CP Note: This is the third post in a three-part series by Jean Sasson. The first post is: “Seventy Years Ago and Seven Days Before December 7, 1941.” The second post is: ”70 Years Ago: December 7, 1941.”
“In all the war I have never received a more direct shock.”
—British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, relaying his horror at the news of the sinking of the Prince of Wales and the Repulse three days after Pearl Harbor.
Date: December 10, 1941
Place: London, England
With: Winston Churchill, Prime Minister
During his years as Prime Minster of England, Winston Churchill’s mornings were devoted to work that accumulated while he slept. He tended to this military and political business still attired in his dressing gown while reclining comfortably in bed. All papers and documents dealing with government and war matters were placed into special “boxes” by his assistants and were taken to his bed for opening, reading and decision making.
Churchill later wrote that such was the scene when on December 10, 1941, the bedside telephone rang. Churchill answered to discover that the caller was the First Sea Lord. Churchill heard the man cough, then gulp, before saying, “Prime Minister, I have to report to you that the Prince of Wales and the Repulse have both been sunk by the Japanese–we think by aircraft.” Tom Phillips is drowned.”
A startled Churchill replied, “Are you sure it’s true?”
“There is no doubt at all.”
Churchill said that he put the telephone down, “thankful to be alone.” In all the war, he said, he never received a more direct shock. There were “many efforts, hopes, and plans which floundered with the Prince of Wales and the Repulse.” Years later Churchill remembered that as he turned over and “twisted in bed, the full horror of the news” sank in upon him. Now there were no British or American capital ships in the Indian Ocean or the Pacific other than the American ships that survivedPearl Harbor, and those ships were already returning to the United States. That’s when he knew that over the entire expanse of Pacific waters, “Japan was supreme and the United States and Great Britain were weak and naked.”
Churchill had pushed for the Prince of Wales to be sent to the area so that the impressive ship might intimidate the Japanese into thinking twice before attacking British interests in the area, such as Singapore or Malaya.
The news grew even more distressing as loss of life figures were reported.
The Repulse was the first to roll over and sink, taking many heroic officers and sailors to a watery grave. Of the 66 officers and 1,240 sailors, 42 officers including the skipper, were saved, along with 754 sailors. That left 510 good men to die with their ship.
The Prince of Wales quickly followed. Captain John C. Leach was the skipper of the Prince of Wales, and Churchill was very fond of the Captain, once describing him as “a charming and lovable man, and all that a British sailor should be.” A most poignant sight, Captain Leach and Admiral Tom Spencer Vaughan Phillips had been seen standing side-by-side on the bridge of the Prince of Wales as the great ship succumbed to its wounds. Neither man tried to save himself, with Leach calling out to his men, “Thank you. Good luck. God bless you.” Both courageous officers went down with their ship. There were 100 officers along with 1,502 sailors onboard. Ninety officers and 1,195 sailors were rescued, although 317 good sailors were no more.
Now the Prince of Wales and the Repulse were on the bottom of the ocean, along with 827 men of the royal navy.
More shocking news was to follow. Churchill had believed Singapore to be “a famous fortress” that must be defended to the bitter end. But Singapore was soon to fall, with Churchill’s worse nightmares suddenly realized.
W.H. Thompson, who was Churchill’s bodyguard for many years, told the story in his book, I was Churchill’s Shadow
Despite these bitter military tragedies, Churchill soldiered on, and after tending to urgent business in London, planned a visit to the United States to confer with President Roosevelt on joint military matters. Nothing was more important than this long awaited opportunity to join hands with the Americans. With America, Russia and Britain fighting together, Churchill knew that the war against the tyrants would end in victory, regardless of how many tedious years it might take.
No one felt the passion of set-backs and defeat more than Britain’s Prime Minister. While on his journey by ship to theUnited States, Churchill said that, “All our problems traveled with us…”
Date: December 8, 1941
Place:East Prussia, at German General Headquarters
With: Adolf Hitler, Nazi leader andGermany’s Chancellor
For days prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese government tried to get a definite answer from Germany’s Foreign Minister Ribbentrop that Hitler would quickly declare war upon the United States if the Japanese government declared war upon the Americans. This, although the Japanese had had yet refused to join Germany and declare war upon Russia. The Japanese were fully aware that the text of the Tripartite Pact previously signed between the two nations bound Germany to assist Japanonly if Japanwas attacked.
General Oshima, the Japanese Ambassador to Germany, was unaware of the Pearl Harbor plans. He had no clue that the Japanese fleet was moving on the open ocean on their way to attackPearl Harbor.
But he knew that something important had changed when fresh instructions reached him in Berlin. He was told that “The Washington talks now stand ruptured–broken.” Tokyo ordered him, “…Immediately interview Chancellor Hitler and Foreign Minister Ribbentrop and confidentially communicate to them a summary of developments. Say to them that lately England and the United States have taken a provocative attitude, both of them. Say that they are planning to move military forces into various places in East Asia and that we will inevitably have to counter by also moving troops. Say very secretly to them that there is extreme danger that war may suddenly break out between Japan and the Anglo-Saxon nationals through some clash of arms and that the time of the breaking out that war may come quicker than anyone dreams.”
The Japanese government was proving to be devious to all, including their own pact partners.
Although Hitler loathed American President Roosevelt, and was incensed that Roosevelt had repeatedly tried to get the Americans in the war, the dictator’s plans for making war against the Americans was set for a future date. First he must deal with the most pressing threats. Fronted by their infuriating and unyielding Prime Minister who refused to bow to the inevitable, the English were still defiant. Stalin had recovered from the shock of German treachery and now Russian hordes were throwing themselves against the German soldier, and with great effect. The Russian winter was one of the most dreadful in recent records, and the freezing cold was taking a tremendous toll on German military hardware and the common soldier.
