Sunday in Hell, page 19
When the conference adjourned, Admiral Halsey, except for a lunch break, stayed over until 1800 hours to visit with his Naval Academy classmate, Admiral Kimmel. During that visit, Admiral Stark’s message to Kimmel arrived. Halsey and Kimmel discussed the potentially explosive crisis in the Pacific, and the imminent possibility of a Japanese attack. The next day the aircraft carrier Enterprise (CV-6), Halsey’s flagship, was departing with a task force bound for Wake Island with the Admiral in command. The Enterprise was going to deliver the Marine F4F squadron to Wake Island.
Kimmel asked Halsey if he wanted to take the battleships with him. The presence of the battleships kept up the pretense of a routine mission. “Hell no!” Halsey retorted. “If I have to run I don’t want anything to interfere with my running!” He felt America was going to be in a fight before he returned from Wake Island.45
It was late afternoon in San Francisco when Colonel Phillips handed General George C. Marshall’s message to General Short. Lurline had departed San Francisco on her voyage to Honolulu. On board among nearly seven hundred passengers were the two college football teams and accompanying coaches, managers, and rooters. The Willamette University Bearcats from Salem, Oregon, and California's San Jose State University Spartans finally embarked for their long-anticipated round-robin games with the University of Hawaii Rainbows.
The Enterprise departed from Pearl Harbor on 28 November, in company of the heavy cruisers Chester (CA-27), Northampton (CA-26) and Salt Lake City (CA-25); the destroyers Balch (DD-363), Gridley (DD-380), Craven (DD-382), McCall (DD-400), Maury (DD-401), Dunlap (DD-384), Fanning (DD-385), Benham (DD-397), and the Ellet (DD-398). Her Carrier Air Group’s normal complement of sixty-three planes included Bombing Squadron Six (VB-6) with 17 SBD-2 Douglas Dauntless dive bombers; Fighting Squadron Six (VF-6) with 16 F4F-3 Grumman Wildcat fighters; Scouting Squadron Six (VS-6) with 10 SBD-2s and 8 SBD-3s; and Torpedo Squadron Six (VT-6) with 18 Douglas TBD-1 Devastators and 2 SNJ-3s. On this mission, however, the Air Group was temporarily augmented with twelve Marine F4F Wildcats. Among crew members and aviators on the Enterprise there were no indications or premonitions of unusual events. They knew the mission was to qualify the Wildcat fighter pilots of Marine Fighting Squadron 211 (VMF-211), for carrier landings. However, the explanation of the mission included one crucial, attention-getting point not heard in living memory aboard the carrier. The fighters would be needed if the Enterprise lost her fighters or an emergency arose.
Heavy cruiser Pensacola (CA-24) underway at sea, September 1935. Task Group 15.5 guide and command ship, was underway from Pearl Harbor, 29 November 1941. NHHC
The gunboat Niagra (PG-52) entering Pearl Harbor, 31 March 1942. She was the Task Group 15.5 sub-chaser escort for “Operation Plum.” NA
A former gunner and radioman, Jack Leaming, in Enterprise’s Scout Squadron Six (VS-6) described events in the succeeding twenty-four hours aboard the carrier.
The Enterprise Squadrons took off from Ford Island the afternoon of November 28, and landed aboard Enterprise just off Diamond Head. The usual evening routine ensued...a movie, then lights out at ten.
The next day began with relocating all our planes on the hangar deck. Upon completion, those in the flight crews went topside to watch the Marines qualify, from a safe vantage point of course, since we expected the Marines to have some difficulty. They did not! They were Marines!
There were some tense moments, but the Landing Signal Officer, LSO, Bert Harden, would give them a wave off if they were not “in the slot” at correct speed and attitude. The procedure of landing aboard a carrier that is pitching and rolling, sometimes slowly, other times rapidly, requires practice, practice, practice, until one becomes as skilled as the world’s most accomplished Olympic athlete. It requires quick thinking, split second timing, and coordination.
There were very few wave offs. On their third qualification landing, instead of taking off again, Captain Murray ordered that they be taxied to the bow of the ship, their engines cut, and all aircraft secured.
When the last Marine had landed, the Captain called the crew to quarters. Addressing us over the loudspeaker system, we were told he had been given a special envelope containing special orders upon departing Pearl Harbor from the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet [Admiral Kimmel]. This envelope was not to be opened until a specified time. That time had arrived. He read the orders to us.
