Acts of Valor Abound on USS Oklahoma During Pearl Harbor Attack

The first Japanese torpedo hit the battleship USS Oklahoma just before 8 a.m., Dec. 7, 1941, in a surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. 

Eight more torpedoes soon followed, ripping open the hull of the battleship, causing it to list 40 degrees and capsize just 12 minutes after the first explosion. 

Because the ship turned over so quickly, many of the crew were trapped inside. Survivors banged against the bulkheads in hopes of being rescued. 

Throughout the day, shipyard workers wielding oxyacetylene torches and led by Julio DeCastro, a Hawaiian native, cut holes in the hull in attempts to extract the trapped crew. 

The efforts resulted in 32 being extracted but many dozens more perishing inside the ship’s bowels. In all, 429 died. 

Navy Ensign John C. England entered the smoke- and flame-filled ship and rescued three of the trapped crewmen, but he died during his fourth attempt.  

Although his highest medal was only the Purple Heart, he was honored in other ways. In 1943, the destroyer escort USS England was named for him and served for the remainder of the war. Then, in 1962, the guided-missile cruiser USS England was launched in his honor. 

There were also two Medal of Honor recipients. 

After the torpedoes tore through the ship, Navy Ensign Francis C. Flaherty remained in one of the ship’s turrets, providing light with a flashlight so that the turret crew could find the way out. When the Oklahoma rolled completely over, he was trapped inside the hull and perished. 

In addition to the Medal of Honor, the destroyer escort USS Flaherty, commissioned in 1943 and used throughout World War II, was named for him. 

Navy Seaman 1st Class James Richard Ward also remained in one of the other ships’ turrets with a flashlight, enabling many of the crew to escape. He perished there, as well. 

The Edsall-class destroyer escort USS J. Richard Ward, commissioned in 1943, was used throughout World War II. 

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency laboratory staff succeeded in recent years to identify the remains of all of those who were unaccounted for through advanced forensic methods. 

In all, eight battleships were struck, along with 13 other vessels and nearby airfields. The attack, which launched from six aircraft carriers and came in two waves, resulted in 2,403 killed and 1,178 wounded. 

Although salvaged in 1943, the Oklahoma was too damaged for further service during the war.