Despite these pressing dilemmas, almost immediately upon hearing the news of Pearl Harbor, Hitler gave orders for the German Navy to attack American ships whenever and wherever they might find them. But he stalled for two days before formally declaring war. Due to the recent losses on the Russian front, he knew that he must refine his declaration of war as so to stir the German public into enthusiasm for fighting yet another country, and in particular the United States. Most Germans linked America’s entry into World War I to Germany’s ignominious defeat in 1918.
Despite Hitler’s disappointment in his inability to coerce the Japanese to fulfill their promises to attack Russia, and against the advice of his generals, Hitler foolishly plunged ahead, taking the Germans further into the abyss.
December 11, 1941, Hitler addressed the Reichstag, defending his declaration of war against theUnited States. In fact, much of his speech was devoted to hurling personal insults against President Roosevelt. Truth had never been of importance to the German dictator, and he made the laughable charge that the American President had provoked war, adding that “this man alone” (backed by millionaires and Jews) was “responsible for the Second World War.” He thundered on, saying that Roosevelt was guilty of the worst crimes against international law. Since World War II had officially been declared at the time of Germany’s September 1939 invasion of Poland, his charge was ridiculous.
By the cessation of Hitler’s angry rant, the deputies of the Reichstag jumped to their feet, cheering wildly, apparently ecstatic to have yet another opponent to meet in battle.
Despite Hitler’s seeming glee at adding America to his growing list of enemies, doubt crept in. At the beginning of 1941, he had crowed that the war would soon be won with Germany the victor. By December 30, 1941, triumph felt less certain. A gloomy Hitler scribbled in his journal, “Another dark day!”
And there were many more dark days to come. Rommel was retreating in North Africa. The Russian army was gathering confidence and strength. Churchill remained as resolute as ever. And now, the Americans were coming.
Victory was slowly slipping from Hitler’s grasp.
Date: December 14, 1941
Place: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
With: The American Sailors
Those who had survived the attack on Pearl Harbor were surrounded by carnage. Everywhere they looked, there was destruction, including sunken ships, burning ships, oily water, damaged buildings, and corpses washing ashore. Even though painful, such sights could be borne. But the sounds of tapping and banging from inside the capsized USS West Virginia, the sunken battleship, was the most unbearable reminder of the Japanese attack.
With the onset of quiet after the attack, the banging alerted listeners that fellow servicemen were alive and trapped inside the sunken hulls, a fate most considered more dreadful than death itself. The desperate banging and tapping was so painful to hear that some witnesses recall guard duty Marines covering their ears with their hands.
Rescue teams at work on the capsized hull of USS Oklahoma (BB-37), seeking crew members trapped inside, 7 December 1941. The starboard bilge keel is visible at the top of the upturned hull. Officers' Motor Boats from Oklahoma and USS Argonne (AG-31) are in the foreground. USS Maryland (BB-46) is in the background. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, National Archives Collection. Caption: Naval History & Heritage Command.
There were other wretched men trapped in the USS Utah and the USS Oklahoma. A cutting torch was used to free Fireman Second Class Jack Vaessen who had found refuge in a small pocket of air in the USS Utah. While beating on the hull with a wrench, release came, making Vaessen the first such rescue of the day. Six other sailors were freed from the USS Oklahoma soon afterward, with twenty-four lucky men pulled from the battleship the following day. There were twenty other survivors who were fated to die as their whereabouts in the ship were unknown until six months later when the Oklahoma was righted. Scratches on the bulkhead proved that some soldiers had lived for nearly two weeks, anxiously waiting for rescue that never came.
That was the case with the men tirelessly tapping from within the USS West Virginia. They banged determinedly but could not be rescued due to their location. Months later the remains of three sailors were removed from storeroom A-111. Those were the sailors who had pounded until death. And, their deaths were gruesome. All the emergency food had been eaten. Containers of fresh water had been opened. A calendar was found. The last red “X” was marked on December 23, 1941. Frantic for rescue, someone had survived in that hellhole for sixteen long days and nights.
No words in any language exist that can express their longing for life, their terror, their hopes, their fears, and finally, death that took them from their misery, first one, then two, leaving the third ill-fated sailor to face the helplessness of his situation, then at last, the final moments of death so miserably alone.
In the annals of war and death, there’s never been a sadder sound.
“Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang . . .”
Not the sounds of gunfire, but the tap of a wrench.
Bibliographical Guide:
The Second World War, Volume III: The Grand Alliance
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany
I was Churchill’s Shadow
Honolulu Advertiser, “Pearl Harbor: 16 Days to Die” by Eric Gregory
World War II History, “Royal Navy Ravaged“ by Michael D. Hull
The tragedy of the loss of Repulse and Prince of Wales was that the British didn’t learn their own lesson from Taranto, whre a fleet of aging British torpedo biplanes wreaked havoc on the Italian fleet. They didn’t have time to connect Taranto with Pearl Harbor when they steamed toward Singapore. Lacking air power to match that of Japan, they didn’t have a real plan. Later the Japanese “unlearned” the lesson of naval avaition when they spent valuable treasure building the superbattleships, Mushai and Yamato. Every war unlearns lessons from what went before, to the great loss of good people.
Sir Winston Churchill was such a larger-than-life figure, but I felt like I got to know the man behind the proverbial Iron Curtain after reading this affecting article. Jean Sasson not only educated me about what was going on with the war, but I had no choice but to be drawn in emotionally because Ms. Sasson’s writing is so personal.