“Henceforth,” it began, “and to the completion of this mission, we will be operating as though under wartime conditions. Day or night, we must be ready for instant action. Hostile submarines might be seen or encountered. Everyone should be especially alert and vigilant at all times, especially while on watch.” He ended by saying, “Steady nerves and stout hearts are needed now.”46
At Pearl Harbor Saturday morning, 29 November, 0616 hours, the heavy cruiser Pensacola got underway in response to Task Force 15 Operation Order 15-41, with her skipper, Captain Norman Scott, the commander of Task Group 15.5. Dubbed “Operation Plum” when the effort was conceived, the convoy’s destination was Manila, Philippines, to reinforce the Islands’ defenses. Outside Pearl Harbor in advance of Pensacola was the other member of Captain Scott’s task group, the patrol gunboat Niagra. The Pensacola turned right to 255 degrees after leaving the harbor entrance.
Also en route were the seven ships Task Group 15.5 would join to escort Convoy 4002: the 8,300-ton transport Chaumont (AP-5), carrying sailors, civilian workmen and cargo; the USAT Republic, carrying ground units of the 7th Bombardment Group (Heavy), destined for Java; the USAT Meigs, carrying a cargo of 52 crated, Douglas A-24 dive bombers and personnel of the 27th Bomb Group (Light); the freighter SS Coast Farmer, carrying trucks and ammunition; the SS Admiral Halstead, carrying 18 crated 24th Group P-40E pursuit aircraft; the USAT Holbrook, with three battalions of Idaho and South Dakota National Guard artillerymen and their 75-mm guns; and the Dutch ship MS Bloemfountein, carrying the Texas National Guard’s 2nd Battlion, 131st Field Artillery and its guns. Cargo on the various ships included 340 vehicles, a half-million rounds of .50-caliber ammunition, 9,600 rounds of 37-mm antiaircraft shells, 5,000 bombs, and 9,000 drums of aviation gasoline.47
Early the same morning, while Bob Border was once more on duty aboard Tennessee, in Pearl Harbor, Joey Border, at home alone in their apartment, listened to the shortwave radio broadcast of the Army-Navy football game from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Though Bob had been an intramural soccer player at Navy, like all graduates of the Academy, he looked forward each year to the annual renewal of the classic football rivalry, which drew worldwide interest and attention throughout the Army, Navy, and indeed the entire United States. Now a Naval Academy graduate’s wife, as well, she smiled and cheered quietly to herself, as the Midshipmen defeated Army’s Cadets 14-6. Although she had expressed some mild frustration in her diary about the rain in Hawaii, she still regarded Oahu a beautiful island - and 1941 a truly wonderful year.48
Aboard Lurline, the passengers brimmed with pleasure at the thoughts of lovely tropical islands - home for some - while the men and women from Willamette and San Jose State Universities had similar happy thoughts, envisioning the beauty of the islands most had never seen, and football games filled with excitement.
Chapter 4
Prelude
If your sword is too short, take one step forward.
Admiral Marquis Heihachiro Togo
Christmas. Home. Family. Love. December is that time of year, no matter the circumstances and where an American might be. Monday, the first of the month, Joey was up and at work at the Canada Dry Bottling Company in Honolulu by 9:00 in the morning. There were more Christmas packages to wrap when Bob picked her up following his relief from duty. Thought and discussion with him after Tennessee returned from the last training cruise, had convinced her Saturday should be her last day at work. She had earned the extra cash she needed to supplement the purchase and shipment home of Christmas gifts and have an open house for the men in Bob’s 5th Division. What’s more they were anticipating his receiving orders at any moment for aviator training in Pensacola.
The same day, under the headline: TOKYO MINISTER SEES JAPAN MOVE INTO DUTCH EAST INDIES, the following excerpt from the United Press release appeared, datelined Tokyo, November 30:
Lt. General Saburo Ando, a member of the Japanese War Council, predicted today that Japan will try to cut China’s Burma Road and move into the Netherlands East Indies. As Holland itself had been completely occupied by the Germans, the Netherlands East Indies will be ‘summarily treated’ as soon as Japan decides to move into that area. Ando also singled out the U.S. as the only obstacle to the realization of Japan’s East Asia ‘Co-Prosperity Sphere.’
The Dutch East Indies still belonged to the Netherlands, a recognized ally of the United States. Japan was ignoring the risk of openly antagonizing America, and made what could be interpreted as a direct threat to attack the East Indies.
To Ando’s prediction of Japan cutting the Burma Road - China’s only remaining supply line from the outside world - the following opposing story appeared on the same day under the headline: U.S. PILOTS TO GUARD BURMA ROAD:
In the near future, the vital Burma Road supplying China will be defended from Japanese air attack by an all-American air unit, composed of American planes, flown by American pilots under the Chinese flag. Japanese reaction to (this) is that it would be ‘an example of the most provocative armed aggression,’ and a ‘direct hostile action.’
