Case 6: News Spreads
Case 6 shows through documents, diary entries, and photographs, how the news of Pearl Harbor spread throughout the Navy and the United States in the hours and days after the attack; it explores the reactions of the men as they began to absorb the meaning of the attack for themselves, their ships, and the United States. Telegrams reaching as far away as Bermuda that morning tell the story of how the news spread. Particularly affecting are the accounts of the men aboard the naval task force that had been escorting the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise , which had been delivering supplies to Wake Island, far to the West in the Pacific Ocean. They had been scheduled to arrive back at Pearl Harbor on the evening of December 6th, but had slowed down due to bad weather. When they arrived at Pearl Harbor, on the evening of December 7th, it was to witness the harbor ablaze with sinking and sunken ships, with the bodies of their dead comrades floating in the sea. Diaries and oral histories of men from the destroyers USS Maury and USS Hopkins , and the USS Flusser as well as those on the Enterprise itself are here. Perhaps the greatest shock hit the naval aviators from the Enterprise , many of whom were shot down and killed by American anti-aircraft men, trigger-happy after the events of the day.

News Spreads Items

Item No.	Title
6.01	Historical Sketch of USS Maury (DD-401)
6.02	[View of USS Maury ] (DD-401)
6.03	Biographical Sketch of Russell S. Crenshaw, Jr. ( USS Maury )
6.04	Russell S. Crenshaw, Jr. ( USS Maury )
6.05	[Aircraft carrier USS Enterprise ] (CV-6)
6.06	Historical Sketch of USS Enterprise (CV-6)
6.07	Benjamin C. Byrnside, Jr. ( USS Enterprise )
6.08	Biographical Sketch of Benjamin C. Byrnside, Jr. ( USS Enterprise )
6.09	Benjamin C. Byrnside, Jr. Interview ( USS Enterprise )
6.10	Charles P. Trumbull, Diary ( USS Louisville )
6.11	[Jules James on the British Island of Bermuda]
6.12	"Air raid on Pearl Harbor X This is Not Drill."
6.13	"Hostilities with Japan Commenced. . . ."
6.14	"The enemy has struck a savage blow. . . ."
6.15	John W. Newsom ( USS Hopkins )
6.16	Biographical Sketch of John W. Newsom ( USS Hopkins )
6.17	[Telegram sent by Secretary of Navy, Frank Knox]
6.18	"Execute WLP Forty Six Against Japan"
6.19	[Letter from John W. Newsom to Dear Folks]
6.20	"View of USS Hopkins " (DD-249)
6.21	Historical Sketch of USS Hopkins (DD-249)
6.22	John W. Newsom Interview ( USS Hopkins )
6.23	[Photo #1 of sunken Japanese midget submarine]
6.24	[Photo #2 of sunken Japanese midget submarine]
6.25	Historical Sketch of USS Flusser (DD-368)
6.26	"View of USS Flusser " (DD-368)
6.27	Biographical Sketch of Burns W. Spore ( USS Flusser )
6.28	Burns W. Spore ( USS Flusser )

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