Sentry's Death

In the quiet, predawn hours of Dec. 7, 1941, the U.S.S. Ward, a 23-year-old, four-piper destroyer, rolling back to Pearl Harbor from a routine patrol, picked up a startling report from a minesweeper: a mysterious object, possibly a submarine, had been detected in the darkness to the west. From the skipper's cabin, Lieut. William W. Outerbridge, nervously proud of his first full command, hurried out to direct a search. Finding nothing, he gave the order to secure from general quarters, went back to sleep.

But within two hours he was again brusquely awakened. This time lookouts could plainly see the shape of an unfamiliar (hence unfriendly) submarine conning tower in the murky dawn. At full speed ahead, Outerbridge pointed the Ward straight for the submarine. At 100-yards range he ordered the No. 1 gun to fire--the first U.S. shot of World War II in the Pacific. The second shot struck the conning tower. Four depth charges finished off what turned out to have been a Japanese midget sub.

During the rest of that day, the 1,060-ton Ward, named after the first naval officer to be killed in the Civil War, remained on patrol. She ducked Jap air attacks, captured a motor-driven sampan with three prisoners. From that day on she was up to her gunwales in the Pacific war: she fought in the Solomons, bombarded Aitape, took part in the Aitape and Biak landings, saw action at Cape Sansapor, Morotai, Dinagat, Leyte.

This month her valiant career ended. The Navy announced that in supporting the landings at Ormoc Dec. 7, the converted destroyer-transport Ward, commanded by Lieut. Richard E. Farwell, was struck by aerial torpedoes along with the 1,450-ton destroyer Mohan, had to be abandoned and sunk. They were the 48th and 49th U.S. destroyers lost in World War II.

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