Olympian file photo
George Smith, seen here in 1999, displays a photo taken a few months before he barely escaped the capsizing battleship USS Oklahoma during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

'I could see the Japanese planes'

George Smith

I was awakened at 3 a.m. on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, to report to my regular watch on the port ma-chine gun on the battleship USS Oklahoma. I had the 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. watch.

At 17 years old, I was the youngest sailor on the Oklahoma.

I was relieved from watch at 7:45 a.m. and reported to the galley for chow, only to be told that the cook had forgotten to save any food.

The cook volunteered to fix something, but I declined, saying that I was going ashore and would eat in town.

I went to my locker and removed my clothing to dress for liberty.

When I was clad only in shorts, I heard a loud voice over the loudspeaker saying: "All hands, man your battle stations." The first thought to cross my mind was that there would be battle drills all day Sunday, and this made for one very mad sailor - to be deprived of liberty for practice drills.

A loud explosion from the first Japanese torpedo hitting the USS Oklahoma was followed instantly by a voice on the loudspeaker bellowing "This is no s--! Man your battle stations!"

I went immediately to my battle station on No. 4 broadside gun. Here I was joined by three seaman recruits, none of whom knew how to operate the gun or what to do.

Glancing out through the gun port, I could see the Japanese planes coming in for the attack.

Momentarily all I could do was to stare at this incredible sight.

Another torpedo hit just below us, and I tried to get out of the compartment. However, the hatches had been dogged, and the ship was beginning to list badly.

The terror that filled my heart and mind at that moment was almost unbearable.

However, my buddy and I dived out through the gun port into Pearl Harbor. Glancing around, I could see the USS Oklahoma rolling over on him.

Swimming through the burning oil-covered water, we rounded the bow of the ship just as the Oklahoma rolled completely over. I swam to the USS Maryland tied up alongside, only to be told I could not come aboard.

Clad only in shorts and covered in oil, my buddy and I managed to reach Ford Island and drag ourselves up on a grassy bank.

A Jeep came by, and a voice yelled out that we were on a gas storage tank.

We dived back into the water and swam to the USS Maryland. We remained there until the attack ended. We were without clothes, covered with grease and scared.

While in the water, we felt the explosion that made a memory of the USS Arizona.

I returned to Ford Island after the attack and was assigned to a motor launch.

Our job was to go across the channel to where the USS Nevada was tied up and board trucks to haul am-munition from an Army depot about 15 miles away. The task lasted on into the night, and with the blackout imposed, no lights on the truck could be used.

I sat on one front fender and another man on the other to direct the driver through the darkness.

Somewhere on Ford Island that night, I found a pair of white navy shorts and a C.P.O. raincoat. This made up the uniform I wore for some time. During the night, the last load of ammunition was brought in, so I reported to the receiving station in the Navy Yard and was assigned to a bed.

Sleep was not to be, however. About 3 a.m. a man came in and asked for 100 volunteers for a work party. I went with the group to the USS California to remove the bodies of the men who did not survive the attack.

Working at this gruesome detail until 10 a.m. that morning, I finally went to bed exhausted, hungry and sick from the tasks.

I slept for the next 30 hours.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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