USS Ward sailed into history at Pearl Harbor

The four-inch gun of the Ward

The USS Ward seems relatively unsung. It's an important chapter of Minnesota history. It also gives us a fuller understanding of the notorious "sneak attack" by the Empire of Japan at Pearl Harbor. The popular conception is that we were essentially asleep when those Zeroes descended upon us. I suppose it's accurate to say we were "essentially" asleep. The naval base was a bustling operation that was never going to be completely in repose.
So, the wonderful crew of the Ward, mostly reservists from St. Paul MN, had the sleep rubbed out of their eyes well before the attack. They were out and about in the harbor at around 6 a.m. The Ward was a Wickes-class destroyer. It kept watch on the harbor entrance. Because? Well, the U.S. Navy must have been aware of a general danger. The Ward's crew numbered 115, of which 85 were from St. Paul.
What happened at about 6:30 a.m. is depicted in the movie "Tora! Tora! Tora!" The officer of the deck spotted the periscope of a Japanese (or "Jap" to use the vernacular of the time) midget submarine. It was an 80-foot vessel trailing the cargo ship USS Antares. The Ward's commander was Lt. William W. Outerbridge. It was St. Paulite Giles LeClair who shouted "commence fire!" The No. 1 gun missed. The No. 3 gun was deployed and it hit paydirt, putting a hole in the sub's conning tower. The sub began to sink. Several depth charges finished it off.
The incident seemed significant. The movie shows higher-ups under-reacting, one of them noting that there had been false sightings of danger. Later when word reached higher up, the reacting officer was incensed that more wasn't made of the incident, that more of a red flag wasn't raised.
The incident would pale in comparison to what was to come shortly thereafter. The "Jap" Zeroes arrived like flocks and wreaked hell on Earth. The U.S. "battleship row" was sitting there vulnerable. No one can dispute that the Japs initiated the war with the U.S. with their reckless tactics. But technically speaking, the first "hostile" action was actually taken by the Ward when it sank the sub.
"Tora! Tora! Tora!" was as good a movie as we might expect about the attack. It's compelling to watch today because it does not employ CGI. A movie that followed many years later, simply called "Pearl Harbor," struck me as a way to transfer the formula of "Titanic" to the Pearl Harbor story. The romance angles were going to be dripping. "Pearl Harbor" ended with a WWII episode that happened subsequent to the attack: the Doolittle raid. I found that disconcerting. I can't think about the Doolittle raid without feeling depressed about how it ended up borderline suicidal. The planes had to take off prematurely and exhaust their fuel.
The Japs were brainwashed and sadistic. The mid-20th Century revealed the worst in mankind's proclivity for conflict. It's a lesson: it could happen again. We have a president of the U.S. now with nascent fascist tendencies. A sudden economic collapse could tilt us toward disaster.
We always assume "the good guys win." We can never be certain. U.S. forces were "the bad guys" in Vietnam and we even deployed chemical weapons.

A (preferable) alternate history
I have always felt haunted by what WWII may have cultivated for our country. What if we had not been drawn into WWII? Think of all the fine young men whose lives could have been saved. Think of how the size of our military could have stayed limited. No dramatic expansion for war. Once expanded, did political leaders look for ways of exercising it to justify its breadth? What about Korea and Vietnam and the immense tragedies presented by those conflicts? Did we have to feed General MacArthur's inclination toward confrontation? MacArthur was a hero and then he bombed when running for president. My father who was in the Navy in WWII said: "People were afraid that MacArthur would get us into more wars."
Heroic as our commitment seemed in WWII, and in spite of it being known as "the good war," it was in reality hell. We don't hear from the people who were killed. We hear from the survivors who speak at assemblies for holidays like Memorial Day. I tend toward pacifism myself.

The ship meets its end
Three years after Pearl Harbor, the Ward was attacked near Leyte (the Philippines) by several Jap kamikaze planes. The suicide-piloted aircraft were loaded with explosives. One slammed into the Ward's hull, igniting a fire that could not be contained. The crew was ordered to abandon ship. By that time, the Ward had been converted to a high-speed transport. With its mortal wounds, the gallant little destroyer was intentionally sunk by the USS O'Brien. The O'Brien's skipper was none other than William Outerbridge.
The Ward was constructed way back in 1918. It was named for James H. Ward, the first U.S. Navy officer to be killed in action during the Civil War. The USS Ward lies at the bottom of Ormoc Bay, just off the island of Leyte, Philippines.
After the war, the crew members formed the "First Shot Naval Vets" which held reunions on December 7. The ship's No. 3 gun, having been removed as part of the ship's conversion, was moved to Minnesota for the state's Centennial in 1958. The gun can be seen "standing guard" on the grounds of the state capitol.
RIP, USS Ward crew members.
 
A tribute in music
I have written a song about the noteworthy vessel. I am fond of acknowledging famous episodes out of Minnesota history with song, such as the 1940 Armistice Day blizzard, and the First Minnesota Regiment of the Civil War. I have those two songs recorded. I don't know if I'll have the Ward song recorded, but I'm pleased to share the lyrics here.
 
"The Ward"
by Brian Williams
 
A wake was left behind her
Stillness all around
No one knew there would be hell to pay
It would be just an hour
'Til we heard the sounds
Of the bombs exploding with their rage
 
A boat was in the harbor
Keeping watch for all
There it saw a midget submarine
The crew was men of ardor
Mostly from St. Paul
All together they'd be quite the team
 
CHORUS
The ship was called the Ward
So active on that morn
Consider it the little ship that could
And though it was too small
To stop the coming squall
Its vigilance was still a force for good
 
 
The submarine did slither
Through the murky depths
Crewmen of the Ward knew what to do
They did not wait or dither
'Cause they knew the threat
We were all on edge for World War Two
 
They longed for Minnesota
And what it meant to them
Clutching at a harmless fishing pole
Those Japanese pagodas
Should be all condemned
They would say if they could bare their soul
 
(repeat chorus)
 
A depth charge made it certain
That the job was done
Now the Ward continued with its day
So soon we'd close the curtain
On our peaceful fun
As the conflagration came our way
 
They could not have suspected
What was yet to come
Flocks of roaring bombers from the sky
The fury was relentless
From the Rising Sun
Why was it so many had to die?
 
(repeat chorus)
 
They say we were in slumber
Taken by surprise
That's the way the textbooks make it seem
We should not be encumbered
Blinders on our eyes
'Cause there were exceptions to that theme
 
That little ship on duty
Out at 6 a.m.
Did its job exemplary and true
We celebrate it truly
And its gallant men
St. Paul has a way of coming through
 
(repeat chorus)
 
 
© copyright 2017 Brian R. Williams

Morris, MN - bwilly73@yahoo.com