World War II
When the Japanese launched their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Waters was in port at San Diego and still operating with the Sound School. She received word of the hostilities at 11:25 and immediately began preparations to put to sea. That afternoon, the destroyer made a three-hour antisubmarine sweep of the approaches to San Diego. On 8 December, she departed San Diego in the screen of Hawaii-bound Saratoga. Six days later, the carrier and her screen, DesDiv 50, entered Pearl Harbor. During her 10 days at Oahu, Waters periodically conducted patrols of the sea approaches to the harbor. Two days before Christmas, she got underway homeward with a task unit built around St. Louis, Helena, and Raleigh. She escorted the cruisers into San Francisco on the 29th and returned to San Diego on the 30th.
Read more about this topic: USS Waters (DD-115), Service History
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