[Growler]

Inevitably, the comparison between 7 Dec 41 and 11 Sep 01 is made, as both were "shocks to the system." This thread is not the place for such comparisons.

On an entirely thread-related note, I recently submitted a college paper for review, written about DD139 USS Ward, and her commander, William Outerbridge's actions outside the entrance to Pearl Harbor on the morning of the attack: the first official American shots of the war, and the first US sinking of a hostile submarine of the war, all occurred a little over an hour before the first Japanese aircraft appeared in the Sunday morning skies over Oahu.

Turned out that the reviewer on my paper is directly related to an USS O'Brien crewman. For those unfamiliar with the story, Ward was converted to a fast transport for the island-hopping campaign.

On the morning of 7 Dec 44, near Ormoc, she was struck by a single kamikaze. Initial reports were optimistic; the damage did not appear to be severe, and there was only one crewman injured by the strike. The fires spread quickly, however, and soon jeopardized the ship's ammo stowage. Ward's skipper gave the abandon ship command, and other destroyers in the area pulled alongside to help evacuate the ship.

Once the crew was off, the attending destroyers were given orders to sink the hulk of the Ward. USS O'Brien did the job - ironically under the command of one William Outerbridge. Three years to the day since his first command entered its name into the history books, he was ordered to sink it.

Got an A on the paper, too.