12/8/41 1000 hours Washington DC

The senate chamber was packed as the president addressed the nation. He was somber as he talked. His popularity would plummet as the magnitude of the disaster became known. The final death toll would exceed eight thousand men, most killed in the sinking of the Battleships and Carriers. At least another three hundred men sustained permanent injuries. In one day the US Pacific Fleet had almost ceased to exist, its men were without arms, and its primary base was in ruins. Even the future of the United States as a nation was in doubt. Those who believed in ultimate victory knew the war would clearly be a very long and hard one. One columnist likened the defeat to the battles of the Spanish American War, after which the Spanish Navy was never a significant force. There were many who thought the American Navy was history.

12/8/41 1600 – The Battleship Battle Area

The commandeered passenger liners began to arrive at the battle areas late in the afternoon. Men were pulled from the water until each ship was loaded. Musicians and clerks who stayed on ships helped registered seamen and medical teams. When a ship was too full to take on any more of the men it was sent south. The departure of the first two ships created a feeling of hopelessness for the men in the water but the appearance of more ships and the report that was passed that more were coming quelled this. It was only when they landed at Pearl that the seriousness of the situation hit them, only six of the war ships that sailed out would return, all of these destroyers.

Ted Marks had been unconscious for over four hours when he and Dean Stenger were lifted from the lifeboat and placed on the deck of one of the liners. Both of them were evaluated and found to be in serious condition. Two operating theaters were ready on the ship when they were brought aboard, Ted was taken to the one, Dean was held, there were many who were in more serious condition. Both underwent surgery on the way back to Pearl. Gene Ness was on one of the last ships to come in. As soon as he landed he began looking for his brother. He found him in a field hospital, waiting to have his arm treated. Dick Ness couldn’t believe his eyes when Gene walked into the tent. He had been told the Pennsylvania had blown up and all aboard were lost. That would have been true but for the three men being thrown overboard just before the fatal attack.

The sea battle north of Pearl on December 7, 1941 and the Japanese attack on Pearl left Pearl badly damaged and nearly all of US Pacific Fleet at the bottom of the ocean. Never before had the US Navy suffered such a crushing defeat. In fact, no navy had ever experienced such a defeat, including the Spanish Navy at the hands of the American Navy in the Battle of Manila. Attacks on other U. S. bases in the Pacific began to reap substantial benefits for the Japanese.