USS Maryland

From the February 19, 2024, National Interest.

The USS Maryland was at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked and sustained damage, but not seriously.  It later played a significant role in the Pacific War.

The battleship featured eight 16-inch guns in four turrets and entered service in 1920.  As such, she was one of America's most modern battleships due to the Washington Naval Treaty's limitations on new battleships.

Post Pearl Harbor, the Maryland underwent a rapid refit to modernize for operations in the Pacific, including improved anti-aircraft capabilities and torpedo protection.

Throughout the war, she served primarily shore bombardment roles, terrifying defenders with her formidable firepower.  Despite taking a torpedo hit and suffering from kamikaze attacks, she continued to support U.S. advances, including the critical Battle of Leyte near the Philippines.

After the war, she was placed in reserve, and, despite her historical significance, efforts to preserve her as a museum ship were not pursued and she was scrapped.

--GreGen

USS Oklahoma-- Part 5: Pearl Harbor

On Sunday, December 7, 1941, the USS Oklahoma, along with about half of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, consisting of some 150 vessels, was at anchor in Pearl Harbor on the Hawaiian island of Oahu when the Japanese came a-calling with a surprise attack.

Moored on Battleship Row alongside the USS Maryland, the Oklahoma was one of the first vessels hit.

Sadly, the Oklahoma was actually supposed to be out at sea patrolling, but the crew had been told there was to be an admiral's inspection on Monday.  So there they were in harbor.

When the attack began at around 8 a.m., Sunday morning, most of the crew were sleeping in their racks below decks and never made it up to the main deck.

At approximately 7:55 a.m., the first wave of Japanese attack planes struck the Oklahoma with three torpedoes.

The Oklahoma began capsizing as enemy planes strafed the decks.  The stricken ship was then struck by six more torpedoes and the port side was torn open.  Within fifteen minutes of the first torpedo, the Oklahoma rolled completely over, trapping hundreds below decks.

--GreGen

Heroes of Pearl Harbor: Ensign Herbert C. Jones (1918-1941) of the USS Maryland

From the December 6, 2020, Chattanoogan "Jerry Summers: 15 heroes of Pearl Harbor- No. 2" by Jerry Summers.

Ensign Herbert C. Jones was commissioned an officer in the U.S. Navy in 1945, after enlisting in the U.S.  Naval reserve in 1935.  He reported to the battleship USS California in November 1940 and the ship was assigned to Pearl Harbor.

On December 7, 1941, he was about to relieve the officer-of-the deck when the attack came.

In the first wave, the California was hit by both a bomb and a torpedo.  Jones organized and led a party to supply ammunition to the anti-aircraft battery aboard the ship after the mechanical hoists were put out of action.

He was fatally wounded by another bomb and although two sailors tried to pull him from the area which had caught fire, he refused to  do so, saying, words , in effect, "Leave me alone!  I am done for.  Get out of here before the magazines go off!"

Jones was posthumously awarded a Medal of Honor and in 1943, the destroyer escort USS Herbert C. Jones, was named in his honor.

--GreGen

Floyd Welch, Pearl Harbor Survivor on the USS Maryland, Dies at Age 99-- Part 1

From the August 18, 2020, West Hawaii  "Floyd Welch, survivor of Pearl Harbor, dies at 99" by Pat Eaton-Robb.

Floyd Welch, who is credited with saving  the lives of fellow sailors in the attack, has died at age 99 on August 17 in East Lyme, Connecticut.

He was born in February 1921 in Burlington, Connecticut and was serving on the USS Maryland that December 7, 1941.

He said he was coming out of the shower when he heard the first alarm and later the explosions from bombs and torpedoes.  Coming deckside, he saw a raging fire and the USS Oklahoma, tied up next to the Maryland, was turned over.  He first started helping pull Oklahoma survivors out of the water.

"By using blueprints of the Oklahoma, so as not to burn into a fuel void, we began the long and extremely difficult process of  cutting holes through the bottom steel plates of the Oklahoma," he said in his remembrance of the battle.  "When we could see the planes coming, we would try to find cover.  We would cut near where we heard the trapped crewmen tapping.  In all, I believe 33 men from the Oklahoma were rescued through these holes."

