Every sailor knows that a ship has it's own personality and temperment, but a ship is nothing without her crew. The USS Ward would hot have had her career if not for the men that kept her running and fighting. Below are bios and pictures of members of the Ward's crew. Click to Enlarge
	Confederate Air Force Airshow, Holman Field St. Paul, MN August 1998 Seated: Russ Reetz, John Gill Standing: Will Lehner, Ken Swedberg
	First Shot Luncheon September 10, 1998 Seated: Ray Nolde, John Gill -Loader, #3 Gun Standing: Orville Ethier, Don Jones, Robert Ball, Don Pepin, Ken Swedberg - Fireman
	USS Ward DD-139 First Shot Ceremony St. Paul, MN December 7th 1998
	USS Ward DD-139 First Shot Ceremony St. Paul, MN December 7th 1998
Special thanks to Ken and Donna Swedberg and Jackie Gill-Pirk for sending pictures and information!
In their Own Words
S1c John K. Gill - 17 Years old at time of attack Description of Activities on December 7th, 1941: The ship was on patrol just outside the Pearl Harbor entrance when we were called to general quarters at approximately 0345. It was suspected that a submarine was in the area. We secured from general quarters when no submarine was located. Later in the morning we went to general quarters again after Herbert E. Raeubig, Seaman 2nd Class, sighted a submarine conning tower coming from the direction of Diamond head. The Submarine was on our starboard side so our #1 and #3 (4"/50) guns fired at the sub's conning tower. The #3 gun hit the conning tower and the sub went down. We made a depth charge run over the sub, dropping four depth charges, one by one, and the sub was history. On shore, no one believed the message we sent regarding our action. At 0755 the japanese planes came flying in, and from our vantage point it was like sitting in a stadium and watching a ball game. The bombs were dropping all over, as well as torpedos. After the hit on the Arizona, it seemed as though all the battleships were on fire. There was a huge plume of very black smoke rising from the Ford Island and battleship row areas. Some high level bombers flew over us and several other Japanese planes flew by very closely, and we could see the round red markings on their wings and sides. I remember the U.S.S. Antares heading for the entrance to the harbor. At this point, no one would have believed the U.S.S. Ward (DD 139) would be sunk three years to the day on December 7th, 1944. -Quoted from Page 76 of the "Pearl Harbor Survivors Book." *NOTES* John Gill lists his position December 7th as loader, Gun #3 yet he is not listed on the plaque mounted on the gun itself in Minnesota. It is probable this was not his position during the attack on the midget submarine but that he occupied it for the rest of the day.
Lyle C. Perkins, Radioman while Ward was an APD My name is Lyle C. Perkins and I was a Radioman on this ship and went aboard right after the first landing at Guadalcanal. I stayed with the ship until we were sunk in Ormoc Bay, Phillipines. Then went aboard the USS Crosby APD 17 and finished out the war in the Phillipines and on to Okinawa where we were used to reinforce troops and also pulled many tours of picket duty around that Island before we got orders home. Took us alsmost a month to come from Okinawa to San Fran. with stops a Kwajelin, Johnson Island and Oahu. We spent many months in the Solomons after leaving Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides. We anchored at Tulagi across from Guadalcanal. It was from there that we transported the 4th Marine Raiders, commanded by Col. James "Jimmy" Roosevelt. We made landings at the Russel Islands, New Georgia Islands, Bougainville, Treasury and Choiseul Islands. I of course, can't remember the dates but at New Georgia we took the 4th raiders in on one night, dropped them off, came under heavy shore batteries and had to abandon our boat crews and the next night we went back, picked up the Raiders and our boat crews and proceed back to Espiritu Santos. While on the beach, our Boatswain's mate in charge was given an order by a Marine Officer to do some thing or another, and he politely told the Officer that he was a Sailor not a Marine and to shove off. Naturally he was court marshaled , broken down a notch, but before it was over with he had his rank back. We then made the landing and several reinforcements at Bougainville and on one such excursion we came under heavy torpedo bomber attack in the middle of the night around 3-4 AM. I can't recall how many ships were hit, but do know that the USS McKean (APD-5) was hit and sunk, off our starboard bow. I heard that in picking up the survivors, they also picked up the Japanese pilot of the torpedo bomber that sank them as he was shot down in the process. I can't verify this. We also received the Presidential Citation for making two landings in one day. One at Treasury Island and the other at Choiseul Island. Immediately after these two landings and after leaving the latter Island we picked up a Native guide and we traveled in the moonlight until about 3:00A, being bombed by our own PBY's as we were on radio silence. I believe we went to Vella La Vella Island where the Japanese Imperial Guard was supposed to be, and picked up survivors from one of our naval ships that was sunk. If my memory serves me right, they could have been from the Light Cruiser, USS Helena (CL-50). One interesting development occurred on the trip and that was with our native guide. He was standing amid ships with his hand on the metal guide of the boat davits. Unbeknownst to him, we were being very quiet and a verbal order was given to the Boatswain's Mate to Lower one of the landing crafts. This Cradles wheel rolled over the fingers of our Native guide crushing all fingers. He was in excruciating pain, but his hatred for the Japanese was such that he climbed in the boat and went ashore and retrieved the survivors with our boat crews. During my tour of duty on the USS Ward and the USS Crosby I participated in 32 initial landings. We shot down several Japanese aircraft and bombarded several beachheads. One interesting note on the sinking of the USS Ward was that Major Bong, the P-38 Ace was flying cover for us at Ormoc. He and his crew shot down the three Bettys and the first one tried to hit us but went over our bow just in from of the bridge. The second one come down on us a saw that he couldn't get low enough to St.-Louie us, so he dropped a bomb. Our ship was so rusty that the bomb went through the well-deck and out the starboard side of our ship. The next one was low enough to hit us amidships. Our Radarman was coming out of the Galley with a cup of "Joe" and was walking right over the spot where the plane hit.
