West Virginia's Skipper Makes Heroic Effort to Save Ship at Pearl Harbor

The battleship USS West Virginia was struck by two bombs and at least seven torpedoes that caused extensive flooding on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, during Japan's surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Oil fires from the adjacent battleship USS Arizona soon spread to the West Virginia, setting it ablaze.

The ship's commander, Navy Capt. Mervyn S. Bennion, was severely wounded by shrapnel from an explosion on the adjacent battleship USS Tennessee. Still, he continued to direct efforts to save the ship until he died from loss of blood. For his valor, Bennion would earn the Medal of Honor.

Some West Virginia's crew, including Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Doris Miller, an African American mess attendant, took gun positions that remained operable; others fought fires and sought to control flooding from the multiple holes in the ship's hull.

Miller also attempted to move Bennion to a first aid station, but the skipper refused to leave his post.

For his valor, Miller earned the Navy Cross Medal, which is the second highest medal a service member can earn after the Medal of Honor.

As the ship took on water, it started listing to the left, but swift counter-flooding measures by the crew kept it from capsizing, and the West Virginia eventually came to rest upright on the shallow harbor floor, which facilitated later salvage efforts.

As a result of the attack, 106 of the crew perished, along with one crew member from the battleship USS Tennessee who was assisting with firefighting.

Efforts by the Defense Department to recover the remains resulted in all but 25 to be identified. Analysts with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency are currently working to make further identifications of those disinterred from nearby burial sites on Oahu.

Besides the West Virginia, seven other battleships were struck, along with 13 other vessels and nearby airfields. The attack, which launched from six aircraft carriers and came in two waves, resulted in 2,403 killed and 1,178 wounded.

The United States declared war against Japan the next day.

Salvage efforts for the West Virginia and other ships began almost immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

On April 30, 1943, the West Virginia left Pearl Harbor for the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington, to undergo further repairs and extensive modernization, including a new superstructure, updated gun batteries and armor plating.

The battleship returned to Pearl Harbor on Sept. 23, 1944, then steamed to the western Pacific Ocean to participate in battles that included Surigao Strait, Leyte and Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines and later supporting the landings on the Japanese islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

On Aug. 31, 1945, the West Virginia sailed into Tokyo Bay and was present for Japan's formal surrender on Sept. 2, 1945, ending World War II.

Later that month, the West Virginia transported U.S. occupation troops from Japan to the United States.

Also, the ship's mast is on the campus of West Virginia University, and its bell is on display at the West Virginia State Museum in Charleston.

The aircraft carrier USS Doris Miller, scheduled to be laid down in January 2026, is named for the sailor aboard the West Virginia who earned the Navy Cross. Miller was killed in action during the Battle of Makin.

The ship's name lives on in the Ohio-class, ballistic-missile submarine USS West Virginia, which was commissioned in 1990 and is still in service.

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