Pearl Harbor, 1941: St Paul Sailors Fire the First Shot
(This post originally was published on 12-7-11)
If you grow up in St. Paul, you will hear the story of the Naval Reservists from the city — kids, mostly, ranging in age from 17 to 21 or 22 — who fired America’s first shot of WWII on the morning of Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941. I know what I’m talking about: My old man, a Navy veteran, told me the story and took me to see the gun that fired “the first shot” when I was a kid. I’ve done the same for my children.
It’s a story that deserves telling.
My Old Man, Front Row, 4th from right (when you click on the photo to see the larger view), a St Paul sailor
Plaque on the gun that fired America’s first shot of WWII (click on photo for larger view)
Manning the USS Ward, a WWI-era destroyer that was patrolling the waters outside Pear Harbor, the crew of the Ward spotted a two-man, 80-foot-long Japanese submarine that was trailing a US ship, hoping to sneak inside the heavily guarded harbor, where the U.S. Pacific fleet lay sleeping. The Ward fired two shots at the sub, with the second shot sinking it. Today, the 4-inch “gun” that fired that first shot of WWII stands on the grounds of the Minnesota State Capitol in an under-visited spot between the state Veterans Building and a parking lot, pointing out over I-94. (Why the gun has not been moved to the plaza between the Capitol and the Veterans Building, which was turned a few years ago into a large and well-visited memorial to the Greatest Generation, is a mystery. An opportunity lost). My father was a Navy man from St. Paul who was still in high school during the attack on Pearl Harbor (the next year, he graduated early to join the Navy as a signalman) but he took special pride in St Paul’s “honor” in firing the first shot. Unfortunately, the Ward’s messages to HQ that it had spotted and fired upon an unidentified sub trying to sneak into Pearl went unheeded: The main Japanese air attack began within an hour or so, catching the fleet unawares. Below, you can find links to the history of the Ward, including a page and videos of the 2002 underwater exploration that found the sunken sub, vindicating the crew’s story, which had been questioned by others.
Three years to the day after Pearl Harbor — Dec. 7, 1944 — the Ward, by then converted into a transport, was struck by a Kamikaze during the Battle of Leyte and sunk after being put out of its misery by another U.S. warship, the USS O’Brien. By coincidence, the O’Brien’s skipper was the same man who captained the Ward at Pearl Harbor. If you’re wondering how we got the gun off a ship that sank in 1944, simple: The Navy, which recognized the significance of the Ward’s Pearl Harbor service, had removed the gun for preservation.
Read the USS Ward’s After-Action Report from Dec. 7, 1941
The “First Shot” crew
From the Naval Historical Center:
“A Shot for Posterity, the USS Ward’s number three gun and its crew-cited for firing the first shot the day of Japan’s raid on Hawaii. Operating as part of the inshore patrol early in the morning of December 7, 1941, this destroyer group spotted a submarine outside Pearl Harbor, opened fire and sank her. Crew members are R.H. Knapp – BM2c – Gun Captain, C.W. Fenton – Sea1c – Pointer, R.B. Nolde – Sea1c – Trainer, A.A. De Demagall – Sea1c – No. 1 Loader, D.W. Gruening – Sea1c – No. 2 Loader, J.A. Paick – Sea1c – No. 3 Loader, H.P. Flanagan – Sea1c – No. 4 Loader, E.J. Bakret – GM3c – Gunners Mate, K.C.J. Lasch – Cox – Sightsetter.” (quoted from the original 1942-vintage caption) This gun is a 4″/50 type, mounted atop the ship’s midships deckhouse, starboard side. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.
Press release announcing discovery of the sunken sub, a finding that proved the Ward’s story
Video of Ward crew and search for the sunken sub
Video of WWII history roundtable featuring the Ward’s crew
The USS Ward’s final battle:
December 7, 1944: USS O’Brien DD-725 fighting the fires aboard the USS Ward APD-16 at Ormoc Bay,
Leyte, Philippines following a Kamikaze attack. Ward (as DD-139) had fired the first shots of the Pacific War
on Dec. 7, 1941 when she sank one of the Japanese midget submarines approaching the entrance to
Pearl Harbor. The Ward could not be saved and under orders of the Commander of TG 78.3,
Cmdr. Outerbridge of the O’Brien used his guns to sink the Ward. In a strange twist of fate Outerbridge had
been the Commanding Officer of the Ward on Dec. 7, 1941 when the Japanese submarine was sunk.
One last note from me: If St Paul men fired the first shot of WWII, the Saint Paul fired the last:
The USS Saint Paul, a cruiser that was present during the surrender of Japan, is believed to have fired the final salvos of the war, shelling industrial targets on Aug. 9, 1945. The ship’s bell is displayed outside the St Paul City Council chambers, and a massive anchor from the Saint Paul, which was decommissioned in 1978, is displayed on Harriet Island.
Hey Nick … Always fun to read about the boys from the Ward (which, to my and their utter dismay, I once identified in print as a submarine! Brain freeze).
Thought you might enjoy this one:
http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/223180/
Chuck
Chuck: These days, with a brain freeze like that, you can run for president. Nice story on the Pearl Harbor nurse…I miss real story-telling. Cheers.
p.s. Whatever happened to The Fighting Sioux?
the Fighting Sioux were sunk by, I believe, a graduate who’s now living in Fargo. if UND would choose as mascot the Seminoles, which is approved by the NCAA, then the students could get all drunked up, strip down and paint up, and raise hob in the stands… and be heroes.
wotta country.
Great read Nick. I can remember running around the grounds of the capitol and sitting on the seat that used to be there and imagining what it would have been like to be there the day the shot was fired.
I think there are still a couple of tractor seats on the Old Gun that you can sit on and take aim at The Cathedral
Just found out this AM from my cousin who was in Hawaii last week that there is funny business afloat! They want to move the gun USS Ward over there to the grounds of the Arizona memorial. Please contact any and all who think this an insult to my father, who served on the Ward later in the war, and my uncle David J. Morgan whose name is engraved on the crew list by the gun. Both men were members of the First Shot Naval Vets in St. Paul and I feel as other families must that this gun should remain in MN. Thanks for any help preserving this piece of MN heritage.
My Father, Harold R. Gilliatt was a seaman aboard the USS Anteres, which was the Naval supply/mmunition ship which the USS Ward was escorting. They were returning from a supply dellivery to Palmara towing the empty supply barge when the tow rope ran afoul of the ship’s propeller. The had to stand down to untangle it, requiring a one hour delay in their arrival. Had they been on time at 07:00, they would have been in Pearl when the Japanese attacked. he told me the story about all of it many times and chronicled it in his memoiers about his 31 years of Naval Service. Father was a “mustanger” who gained the rank of CWOIV before he retired. He went on to see two more wars in Korean and Vietnam where he was nearly killed during an enemy attack on the Port of Da Nang when serving as Chief Supply Officer. He passed away on 5 December some six years ago from caner.He was 85 years old and was married to my mother for 60 years…they married in 1940 just before the Pearl Harbor attack. I am the oldest of their 5 children. Mother is still living…she is 90.