F1c Ken Swedberg - 20 years old at time of attack I joined the Naval Reserve 47th Division 11th Naval Battalion in St. Paul, Minnesota on February, 1938. I was 17 years old and a student at Johnson High School. At this time many young men were joining the service and many of my buddies also joined the Naval Reserve. We drilled every Monday night at the Minnesota Boat Club on the banks of the Mississippi River. Our division had approximately 100 men as did the 48th Division which met on Tuesday nights. We also trained on the YP Ramsey, a 60 foot Naval vessel assigned to our battalion. We also participated in local parades. Our annual summer cruise on the Great Lakes was our big event, our boot camp afloat. None of the 85 men who were called to active duty on January 23, 1941, had gone to an official Navy boot camp. In July of 1938, 150 men from the 47th and 48th Division traveled by train to Duluth, Minnesota to board the USS Paducah, Ex. P.G. 19 built in 1905. The Paducah was originally a coal burner converted to oil and had one engine, a vertical triple-expansion. We cruised on the Paducah in 1939 and 1940, carefree and having a good time. In the fall of 1940, we sensed our country was arming for war. The draft numbers were chosen October 31, 1940 and men were drafted into the military. I was 19 years old but had not registered for the draft because of my naval reserve status. The 47th Division was now organized as a ship's crew. When the call came for the 47th to active Naval duty, the destroyer crews were partially trained in each of our rated specialties and in my case as a fireman in the boiler room. Eighty five men left St. Paul, Minnesota on a cold 20 degree below zero winter night. Some men were excused for personal reasons and as only 85 men were needed, we were a select group. We boarded a train from the St. Paul depot on January 23, 1941. Four days later, on January 27, we were in San Diego and then taken by bus to the destroyer base. We lived in base housing there and on February 6, we moved on board the USS Ward, with Capt. Lt. Hunter Wood. The Ward was recommissioned February 11 and left San Diego February. 24. She arrived on Mare Island, San Francisco, on February 26, departed February 28 and headed for Hawaii, arriving there March 6, 1941. We were assigned to inshore and offshore patrol duties with the USS Allen, Chew and Schley, WWI four stack destroyers. We were under command of Rear Admiral Block, Commandant 14th Naval District, Hawaiian Islands. We performed patrol, escort and target duties. On Friday, December 5, 1941, Captain William W. Outerbridge, Lt. USN, replaced Captain Hunter Wood, Lt. Cmdr. USN. We left our moorage at Pearl Harbor on Friday morning and relieved the Schley and resumed offshore patrol. On Saturday, December 6, 1941, we had general quarter drills. I was now a Fireman 1st Class, equal to deck rating, 3rd class petty officer, with a new battle station on the 3. single 23 gun. This gun was on the bow behind the 4”/50 single. There were four 4”/50 single main battery guns. The 3” gun was our only anti-aircraft gun in addition to a 50 caliber machine gun. This was my first drill on this gun. At 3:45 AM on December 7, 1941, I had just arrived at No. 1 fire room to stand my regular 4-8 AM watch when General Quarters alarm sounded. The USS Condor, one of four minesweepers on patrol, had spotted a submarine close by and notified the Ward by blinker light. After my relief came, I went to my newly assigned General Quarters battle station as gunner on the 3”23 A.A. gun (I was to sight and fire the gun). It was the only gun manned by members of the “black gang,” or engineers. Dave Morgan, WT 1/c was phone talker; Tom Nadeau, 1st shell man; Maury Hurley, hot shell man; Bob and Ed Zechmann, ammunition handlers. We were secured from General Quarters and I went back to the fire room to stand my regular watch. At 6:30 AM, it was starting to get light out. General Quarters was sounded again and we were back to our battle stations. The USS Antares, a supply ship with barge in tow from Palmyra Island had approached the anti-sub net gate. Ward lookout H. E. Raeubig spotted what looked like a black buoy in wake of the Antares' stern. Raeubig notified Officer of the Deck Lt. Oscar Goepner who immediately called Captain Outerbridge. They decide the object is more like a submarine conning tower. A PBY float plane above was on morning patrol and began to circle the object and determined it to be a submarine. The PBY then dropped a smoke bomb marker. The Ward closed in on the submarine, making 15-18 knots. Captain Outerbridge first thought of ramming the submarine but then decided to attack by gunfire. We were on a collision course with the submarine, coming up fast. At the right moment we turned to the left or port