The Warship that Fired America’s First Shots of WW2

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USS Ward was laid down as a 1,247-long-ton (1,267 t) Wickes-class destroyer (designated DD-139) in the United States Navy during World War I, later converted to a high speed transport (designated APD-16) in World War II. She was responsible for the first American-caused casualties in the Pacific in World War II when she engaged and sank a Japanese midget submarine before Japanese aircraft arrived in the attack on Pearl Harbor, killing both crewmen on board.

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11 thoughts on “The Warship that Fired America’s First Shots of WW2”

  4. Excellent account of a ship that like so many other little ships, fought way above its weight, doing any-and-everything to prosecute the war!

    I'm bummed a little that Outerbridge felt no emotion about sinking his first command.

    I'd have loved to have heard the conversations of the Jap sailors inside those subs, and the one that was sunk especially!

    They were a lot bigger than I thought, but with those giant torpedoes in the bow like that, they could have wreaked a lot of damage!

    I seem to recall that there were other midget subs in the Harbor during the attack. Is that correct?

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  11. Thanks for the comprehensive analysis. Long ago on the net somewhere a copy of Outerbridge's post action report was found. Two paragraphs or so that got washed away by the actual air attack.

    The officers, at that time in history had been affected by months/years of routine along with drills and preparations that never resulted in anything. The arrival of Jap subs at the harbor entrance, obviously was a "declaration of war" and I don't know if quick communications to all senior officers would have meant much.

    Condor, Ward, Antares and the PBY should have been enough to convince higher ups this was real.

    God bless all of our heroes.

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