On the USS Oklahoma, Finch Stowell became the chief fire controller and an expert on artillery.
He was sleeping below deck that fateful day. His ship was hit by three torpedoes. The loudspeaker blared "Air Raid! Air Raid! This is a real attack, real planes, real bombs."
Lights went out and men were scrambling blindly. Two more torpedoes slammed into the stricken ship and it began to list (turn) over.
Finch's widow recalls him saying, "The planes were so low, they could see the Japanese pilots waving at them just taunting them."
The Oklahoma continued to list. Stowell was outside a porthole, pulling sailors to safety, while another sailor was inside the ship pushing. Stowell remembered Petty officer 1st Class Stephen Pepe being too big to get through the porthole. The petty officer gave up and left and was never seen again.
Twelve minutes after the first torpedoes struck, te Oklahoma stopped listing with its superstructure in the harbor mud. Stowell and the others dived into the oil-covered water and were picked up by a craft. then he helped pull others out.
He was later assigned to the USS Mayford.
Just One of the Vanishing Stories. --DaCoot
No comments:
Post a Comment