Pearl Harbor Collage

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Earl A. Luehman Interview ( USS Helena ), 6 June 1991



Text from Interview Excerpt(s)
My first assignment was on a light cruiser, Helena CL-50, at Pearl Harbor. . . . We were at 10-10 dock, which was the berth of the flagship of the Pacific Fleet, the USS Pennsylvania . The Pennsylvania had . . . moved from our buoy position to her position, to fix an anchor engine. When the Japanese attacked the next morning, their maps showed the Pennsylvania in our position; consequently, we caught the first torpedo. Alongside of us was a wooden minesweeper, the Oglala . The torpedo went under the Oglala , blew a hole in our after engine room, killing about sixteen, and tore the bottom out of the Oglala . She had to be towed in back of us, where she rolled over and sank. That was the extent of our damage during the attack.

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Citation : Earl A. Luehman Interview, Oral History Collection , 5 June 1991.
Location : Manuscripts and Rare Books, Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858 USA
Call Number : Oral History No. 129, p. 1-5.    Display Collection Guide
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