_While firefighters train massive jets of water from dockside at left_,
Shaw (_DD-373_) _burns in the Floating Drydock YFD-2, after being hit
by three bombs. Tug_ Sotoyomo (_YT-9_), _with which_ Shaw _has been
sharing the drydock, is barely visible ahead of the crippled destroyer.
Marines led these firefighting efforts on 7 December 1941._]
Meanwhile, firefighters on the west side of the dock succeeded in
passing three hoses to men on _Pennsylvania_’s forecastle, where they
directed blasts of water ahead of the ship and down the starboard side
to prevent the burning oil, which resembled a “seething cauldron,”
from drifting aft. A second 500-gallon engine crew, led by Private
First Class Dallman, battled the fires at the southwest end of the
drydock, despite the suffocating oily black smoke billowing forth from
_Cassin_ and _Downes_. Eventually, by 1035, the Marines and other
volunteers--who included the indomitable Tai Sing Loo--had succeeded in
quelling the fires on board _Cassin_; those on board _Downes_ were put
out early that afternoon.
More work, however, lay in store for Corporal Milbrandt and his crew.
Between 0755 and 0900, three Vals had attacked the destroyer _Shaw_
(DD-373), which shared _YFD-2_ with the little yard tug _Sotoyomo_. All
three scored hits. Fires ultimately reached _Shaw’_s forward magazines
and triggered an explosion that sent tendrils of smoke into the sky
and severed the ship’s bow. Several other volunteer units were already
battling the blaze with hose carts and two 350-gallon pumpers sent in
from Honolulu. Milbrandt, aided as well by the Pan American Airways
fire boat normally stationed at Pearl City, ultimately succeeded in
extinguishing the stricken destroyer’s fires.
In the meantime, after having pounded the military installations on
Oahu for nearly two hours, between 0940 and 1000 the Japanese planes
made their way westward to return to the carrier decks from whence
they had arisen. With the respite offered by the enemy’s departure
(no one knew for sure whether or not they would be back), the Marines
at last found time to take stock of their situation. Fortunately, the
Marine Barracks lay some distance away from what had interested the
Japanese the most: the ships in the harbor proper. Although some “shell
fragments literally rained at times” the material loss sustained by the
barracks was slight. Moreover, it had been American gunfire from the
ships in the harbor, rather than bombs from Japanese planes overhead,
that had inflicted the damage; at one point that morning a 3-inch
antiaircraft shell crashed through the roof of a storehouse--the only
damage sustained by the barracks during the entire attack.
Considering the carnage at the airfields on Oahu, and especially,
among the units of the Pacific Fleet, only four men of the 3d Defense
Battalion had been wounded: Sergeant Samuel H. Cobb, Jr., of the 3d
Defense Battalion’s 3-inch Antiaircraft Group, suffered head injuries
serious enough to warrant his being transferred to the Naval Hospital
for treatment, while Private First Class Jules B. Maioran and Private
William J. Whitcomb of the Machine Gun Group and Sergeant Leo Hendricks
II, of the Headquarters and Service Battery, suffered less serious
injuries. In addition, two men sent with the trucks to find ammunition
for the 3-inch batteries suffered injuries when they fell off the
vehicles.
In their subsequent reports, the defense battalion and barracks
officers declined to single out individuals, noting no outstanding
individual behavior during the raid--only the steady discharge of duty
expected of Marines. To be sure, great confusion existed, especially
at first, but the command quickly settled down to work and “showed
no more than the normal excitement and no trace of panic or even
uneasiness.” If anything, the Marines tended to place themselves at
risk unnecessarily, as they went about their business coolly and, in
many cases, “in utter disregard of their own safety.” Major Roberts
recommended that the entire 3d Defense Battalion be commended for
“their initiative, coolness under fire, and [the] alacrity with which
they emplaced their guns.”
Commendations, however, were not the order of the day on 7 December.
Although the Japanese had left, the Marines expected them to return and
finish the job they had begun (many Japanese pilots, including Fuchida,
wanted to do just that). If another attack was to come, there was
much to do to prepare for it. As the skies cleared of enemy planes,
the Marines at the barracks secured their establishment and took steps
to complete the work already begun on the defenses. At 1030, the 3d
Defense Battalion’s corporal of the guard moved to the barracks and set
the battalion’s radio to the Army Information Service frequency, thus
enabling them to pass “flash” messages to all groups. The Marines also
distributed gas masks to all hands.
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