Pearl Harbor
At 0755 on the morning of December 7, 1941, Helm had just turned into West Loch in Pearl Harbor, en route to deperming buoys, when Japanese carrier planes attacked the naval base. It was the only ship under way at the time of the attack. The destroyer manned her guns and brought down at least one of the attackers while she was strafed and slightly damaged by two bombs close aboard. After the attack, she joined the task group of carrier USS Saratoga, just arrived from San Diego and served as screening ship and plane guard.
Read more about this topic: USS Helm (DD-388)
Famous quotes containing the words pearl and/or harbor:
“Pilot to crew. Take a good look at Pearl Harbor. Maybe it’s something you’ll want to remember.”
—Dudley Nichols (1895–1960)
“What do we want with this vast and worthless area, of this region of savages and wild beasts, of deserts, of shifting sands and whirlwinds, of dust, of cactus and prairie dogs; to what use could we ever hope to put these great deserts, or those endless mountain ranges, impenetrable and covered to their very base with eternal snow? What can we ever hope to do with the western coast, a coast of 3,000 miles, rockbound, cheerless, uninviting and not a harbor in it?”
—For the State of Kansas, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)