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The U.S.S. West Virginia looks battered and wounded while docked at the naval shipyard. The "Wee Vee" was hit by nine bombs and torpedoes by the Japanese warplanes during the December 7th attack.

85. Salvaging Operations aboard the U.S.S. West Virginia, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

IDNO:
052126
Title:
Salvaging Operations aboard the U.S.S. West Virginia, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Date:
1942/05/05
Description:
The U.S.S. West Virginia looks battered and wounded while docked at the naval shipyard. The "Wee Vee" was hit by nine bombs and torpedoes by the Japanese warplanes during the December 7th attack.
Crew members during a salvage and repair operation work port side of the battered battleship. The U.S.S. West Virginia was hit by seven torpedoes and two bombs during the December 7th attack.

86. Gaping Wound on U.S.S. West Virginia, Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii

IDNO:
052127
Title:
Gaping Wound on U.S.S. West Virginia, Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii
Date:
ca. 1942
Description:
Crew members during a salvage and repair operation work port side of the battered battleship. The U.S.S. West Virginia was hit by seven torpedoes and two bombs during the December 7th attack.
The photograph was taken at the beginning of the attack. The explosion seen in the center of the photograph is a torpedo that struck the U.S.S. West Virginia.

87. Aerial Photograph taken from Japanese Plane during Attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

IDNO:
052128
Title:
Aerial Photograph taken from Japanese Plane during Attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Date:
1941/12/07
Description:
The photograph was taken at the beginning of the attack. The explosion seen in the center of the photograph is a torpedo that struck the U.S.S. West Virginia.
An official U.S. Navy photograph. From left to right is the U.S.S. West Virginia, U.S.S. Tennessee, and the U.S.S. Arizona.

88. Burning and Damaged Ships After Japanese Attack, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

IDNO:
052129
Title:
Burning and Damaged Ships After Japanese Attack, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Date:
1941/12/07
Description:
An official U.S. Navy photograph. From left to right is the U.S.S. West Virginia, U.S.S. Tennessee, and the U.S.S. Arizona.
Smoke rises from the sinking battleship, which was hit by seven torpedoes and two bombs.

89. Damaged U.S.S. West Virginia after Japanese Attack, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

IDNO:
052130
Title:
Damaged U.S.S. West Virginia after Japanese Attack, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Date:
1941/12/07
Description:
Smoke rises from the sinking battleship, which was hit by seven torpedoes and two bombs.
Smoke billows from the U.S.S. West Virginia, which is pictured in the back and center of the photograph. The ship eventually sank.Floating on the left is the U.S.S. Maryland. On the right is a capsized U.S.S. Oklahoma.

90. Damaged Battleships following Japanese Attack, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

IDNO:
052131
Title:
Damaged Battleships following Japanese Attack, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Date:
1941/12/07
Description:
Smoke billows from the U.S.S. West Virginia, which is pictured in the back and center of the photograph. The ship eventually sank.Floating on the left is the U.S.S. Maryland. On the right is a capsized U.S.S. Oklahoma.
Miller was a member of the U.S.S. West Virginia as a Messman Third Class during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was awarded the Navy Cross--the third highest navy award for gallantry during combat--for "distinguished devotion to duty, extraordinary courage and disregard for his own personal safety during the attack. Miller, despite enemy strafing and bombing and in the face of serious fire, assisted in moving his Captain who had been mortally wounded to a place of greater safety and later manned and operated a machine gun directed at enemy Japanese attacking aircraft until ordered to leave the bridge."Miller was personally awarded the medal by Admiral Chester Nimitz. He was the first African-American to be awarded the honor.