--GreGen

Bits of War: A Piece of USS Arizona, Pearl Harbor Survivor Dies, and NCIS Episode

**  March 12, 2020:  A piece of the USS Arizona is heading to Lake Havasu Cuty, Arizona.

**  Cabell County's last Pearl Harbor survivor has died at age 98.  West Virginia.  March 13, 2020  T.R. Tommy Wickline was 19 and on the USS Maryland that day.  He had enlisted in the Navy at age 16.

**  Christopher Lloyd to star in upcoming "NCIS" episode where he will be playing a USS Arizona survivor.   Looking forward to this one.

--GreGen

Some More Pearl Harbor Headlines on the 78th Anniversary

**  And, now you know:  The day after Pearl harbor.

**  'Hard act to follow':   Pearl Harbor veterans  become rare gems as ranks thin 78 years after the tragedy.

**  Remembering the Montanans killed in Pearl Harbor attack.

**  Granddaughter proud of legacy of one of Cabell's last Pearl Harbor survivors.  (He was on the USS Maryland.)

**  78 years later, efforts continue to identify Pearl Harbor service members.

**  Nick in the AM:  78 years after  Pearl Harbor, LaSalle Countian's remains returning home.

**  Oak Forest vets welcome home WW II Marine killed in action.  (Marine Corps Pfc Marley R. Arthurholtz, 20, killed on USS Oklahoma.)

**  Pearl Harbor attack victims and other casualties remembered in ambitious project in Milwaukee.

**  Bernard Weber, 1918-1919   (On USS Oklahoma during attack.)

**  Five things to remember about Pearl Harbor.

--GreGen

The USS Oklahoma: The Final Story-- Part 2: Life Or Death

The USS Oklahoma's watertight integrity had been sacrificed due to an upcoming inspection.

After the ship was repeatedly struck by torpedoes and started keeling over, everyone had to make a life or death decision.  Some decided to get off the ship and crawled over to the USS Maryland on tie-off lines.

The Japanese torpedoes had plywood boxes attached to their rear fins which kept them from going too deep in the water, necessary because of the shallowness of Pearl Harbor.

Five midget submarines managed to penetrate into the harbor.  It is thought that a torpedo from one of them hit the Oklahoma.  These torpedoes were more powerful and would make a much bigger hole in a ship than the ones dropped by the planes.

--GreGen

After Pearl Harbor: The Race to Save the U.S. Fleet-- Part 2: Returned to Service Quickly

The Flagship of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the USS Pennsylvania, had been in drydock.  The USS Tennessee and Maryland were moored inboard of the USS West Virginia and Oklahoma and were sheltered from the Japanese torpedoes. All suffered damage, but remained afloat.

Within three months, the USS Pennsylvania, Maryland, Tennessee, cruisers USS Honolulu, Helena and Raleigh, destroyers Helm and Shaw, seaplane tender Curtiss, repair ship vestal and floating drydock YFD-2 were back in service or had been refloated and headed back to the United States for final repairs.

The most heavily damaged of the smaller ships, the Raleigh and Shaw, were returned to active duty by mid-1942.

--GreGen

Death of Tounz Carroll Stephens, USN

From the May 17, 2016, Log Cabin (Ark.) Democrat.

Tounz Carroll Stephens, 91, of Conway died May 15, 2016.  He was born January 2, 1925 in Naylor, Arkansas.

A veteran of the Pacific Theater, he served as an anti-aircraft gunner on the USS Idaho and USS Maryland.  he survived kamikaze attacks on the USS Maryland, receiving a shoulder injury he suffered from for the rest of his life.

He crossed the International Dateline in the South Pacific on his 19th birthday in 1944 and participated in the Island Hopping Campaign.

I have to wonder if he ever crossed paths with the gentleman I talked with earlier today?

--GreGen

Death of Iowa Pearl Harbor Survivor Bob Ulrich (Only One Iowa Survivor Left)

From the February 28, 2016, Gazette (Iowa).