and there, about 100 yards off our starboard (right) bow, was the midget submarine moving very slowly. No. 1-4” bow gun fired 1 shell but shot over the conning tower. I believe with the fast turn to port it raised the starboard side of the ship and these 4” guns were not made to fire at close range and could not depress lower. No. 3 gun atop the galley deck house now was sighting on target and her gunners put a 4” shell through the submarine conning tower which was less than 50 yards away. The sub started to submerge. We slowed but were still coming up close to 50 feet and crossed over the bow of the sub. The Ward dropped 4 depth charges in a diamond pattern. The PBY now also dropped a depth charge. We sent a message by radio to the Commandment on shore at Pearl that we had attacked, fired upon and dropped depth charges on a submarine operating in a defensive sea area. We received a message back-"confirm". We repeated the message and added, "by gunfire", but received no further comment. The time was now 6:53 AM on December 7, 1941. About 7:00 AM, our lookouts spotted a small sampan-type boat towing a dinghy close to shore in this same defensive sea area. Another violator! We steamed closer to shore and fired a burst of 50 caliber machine gun to stop the boat. A man came on deck waving his white shirt on an oar. We notified the Coast Guard in Honolulu Harbor and they sent a patrol boat which took him in to Honolulu. Later we learned that 5 midget submarines had been released from their mother subs around Maui at midnight and possibly this sampan boat was loaded with radio gear and could have given the Ward's location. We also learned that 3 midget subs did get past us and 2 or 3 possibly were able to enter the harbor but all were sunk by gunfire or ramming. We continued our patrol, still on General Quarters and sounding for more subs. On December 7, 1941, at 7:25 AM, the Commandant's office ordered the Destroyer ready duty” Monaghan to get under way to investigate sub contact by the Ward. The Monaghan received the message at 7:51 AM. At 7:55 AM, the Japanese air attack begins. The Ward is close to the harbor entrance. We saw planes at a distance and Captain Outerbridge remarked, “those must be Admiral Halsey's planes from the Enterprise.” The Enterprise was 200 miles west and he thought it was coming back to Pearl from Midway. The Captain said, “they always put on a show when the carriers come back.” Our carrier planes usually landed on Ford Island. Soon we heard explosions, followed by fire and smoke. Then we saw the rising sun on the plane wings and we knew they were Japanese planes. We now began hunting for more submarines. By 11 AM the Ward had dropped 35 depth charges. At 8:15 AM, two Japanese planes came after the Ward. We started to zigzag. I received the order to fire. As I trained the gun on one plane and pulled the trigger, nothing happened. We phoned that the gun did not fire!! Three gunners' mates and the chief gunner's mate, W. Mayer, adjusted the firing pin and tried 2 shells, before one fired. The two Japanese planes each dropped a bomb, one on each side-but they missed and the planes left. We saw the Monaghan coming out of the harbor with her anti-aircraft guns firing. This broke off the 2 planes after us. The Monaghan was a new destroyer and equipped with better guns than the Ward. We were happy to see her with us. At 9 AM, our B-17 bombers began arriving looking for a place to land. They came from California but had no ammunition for their guns as they were going to the Philippines and only were stopping for gas. At this time anything flying was a target. We could not identify or trust anything! I did manage to fire one shot but the target was a B-17 that I was directed to fire at. Fortunately I missed. We did not even know what kind of shells we were firing!!. We didn't know if they were practice shells, star-shells or real anti aircraft shells. We only used what we were given by one of the gunner's mates. The B-17's left us for friendlier skies and looked for a safe place to land. After the air attack was over, our sonar men reported more submarine soundings-so we kept dropping depth charges. These were like a 30 gallon barrel in size with a pistol or a 10 long timer. They set these to go off 100 feet. This would cause a geyser-like column of water to rise 10-15 feet in the air. Our speed had to be at least 20-25 knots to avoid vibration to our ship during depth charge attacks on submarines. They were set to go under the subs. By 11 AM, we had dropped most of our depth charges, close to 40. We asked permission to enter West Loch which was a natural bay or loch were all the fleet's ammunition was stored. We needed to take on more depth charges. The loch was separated from the rest of the harbor and the ships. We