American pilots, volunteers flying “under the Chinese flag,” would call themselves “The Flying Tigers.” They would also be known as “The American Volunteer Group,” and the AVG.
Another 1 December three-paragraph news release from the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri was startling. The first sentence claimed, “if the Hawaiian Islands did not exist, war between Japan and the United States would be impossible.” The writer went on to say Japan’s “use of armed force in the attainment of the ‘East Asia co-prosperity sphere’ was as justifiable as America’s war for independence in 1776.” Through war, he continued, “Japan is engaged in a similar struggle to emancipate the people of East Asia. U.S. takeover of Hawaii was really only an indicator of America’s desire to now destroy Japan and control Asia.”1
Tuesday morning, front page headline stories from the Los Angeles Times indicated little let-up in the growing crisis. Under one headline, FDR CALLS NAVY AID IN ASIA CRISIS, was mentioned the president “…summoned Admiral Harold Stark, chief of U.S.Naval Operations…for a conference with Secretary of State Cordell Hull as the delicately balanced Oriental situation neared a critical stage…” Other headlines in Tuesday’s Times read, AUSTRALIA FEARS CLASH IN PACIFIC; AMERICAN FORCES ON ALERT IN THE PHILIPPINES; CHINA EXPECTS JAPAN TO INTENSIFY ACTION; SHANGHAI AMERICANS AGAIN URGED TO LEAVE; BRITISH IN MALAYA CALL OUT VOLUNTEERS; and JAPANESE CIVILIANS PREPARE TO LEAVE HONG KONG.2
Tuesday for Joey was work and more Christmas shopping on the way to Tennessee for dinner, after taking Mrs. Cubberley to the Hickam Field officers’ club for a drink. The coming holidays brought back memories of last year’s holidays, when she first met Bob. She looked forward to the holidays on the beautiful island of Oahu. Bob would have more time with her, and there were all manner of things to do and places to go.3
The crisis, worsening over the next 24 hours, brought these Wednesday headlines: U.S. DEMANDS JAPAN EXPLAIN INDO-CHINA WAR MOVES, PEACE TALKS ENDANGERED; TOKYO WARNED AMERICAN NAVY IN PACIFIC CAN SHOOT STRAIGHT; ALL U.S. MARINES OUT OF SHANGHAI; and BRITISH CHINA COAST SHIPS ORDERED INTO HONG KONG.4
On Wednesday, 3 December the Lurline arrived from the second leg of her twice-monthly San Francisco-Los Angeles-Honolulu triangular voyage, carrying the normal passenger load, this time including the Willamette University and San Jose State College football teams. The two teams, with their coaches, cheerleaders, and small contingents of fans, along with the other passengers, received the traditional, warm Hawaiian welcome of band boys playing island music, leis, and hula girls before loading luggage on buses for the Manoa Hotel near Waikiki - where both teams made their headquarters. En route on late fall’s rough seas, both the Bearcats and Spartans suffered mal de mer, and the coaches planned afternoon practices the day of arrival to restart more intense conditioning and finalize game preparations.
Wednesday was a no-work day for Joey. While Bob was on duty, she slept in until 10:00, went to the local market for groceries, wrapped more Christmas packages, and cleaned their apartment. In the afternoon she and Bob called on Lieutenant Colonel William D. Bassett and Lieutenant Robert J. Foley and their wives in the officers’ quarters. Rear Admiral David W. Bagley, the Combat Division Two commander, and his staff, which included six officers, were temporarily assigned to Tennessee until 7 December. Colonel Bassett was the Combat Division’s Marine Officer, and Lt. Foley, U.S. Navy, was one of the Admiral’s two aides, as well as his Flag Secretary - the officer who directed the admiral’s paperwork. (A Navy lieutenant senior grade is equivalent in grade to a Marine or Army captain.) Bob and Joey’s calls on the two officers and their wives were in keeping with Navy and Marine Corps traditions, which included leaving preprinted cards, similar to business cards, containing their names and Bob’s officer grade - ensign.5
In the states headlines were more of the same tense rhetoric, with the major headline predicting COLLAPSE OF PACIFIC PARLEYS EXPECTED. The sub-heading: “Hull Declares Japan’s Policy of Expansion Has Prevented Peace Talks From Progressing.” Headlines noted the soon-to-be enemies were continuing to evacuate what a few days later would become Pacific battlefields. American’s were,…ADVISED TO LEAVE HONG KONG while 8,000 JAPANESE LEAVE PHILIPPINES FOR JAPAN. Another announced: TOKYO CALLS HOME ENVOYS TO MEXICO.6
The deterioration of United States-Japanese relations hadn’t come overnight. The swift German conquest of Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium and France; the dramatic defeat and evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk in 1940 followed by the bloody Luftwaffe air campaign against England; the German Navy’s successful campaigns on and under the high seas; and the reinvigoration of the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis had emboldened the Japanese militarists. The results were a renewed Japanese thrust deeper into China, and covetous, expansionist eyes cast on the Dutch, British and French colonies and protectorates in Southeast Asia. Slowly at first, then with an increased sense of urgency, the turn of events began pulling America - reluctantly - from its isolation. War was coming. Foot dragging and doubts began to fall away in 1940.