Bob Ulrich turned 18 just before Pearl Harbor was bombed.  he and his brother George, who had just turned 20, were both on The USS California, but on opposite sides of the battleship.  George had disappeared when the attack was over.  His remains were found later and he was buried in Bakersfield, California.

In 2014, Bob Ulrich was one of only four-known Pearl Harbor survivors living in Iowa and the only one from eastern Iowa.

As of last week,Clarence Pfundheller of Audubon is the only Iowa resident from that day still alive.

During the attack, he had been in the Navy for three years and was on the USS Maryland.

--GreGen

Gunner From USS Maryland-- Part 2: Fewer Veterans Now

Scott Ott told Frank that his dad was at Normandy and fought through to the Battle of the Bulge.  he and his brother Bud were waiting in Paris for orders to ship out for the invasion of Japan when word that Japan had surrendered came through, something they were very happy to gear.

World War II veteran Frank said he was grateful for Scott's father's service and also those that served in the Korean War.

Recently the Navy commissioned a new USS California, a submarine, and Frank sat in the front row at it.  His California was scrapped in 1959 and had been used in the atom bomb tests at Eniwetok Atoll.

Scott related that Sunday, at church, they had a Memorial Day service and afterwards at the recepption, he went around the room talking to as many older veterans as he could.  None were from World War II. but some from the Korean War.

When his father was alive, he said he remembered that they still had Civil War veterans who visited schools and rode in parades.  Someday Scott will tell his grandkids that there were still World War and Korean War veterans around when he was young.

--GreGen

Death of Pearl Harbor Survivor Roland Peachee in Nevada-- Part 1

From the Feb. 11, 2016, Nevada Appael  "Ken bacon: 'Day Is Done, Gone the Sun" By Ken Beaton.

Roland Peachee joined the Navy because:  "I got tired of using a mule's rear end as a compass, and decided there had to be something better, so I joined the Navy (October 17, 1934).  After my training at Hampton Roads, Va., I was stationed on the USS Maryland, BB 46, for six years."

He reenlisted in 1940 and was reassigned to the USS Rigel at Pearl Harbor.  It was a repair ship with machine shop, above and below water welding equipment with divers and repair capability.

He was cutting meat for the crew at 7:55 a.m. under a gray-painted canvas covering a portable butcher shop when he saw puffs of smoke followed by several loud explosions.

"Thinking it was the Army (having practice), I went ahead with my work, and little did I know we were being attacked."

--GreGen

Teachers in Iowa Honor Pearl Harbor Veteran

From the March 2, 2014, Omaha World-Herald "Teachers to honor vet who shares Pearl Harbor story with students" by Andrew  J. nelson.

Coon rapids, Iowa:  Clarence Pfundheller, 93 of Greenfield, Iowa, has spent thirty years telling local schoolkids about that day.

In April the Iowa State Education will award him the Friend of Education Award recognizing all of those years.

Mr. Pfundheller was on the USS Maryland and had just eaten breakfast and was preparing to swab the deck when the attack came.  He was gun captain of a 5-inch anti-aircraft gun which fired a 75-pound, 3-foot-long shell designed to explode and spread shrapnel but the Japanese were too close to have much success.  The Maryland was able to shoot one plane down.

After Pearl harbor, he fought in the Pacific Theater.

--GreGen

"Man, This Is Not a Drill" Pearl Harbor Survivor Remembers the Attack

From the Orange County (California) Register by Scott Bosco.

Howard Bender, 93, was on the USS Maryland that day.

"There was this plane coming around with this big meatball on it.  I saw (bombers) going up and some guy's shoes going through the air.  I just thought, 'Man, this is not a drill.'"

His worst memory was watching the crew of the USS Oklahoma burning to death in the water.

--GreGen

Death of Pearl Harbor Survivor George Smith in 2013: "Waved At Me and Took Off"

From the September 17, 2013, Stars and Stripes, from the Tacoma (Wash) News-Tribune "Pearl Harbor Survivor Smith dies" by Adam Ashton.

George Smith died Sept. 13, 2013, at age 89 in Olympic, Washington.

He ran away from his home in Chicago and rode trains to relatives in Seattle.  At age 17, he dropped out of high school and joined the Navy to see the world.

