Ephraim P. Holmes

Lieutenant (later Admiral) Ephraim P. Holmes was a staff commander of battleships at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. When the first wave of Japanese planes began bombing, he was far from the harbor and unable to reach the scene until the first attack was already over. His account, which follows, is notable for its precise, accurate descriptions of the damaged ships, the onset of the second wave of enemy planes, efforts by sailors aboard the USS Maryland to fight back, and the attempts by several vessels to extinguish raging fires in Battleship Row following the departure of the second wave.

Early in the morning of December 7, 1941, I was proceeding with Lieut. Comdr. (MC) A.C. Hohn enroute to Fort Shafter. We observed the sky in the general location of Pearl Harbor to be...