARES (AKS-3) The ANTARES returned to Pearl Harbor from Palmira with a barge in tow arriving off the entrance of Pearl early in the morning of the 7th. Because the tug was late (the crew had been partying late the night before) the ANTARES maintained a circle course at slow speed until the tug did arrive and take the barge. (Their being late probably saved the ANTARES because a Japanese Midget Submarine was waiting for her to transit from sea into the harbor where it (the sub) intended to sink her in the channel thereby bottling up the entire Pacific Fleet in the harbor.) About 0630 the ANTARES bridge watch noticed something trailing the ship... it appeared to be a submarine that was operating in the Defensive Sea Area which was off limits to unaccompanied/escorted submarines. The Officer of the Deck concurred with the sighting and sent a signal light message to the USS WARD informing her of their observations. The WARD responded immediately and attacked the object. Spriggs was on the 0400-0800 watch as Deck Engineer and had just arrived on deck when he heard the WARD's forward gun fire its first shot at the submarine. At first Spriggs wondered "What was that?" He looked around and spotted the WARD coming on fast, black smoke pouring from all four stacks and observed the destroyer's 2nd shot and saw it hit the sub near the base of the conning tower just above the hull. Shortly after the 2nd round hit, the sub dived. The WARD continued at high speed over the spot where the sub disappeared and dropped several depth charges. Following the attack, WARD notified the Control Tower near the shipyard at Pearl they she had: "Fired upon, depth charged and sank a submarine operating in the defensive sea area." At this point the crew on ANTARES was wondering what was going on? About an hour and a half later, they, along with the rest of the world, found out! Through-out the attack, ANTARES stayed outside of Pearl Harbor conducting evasive maneuvers and successfully avoided being hit by any bombs. The attacking aircraft tried several times to sink ANTARES but the ship's captain expertly conned the ship and, except for aircraft gun fire strafing the ship, she suffered no damage. ANTARES went into Honolulu that night. On December 8th, she left her downtown berth and transited into a ravaged and burning Pearl Harbor. Spriggs' collateral duty aboard ANTARES was Ship's Artist. He painted and drew portraits for ship's company in addition to performing other art work as requested by the Ship's Commanding Officer Captain Miles P. DuVal, USN. Spriggs said that fortunately for him, his talent might have saved his life because shortly after the attack he received orders transferring him off the ANTARES to the USS MEDUSA, a repair ship assigned to Pearl Harbor. Some months earlier he had painted a portrait of the ship's personnel-man's daughter and had not charged him any money. The Chief told Spriggs, that he appreciated what he had done for him. He also told Spriggs: "This tub is headed for the South Pacific and I don't know when, if ever, we'll be coming back. I hope this (the orders) squares things with us." In September 1942 he was transferred to Permanent Shore Patrol Duty in Honolulu working directly for CINCPACFLT (ADM Chester Nimitz) as a Permanent Shore Patrol Petty Officer for almost two years. His beat was Hotel Street. Through-out his tour as an SP, he only made 9 arrests and those were for serious offenses like Robbery, Murder, Espionage etc. Spriggs related: "Oh, a lot of guys made the bucket (jail) but since no charges were filed they were allowed to sober up and get back to their ship or station before their liberty expired, thereby avoiding any discipline. In 1944 Spriggs was transferred to Sub Base where he worked on submarines rebuilding the fleet boats into long range submarines by making their ballast tanks into fuel tanks. Later he was transferred to the Submarine Base at New London, Conn. He remained there until the end of the war receiving his Honorable Discharge in September 1945. I hope this info helps replace what was lost regarding my father's participation in the attack on Pearl Harbor. If you need anything further, get back to me. Information provided by - David L. Spriggs Lieutenant Commander, Supply Corps, USNR (Retired) |
