Sitting on the overhead

Norman Orlando Roberts

Shortly after 8 a.m. crew members were told to “man battle station,” Roberts said. While headed to his station in the ship’s emergency radio room, along with five other crew members, the Oklahoma was hit by four torpedoes.

“Our emergency lights went out two minutes after we reached our battle station. By this time the ship had started to roll over, and we decided we had better get out. We went up the ladder to go through the carpenter shop, but they had already abandoned ship and left the hatch dog-down (fastened closed) from the top.”

“We had no way of escaping,” Roberts said. “By now the ship had turned over as far as it could go. So, basically, we were sitting on the overhead.”

After crew members secured all but one hatch lock in the radio room, he said, they hoped for a rescue. “We would pound code but never would receive an answer because there were too many people pounding, which interrupted code.”

However, Roberts continued, “We had hope of being rescued as we could hear some pounding … outside as the hull of the ship was out of the water.” Also, he said, “We could hear gunfire and hear the Arizona explode.”

The men in the radio room, along with another 12 crew members stranded in a nearby battle station, were rescued at 10 a.m. Monday.

“They lifted the hatch off our compartment. They got us out,” Roberts said. Before the rescue, he said, water had started to enter the room. He was told later that 15 minutes after the rescue, the compartment was completely filled with water.

“They took us to the hospital ship … where we spent one day, and then we were sent to duty with Adm. (Chester W.) Nimitz.”

‘Swim out — naked’

Howard Edward Roberts Jr.

“After several torpedo hits, ship capsized, trapping me and 28 others in the lower handling room of No. 4 turret,” Roberts said. “The ship was flooded for several decks, but at about 1300 hours I managed to swim out — naked.”

“A 50-foot launch picked me up and took me to the hospital ship USS Solace” for treatment of a mild case of the bends.

“I informed my rescuers about the other 28 trapped men, and they were cut out down through the hull 28 hours later. I’m told that the blueprints from our sister ship, the USS Nevada, was used to guide them.”