The day after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt called Dec. 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy.” Sixty-five years later, that prophecy continues to define American history.
The aerial raid on America?s largest Pacific naval base was a decisive victory for the Empire of Japan. Approximately 100 U.S. ships were attacked by enemy rocket storms and bombs. Sixteen vessels were destroyed or damaged and more than 2,400 men died during the battle.
Baltimore is home to the last warship afloat that survived the attack.
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Taney (WPG-37), decommissioned in 1986, rests at the Inner Harbor?s Pier 5 as a museum ship. Constructed in 1935 as a Treasury Class vessel, Taney is named for Roger B. Taney, a Marylander and U.S. Treasury-Secretary (1833-1834).
Sunday morning Dec. 7 began quietly for the Taney. Docked at Pier 6 in the Honolulu harbor, many men were ready to depart the ship for Liberty, when at 0731 a message came from the destroyer USS Ward. The Ward had found and sunk an enemy submarine at the defensive entrance to Pearl Harbor. Perceiving imminent danger, Taney?s Officer of the Deck, Lt. E. Pearson, took action. He recalled the ship?s officers from shore leave and ordered the ship?s guns to be uncovered and readied. Because of Pearson?s decisive response, Taney was one of the first ships in Honolulu to return fire.
Just before noon, a formation of warplanes approached Taney, intending to sink the ship or bomb the city power plant just behind the pier. With guns blazing, Taney was able to fend off the glide-bombing run. Taney was credited with saving the municipal building. If not for Taney?s fires, Honolulu may have been without power for several days.
A public memorial onboard the Taney, nicknamed the “Queen of the Pacific,” will be today at 11:55 a.m., to honor all who were killed at Pearl Harbor.
A longtime export analyst and consultant, Joseph R. Hughes? maritime-related articles have appeared in numerous publications. He is a native Baltimorean. E-mail your questions to him at [email protected].
