USS Ramapo (AO-12) - Report of December 11, 1941

December 11, 1941

AO12/A16/A9-8/(647) U.S.S. Ramapo

December 11, 1941.

From:The Commanding Officer.
To:The Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Subject:Report on Japanese Raid of December 7, 1941.
  1. In accordance with Navy Regulations and with dispatch orders from the Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, the following report is submitted on the Japanese raid of December 7, 1941, at Pearl Harbor, T.H.
  2. On the morning of the raid the Ramapo was moored in Berth B12, starboard side to, under the large crane. The cat walk had been cut up considerably in order to load Motor Torpedo Boats on deck. Four of them had already been loaded on the main deck amidships, and two more were on the dock, waiting to be loaded on the forecastle.
  3. The first warning of the attack on board was the noise of explosions. The Officer-of-the-Deck the, at about 0755, saw a Japanese dive bomber come in very close and drop a couple of bombs. He sounded general quarters and, as the guns were manned, fire was opened with all A.A. guns, using ammunition from the ready boxes. The machine guns opened up first, and the 3", using preset fuze setting of 2.5 seconds, shortly afterwards. The starboard 3" gun was blanked off through a large arc, by the crane on the dock but managed to fire from time to time. The machine guns on the Motor Torpedo Boats on deck opened fire shortly after the Ramapo.
  4. When the horizontal bombers started coming over fuze settings were shifted to 10 and 12 seconds, and then back to 2.5 seconds for dive bombers. The order of attack, as observed on this ship was: dive bombers, who did more strafing than bombing, torpedo planes, dive bombers, horizontal bombers.
  5. Damage to enemy planes reported by our personnel consisted of one direct hit by a 3" shell, and one plane winged by the .50 caliber but not seen to crash, but these reports are not definitely confirmed.
  6. No losses were incurred nor damage suffered although a bomb which looked to be about 200 lbs. and was dropped from about 500 feet, apparently at the New Orleans, landed near our port bow, midway between the Rigel in the berth ahead and the New Orleans in the berth opposite us, causing many splinter holes in the bow of the New Orleans and the counter of the Rigel.
  7. Conduct of officers and men on both the Ramapo and the PT's was so consistently highly commendable that no outstanding performance of duty can be selected.
  8. Individual reports of several officers and men will be submitted as soon as they can by typed.

[signed]
DUNCAN CURRY, Jr.

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