were refused entrance. We finally did enter at 2 PM. Then we saw the devastation. There was oil burning on the water ships burning. Some ships were on their side. The Utah was completely turned over. The Nevada got underway but was beached so as not to block the channel. It was a good thing the Japanese missed West Loch as our fleet would have had to turn to the mainland for ammunition for their guns. From official records, there were 27 Japanese fleet submarines in Hawaiian waters that morning circling Oahu, five of which carried the 80 foot long midget submarines. It was a busy morning for the Ward. These subs no doubt were waiting to sink any of our ships that were able to leave the harbor. That night we all slept by our guns or topside, thinking that if a torpedo hit us, we would at least be blown into the sea. We always wore our life jackets along with a WWI steel helmet and we continued our patrol duty for another week. The Ward remained on the same duty with the Chew, Schley and Allen. Extra duty included escort and screening duty of larger ships, cruisers, supply ships. Ward served as target ship for our carrier planes, especially the torpedo bombers. Planes would drop their torpedoes at us all set to go deep under our keel. What a sight to see the “fish” come at us and go underneath us! After they ran out of “steam,” we would retrieve them. They had dummy heads and no explosives. Ward remained in Hawaiian waters until December 13, when we sailed for Bremerton, Washington. On December 24, 1942, we entered Puget Sound Navy Yard for overhaul and conversion to Armed Personnel Transport (APD-16). We sailed to back to Hawaii February 13, 1943 and arrived at Pearl Harbor on February 24, 1943. The Ward then entered the South Pacific, landing 200 troops of Marines and soldiers at 14 island invasions. Her last invasion action was on December 7, 1944, in Ormoc Bay, Leyte Gulf, Philippine Islands. After she unloaded her troops, the Ward headed for anti-submarine patrol when 3 Betty twin engine bombers attacked her. The Ward's guns shot down 2 of the planes but the third one, on a kamikaze dive, crashed into her empty troop compartment, setting the Ward on fire. She lost all power with no pumps to put out the fire. They had to abandon ship. The order to sink the Ward came from the USS O'Brien, a DD whose Captain was then William W. Outerbridge, who had been Captain of the Ward on December 7, 1941. The Ward was sunk to prevent her own ammunition from exploding. The Japanese could not touch her on December 7, 1941, when they attacked Pearl Harbor, but succeeded in sinking her on December 7, 1944, three years to the day later. Of the original 85 Naval Reservists from St. Paul, Minnesota, 14 men remained on board the Ward at the time of her sinking. There were no casualties. All 85 men returned home and ultimately formed the “First Shot Naval Vets,” a group still active today. I am currently Vice President. I left the Ward by transfer on February 23, 1943, with my buddy Tom Nadeau, a fellow Naval Reservist WT 2/c, from St. Paul, Minnesota. We both transferred to the USS Salt Lake City-CA 25 and stayed on the Salt Lake City until the end of the war in September, 1945. For Ken's full World War II story please read his story at the Rio Grande TX Chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association's website.
Dick Thill, SC3c (Cook, 3rd Class) "We were patrolling the area just outside the Pearl Harbor entrance. We were called the General Quarters that morning because U.S.S. Condor had reported an unidentified submarine in the restricted area. We could not find anything so we secured from GQ. By 0630, daylight had arrived and we did spot a conning tower on what was obviously a two-man Japanese sub. Our number one and number three guns immediately opened fire. Number three scored a direct hit and we dropped four depth charges. It was curtains for the sub Our skipper, Lt. Bill Outerbridge, immediately sent off a message to headquarters at Pearl Harbor, telling them that the Ward had spotted a two-man Japanese submarine and that the Ward had definately sunk same (*NOTE* the captain radioed that Ward had attacked a submarine and did not mention the number of crew or state that Ward had sunk it). We were later told that the lieutenants call caused quite a stir among the Navy personnel back at Pearl, but it wasn't considered important enough to put the fleet on alert. I do know that our ship was credited with firing the first shot of the Pacific war. And War being what it is, the Ward was sunk off the Philippines exactly three years to the day after the Pearl Harbor Attack. Quoted from "This is No Drill! Living Memories of the Attack on Pearl Harbor" by Henry Berry. You can buy it at Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.