In October 1940 Congress approved calling the National Guard into federal service, and a bill followed permitting states to raise and maintain substitute forces called the State Guard. By October 1941, over 108,000 men had been recruited in thirty-six states.7
Since July 1941, the United States had been seriously preparing for possible war. The American government had established the Office of Civilian Defense in July, and printed War Department manuals on the procedures for protection against air attack. Approximately 80,000 American Legion and World War I veterans, from more than half the states - including all the states along both coasts - had begun organizing and training aircraft warning observers. In thirty-one states, Legionnaires established fifty-six schools to train aircraft spotters and wardens. Also under way by August were plans to train city police and firemen to handle various types of bombs.
While 1 December headlines traced deteriorating Japan-United States relations and evident failing negotiations toward an almost certain conclusion, other headlines that week told of accelerating American preparations for now-probable war. Headlines from a story in the Los Angeles Times said: HARBOR DEFENSE TESTED BY GUARD: Eighty Men Engage in Maneuvers Aimed Against Enemy Invasion. Authorities in New York warned of “the possibility of a sabotage attempt made along the busy Brooklyn waterfront…which embraces numerous defense plants, shipyards and three large bridges.”8
Los Angeles Times headlines on 2 December warned: ARTILLERY UNITS MOVE TODAY FOR TEST OF AIR RAID DEFENSE: Gunners to ‘Defend’ L.A. from ‘Attack’ by Enemy Planes in State-wide Maneuvers. Fifty miles south of Los Angeles, the coastal city of San Clemente was informed it would receive its “Air Raid Instructions” that week. Former New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, the head of U.S. Civilian Defense was quoted: LAGUARDIA WARNS OF RAID DANGER.
On 4 December, under the headline, TROOPS FOR AIR RAID DEFENSE MANEUVERS TO ARRIVE TODAY, the writer disclosed details of the exercises: “4000 troops of the 37th Brigade from Camp Haan here for air raid exercises between December 11 and 16. Planes will fly as the theoretical enemy as well as interceptors. Will also test ground observers in spotting and reporting enemy planes to information center.”9
When Bob and Joey returned to their apartment Wednesday, they ate dinner and played acey ducey. The day, like the rest of the week, was quiet and peaceful. That night they retired early, looking forward to a fun-filled evening on Thursday, 4 December, with dinner at the Western-themed Wagon Wheel Restaurant and bridge with John N. Renfro - Bob’s Academy classmate and ship’s secretary on California - and his wife.10
“Winds” Messages
While the recently reunited newlyweds Bob and Joey enjoyed the week with Tennessee in port, on Thursday, 4 December, the U.S. Navy’s guarded, highly classified radio receiving station in Cheltonham, Maryland, intercepted a Japanese overseas “News” broadcast from Station JAP (Tokyo) on 11980 kilocycles. The broadcast began at 8:30 a.m., corresponding to 1:30 a.m. in Hawaii, and 10:30 p.m., 5 December, in Tokyo. The broadcast was probably in Wabun, the Japanese equivalent of Morse Code, and was originally written in syllabic katakana characters, a vastly simpler and phonetic form of written Japanese. It was recorded in Cheltonham on a special typewriter, developed by the Navy, which typed the Roman-letter equivalents of the Japanese characters. The Winds Message broadcasts, which Japanese embassies all over the world had been alerted to listen to in a 19 November coded message, was forwarded to the Navy Department by TWX (teletype exchange) from the teletype-transmitter in the “Intercept” receiving room at Cheltenham to “WA91,” the page-printer located beside the GY Watch Officer’s desk in the Navy Department Communication Intelligence Unit under the command of Navy Captain Lawrence F. Safford.11
