Bulletin E-Edition:
Sam Smith, 89, of Bend, stands in front of a photo of the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Smith, who was on the USS Northampton at the time of the attack, had been scheduled to be at Pearl Harbor but had been delayed because of a mechanical problem on the ship. He arrived at Pearl Harbor the following day.
Pete Erickson / The Bulletin
Twist of fate, scene of carnage
But for a broken oil line, Sam Smith’s ship would have been at Pearl Harbor the day of the attack, 68 years ago
By Erin Golden / The Bulletin
Published: December 07. 2009 4:00AM PSTSam Smith should have been on a ship in Pearl Harbor on the December morning when Japanese planes began bombing American battleships.
The 21-year-old sailor was serving aboard the USS Northampton, a heavy cruiser that was assigned to help protect the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, and was scheduled to be back in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 6, 1941, the day before the attack.
But several hundred miles out at sea, as the Northampton assisted with the fueling of another ship, an oil line broke, spilling oil all over the ships and twisting a rope around the Northampton’s propeller, stalling the engines.
Fixing the problems put the ships behind schedule, and they were further delayed by rough seas on the way to Hawaii. By the time they reached Pearl Harbor, on the afternoon of Dec. 7, the damage was already done.
“It was awful,” said Smith, who is now 89 and lives in Bend. “The whole harbor, the whole port was thick with fuel because all the ships were losing the fuel. The (USS) Oklahoma was upside down, and those others were sitting on the bottom. And of course there were bodies: They were raking up bodies on the battleships, and we could see them as we came in.”
More than 2,400 people died in the attack, and another 1,200 were injured. A total of 21 U.S. ships were destroyed or damaged, along with nearly 350 aircraft, according to the U.S. Department of Defense’s Naval History & Heritage Command program.
When Smith joined the Navy in 1939, just after graduating from high school, he expected an adventure.
Growing up near Seattle, the fourth of 10 children, Smith didn’t think college was an option. With the country still reeling from the Great Depression, finding work was a top priority.
Seeing the world
Smith’s mother suggested he join the Civilian Conservation Corps, a government program that provided work for young men — but he had other plans.
“My mother didn’t like the idea (of joining the Navy,)” he said. “At that time, they had the CCCs. She said, ‘Well I think if you can go in the CCCs, you’ll get all the military you want.’ And I said, ‘I’ll tell you what, I’d rather see the world out of a porthole than the back end of a truck.’”
After several months of training in San Diego, Smith was assigned to the Northampton and eventually trained as a diver.
By late 1941, with Europe already two years into World War II, Smith said he and other sailors were on a heightened sense of alert. When his ship went out to sea just before the Pearl Harbor attack, Smith remembers being instructed to have ammunition ready to go, which wasn’t standard operating procedure.
“On this trip to Wake Island, they had us load all of our ready boxes with ammunition, so they knew something was going to happen,” he said. “I guess they knew the Japanese fleet was on the way somewhere, and they wanted to be ready for whatever.”
But Smith said nothing could have prepared him for the news of the attack — and worse, the scene he encountered when the Northampton pulled into Pearl Harbor. Smoke covered the harbor, and the fuel that had spilled into the water was on fire.
“Guys were standing on deck, crying,” he said.
Recalling the scene, Smith paused and swallowed hard before continuing.
“Pretty rough,” he said. “Officers, high-ranking officers, crying. Boy, you just couldn’t believe it had happened.”
But Smith wasn’t given much time to think about the chaos around him. He and other sailors were put to work loading up ships with supplies and fuel, and the Northampton was sent back to sea two days later to go on the offensive against the Japanese.
Northampton service
Smith continued serving on the Northampton and was involved in several wartime missions, including escorting the aircraft carrier USS Hornet as its crew launched an air attack on Japan in response to the events of Pearl Harbor. Smith was also involved in the Battle of Midway, considered by some to be the decisive battle of the war in the Pacific.
Smith enjoyed the work but recalls many tense situations, particularly one memorable night on the Northampton when he heard the bugle call designated for torpedo attacks and had to jump out of bed.
“Was I ever scared? Yes,” Smith said. “Anybody who says they weren’t scared is a liar.”
Shortly after the Battle of Midway, in June 1942, Smith transferred to the Navy’s diving school in Washington, D.C., and was later assigned to a submarine rescue vessel.
Smith left the Navy after the war ended in 1945, married and began a career with the Railway Mail Service. He continued meeting up with fellow veterans for several years, but said few of the men he served with are still living.
Now, Smith said one of his biggest dreams is to visit the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., which opened in 2004. For more than a year, he’s been on the waiting list with the Honor Flight Network, an organization that offers flights to veterans who want to travel to see the memorial.
In the home he shares with his daughter and son-in-law, Smith has his mementos from his Navy years on display — a photo of him in his diving gear, a glass case filled with medals, a certificate noting his military service.
Smith said he’s proud of his service, and thankful he was able to come home and continue on with his life. He hopes people will continue to think and talk about World War II, even as the events fade further into history.
“Like everything you do, it’s a part of your life, I guess, and I’m real thankful I’m still here,” he said.
Erin Golden can be reached at 541-617-7837 or at egolden@bendbulletin.com.
ARTICLE ACCESS: This article is among those available to all readers. Many more articles are available only to E-Edition members. Sign up today!
comments powered by Disqus
