The USS Oklahoma
As the USS Oklahoma rolled slowly
to its side, terror reigned below deck. In
darkness men sought to find a way out of the burning, metal coffin.
Twenty-two year old Ensign Francis Flaherty heard the turmoil around
him in the gun turret. Quickly he grabbed a flashlight and flashed its beam on
the corridor exits, urging doomed men with him to follow the light to safety.
Calmly he stood against the slanting wall to point the way out for
others, all the while feeling the giant battleship giving in to the elements
as it settled to a watery grave.
Nineteen-year-old
Seaman First Class James Richard Ward found himself in a similar situation,
surrounded by terrified men all seeking any escape from certain death.
In the darkness could be heard the cries of the injured and the
shrieks of those facing ultimate death.
In the cacophony of a hell even Dante could not have imagined, the
brave young sailor from Springfield, Ohio found his own flashlight and
played in on the darkened interior others towards escape and safety.
The battle in the sky was
barely ten minutes old when the 25-year-old dreadnought Oklahoma
finally "gave-up-the-ghost", rolling completely over.
Trapped inside were more than 400 sailors and Marines, men who would
never again see the light of day. Fires
raged on the waters surrounding the overturned battleship, as those who had
survived struggled through the thick oil to reach safety.
Many survived because of a naval ensign and a young enlisted sailor,
two American heroes who had stood fast in the darkness and terror to point
others to avenues of escape.
Those
who survived because of the brave actions of Ensign Flaherty and Seaman Ward
would never have the chance to thank the two brave men.
Their bodies were among far too many others permanently entombed in the
broken remnants of the USS Oklahoma.
The USS West Virginia
Captain
Mervyn Bennion commanded of the USS West Virginia, resting at
anchor just ahead of the Oklahoma.
When the first torpedoes struck the Oklahoma, three more
reached out for the West Virginia and opened holes in her side.
Water poured into the battleship with the force of a flash flood,
causing it to list dangerously to one side.
From the bridge Captain Bennion quickly took control, ignoring the
crash of bombs around him and the hail of bullets spewed by the strafing
zeroes.
He ordered flooding on the side of the West Virginia opposite
the torpedo strikes to balance the weight caused by flooding from the gaping
wounds and turn his ship upright.
The counter measures worked,
the West Virginia sinking lower in the water but leveling out.
Then more torpedoes were unleashed, followed by bombs dropped from high
above. Captain Bennion moved to
the starboard side of the bridge, barking out orders and doing everything in
his power to save his ship.
As
intent as the intrepid Naval officer was in keeping his battleship afloat, the
Japanese pilots were equally determined to send the West Virginia to
the bottom of the harbor. A bomb
falling from 20,000 feet above made a direct hit on the West Virginia,
while a simultaneous strike was made on the neighboring USS Tennessee.
Fiery eruptions filled the air with flying shrapnel.
On the bridge, ragged pieces of hot metal ripped into Captain Bennion's
abdomen. Struggling against
unbearable pain, the ship's Captain refused to be evacuated.
Fire broke out all over the West Virginia and secondary
explosions shook the bridge. Little
more could be done to save her. Captain
Bennion ordered others on the bridge to get out before it was to late.
As they departed to find shelter away from the rapidly sinking
battleship, Captain Bennion fought off his pain to receive reports and issue
orders as long as he could think clearly.
At last his horrible wounds became too much for human endurance and he
collapsed...unconscious.
Then
he died.
The
smoke of battle filled the heavens as the USS West Virginia slipped
beneath the surface of the water.
In all, 106 of her crew were killed including the captain who refused
to give up trying to save his ship...or spare his men...until he went down
with his ship.
Through the smoke little could be seen above the surface of the water
to indicate that a once proud Naval vessel had floated peacefully in that
location on Battle Ship Row.
In its own stirring way however, when the West Virginia
settled into the mud at the bottom of the harbor, the United States Flag
could be seen through the smoke, still waving from its fantail.
When the first wave of Japanese planes descended on Pearl Harbor the 8 A.M. muster and flag raising ceremonies were well underway on most of the big battleships neatly lined up on the southeast side of Ford Island. With Zeroes weeping in from three directions, chaos erupted all around. As the first torpedo was striking the USS Utah on the northeast side of Ford Island, torpedo bombers were releasing their lethal charges against the Navy's big battleships on "Battleship Row".
Almost immediately, the USS Oklahoma and USS West Virginia began taking deadly hits. The mighty battleships shook violently as torpedoes slammed into their hulls, ripping metal as if it were tinfoil. Water rushed through the gaping wounds in their sides and oil spread outward on the surface of the harbor. Bombs continued to fall, striking the other big ships moored beside the West Virginia and Oklahoma. The oil on the surface of the water ignited to send towering pillars of smoke into the blue morning skies.