He was on the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor and had just finished his night watch shift.  He remembered, "One plane came in, circled, came right down to us.  The guy opened the hatch to his plane and dropped his torpedo, waved at me and took off.  The next thing I knew there was a big explosion."

Mr. Smith swam over to the USS Maryland and spent the rest of the battle there, clad just in his underwear.

Another thing he recalled was reaching for wounded men in the water only to grab severed limbs.

--GreGen

Follow Up On Richard Crosariol

I looked up his name since this was a 2013 article, and, sadly, Mr. Crosariol died May 25, 2014 at age 96.  He lived in Indian Head, Maryland and had been born in Illinois on April 15, 1918.

After the attack began, he helped load a 5-inch 25 caliber anti-aircraft gun.  He evidently served aboard the USS Maryland after it was repaired during the rest of the war in the Pacific.  The ship was hit by a torpedo off Saipan and had to return to Pearl Harbor for repairs.  Later, a kamikaze crashed into the ship in Leyte Gulf.

One of the Greatest.--GreGen

Maryland's Last Surviving Pearl Harbor Marine Honored in 2013: Richard Crosariol

From the Jan. 18, 2013, BuyNet.com (Maryland) "State's Last Surviving Pearl Harbor Marine Honored" by Connie Hempel.

Richard Crosariol received a Marine Corps NCO sword, the oldest U.S. military weapon still in service.  He enlisted in the Marines in 1940 at the age of 21.  After boot camp he was sent to Hawaii and assigned to the battleship USS Maryland.  He is the last Marine survivor of the attack from that ship.

During his 20-year career, he rose to the rank of sergeant-major.

He remembers getting ready for mass that eventful Sunday: "The only thing I heard was a rap, rap, rap, from the bullets.  Soon the announcement came, 'This is no drill!  Man your battle stations!'"

During the first attack, the Maryland was hit by two bombs, but none in the second one as the ship was obscured by smoke.

--GreGen

Follow Up on Howard Bender: Only Torrance Man to Survive

From the Dec. 8, 2014, AXS "Pearl Harbor survivors attend memorial ceremony aboard USS Iowa."

With the older blog entries, I sometimes do a search to see if the people I wrote about are still alive.  I did so with Howard Bender and am happy to report that as of this past Pearl Harbor Day he was still alive.

Howard Bender, 92, turns 93 on January 22.  He was an 18-year-old Yeoman 3rd Class Petty Officer on the USS Maryland in the attack..

He was joined by another Pearl Harbor survivor, Nelson G. Mitchell, Jr., who will be 85 on January 19th. When the attack came he was a 21-year-old Steward Mate 1st Class on the destroyer USS Jarvis DD-393.

Mr. Bender remembers: "I was on watch in the evening.  Myself and three other men from the City of Torrance in 1940 were taken down to San Diego and trained to the Pacific Fleet.  Those three men were on the Arizona and I was the only one from Torrance that came back alive."

Glad To Know He's Still Alive.  --GreGen

Howard Bender on Surviving Pearl Harbor: Check Your Shorts

From the January 23, 2013, Mission Viejo Patch (Cal.) "Surviving Pearl Harbor" by Peter Schelden.

Howard Bender, 91, is one of five remaining Pearl Harbor survivors in Orange County.  He joined the Navy right out of high school and sent to Pearl Harbor after boot camp where he was assigned to the USS Arizona before being transferred to the USS Maryland.

Mr. Bender remembers seeing the USS Oklahoma hit through a porthole.

When asked how he reacted, he replied, "It is not until after the fact when you check your shorts."

--GreGen

Served at Pearl Harbor on USS Maryland

From the July 22, 2014, Northwest Indiana Times "Pearl Harbor survivor enlisted at age 15" by Diane Poulton.

Raymond Crane (born February 25, 1925, died July 11, 2014, age 89.  He was on the USS Maryland, moored next to the USS Oklahoma when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.  He served five years in the Pacific Theater and was in seven battles.

He and a friend pulled many shipmates out of the Maryland's sickbay after the ship was hit by a kamikaze  later in the war.

He was a member pf the Pearl Harbor Survivor's Association, Chapter 2 of Indiana.

--GreGen