91. Doris Miller Awarded Navy Cross, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

IDNO:
052132
Title:
Doris Miller Awarded Navy Cross, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Date:
1942/05/27
Description:
Miller was a member of the U.S.S. West Virginia as a Messman Third Class during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was awarded the Navy Cross--the third highest navy award for gallantry during combat--for "distinguished devotion to duty, extraordinary courage and disregard for his own personal safety during the attack. Miller, despite enemy strafing and bombing and in the face of serious fire, assisted in moving his Captain who had been mortally wounded to a place of greater safety and later manned and operated a machine gun directed at enemy Japanese attacking aircraft until ordered to leave the bridge."Miller was personally awarded the medal by Admiral Chester Nimitz. He was the first African-American to be awarded the honor.
Fern Evan's husband, GM3e Woodrow W. Evans was killed aboard the U.S.S. West Virginia during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, leaving Fern to support herself and their 20 month old son. Subsequently, Mrs. Evans was employed at a West Coast aircraft plant. She's shown here working on a radio bracket for a bomber.

92. Fern Evans in West Coast Aircraft Plant

IDNO:
052258
Title:
Fern Evans in West Coast Aircraft Plant
Date:
1942/05
Description:
Fern Evan's husband, GM3e Woodrow W. Evans was killed aboard the U.S.S. West Virginia during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, leaving Fern to support herself and their 20 month old son. Subsequently, Mrs. Evans was employed at a West Coast aircraft plant. She's shown here working on a radio bracket for a bomber.
Captain Bennion was killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. As he laid mortally wounded on the West Virginia's command bridge, Bennion refused to be removed from his burning ship. He continued to give orders, directing his crew's actions. Bennion's last order to his men before he died was to leave him and "abandon ship." Captain Bennion was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

93. USN Captain Mervyn S. Bennion, U.S.S. West Virginia

IDNO:
052259
Title:
USN Captain Mervyn S. Bennion, U.S.S. West Virginia
Date:
ca. 1940
Description:
Captain Bennion was killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. As he laid mortally wounded on the West Virginia's command bridge, Bennion refused to be removed from his burning ship. He continued to give orders, directing his crew's actions. Bennion's last order to his men before he died was to leave him and "abandon ship." Captain Bennion was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
L to R: Jack Miller, Frank Kosa, Clifford Olds.Olds and 2 other crew members , Ronald Endicott and Louis Costin were trapped in a sealed compartment in the West Virginia's bow after it sank on December 7th. Any rescue attempt meant certain death. The 3 stayed alive until December 24th according to a marked calendar found with their bodies which were recovered after the ship was raised from the harbor bottom in May, 1942.

94. U.S.S. West Virginia Sailors Hoist Their Glasses at Monkey Bar, Pearl Harbor, HI

IDNO:
052260
Title:
U.S.S. West Virginia Sailors Hoist Their Glasses at Monkey Bar, Pearl Harbor, HI
Date:
1941/12/06
Description:
L to R: Jack Miller, Frank Kosa, Clifford Olds.Olds and 2 other crew members , Ronald Endicott and Louis Costin were trapped in a sealed compartment in the West Virginia's bow after it sank on December 7th. Any rescue attempt meant certain death. The 3 stayed alive until December 24th according to a marked calendar found with their bodies which were recovered after the ship was raised from the harbor bottom in May, 1942.
The installation of U.S.S. West Virginia's mast nears completion at Memorial Plaza on the campus of West Virginia University. The Mountainlair and Stewart Hall are visible in the background.

95. U.S.S. West Virginia Mast in Memorial Plaza, Morgantown, W. Va.

IDNO:
052287
Title:
U.S.S. West Virginia Mast in Memorial Plaza, Morgantown, W. Va.
Date:
ca. 1961-1963
Description:
The installation of U.S.S. West Virginia's mast nears completion at Memorial Plaza on the campus of West Virginia University. The Mountainlair and Stewart Hall are visible in the background.
Bell of the U.S.S. West Virginia before installation on the campus of West Virginia University. The bell was dedicated on December 7, 1967, and joined the mast of the U.S.S. West Virginia in Memorial Plaza.

96. U.S.S. West Virginia Bell Prior to Installation, Morgantown, W. Va.

IDNO:
052288
Title:
U.S.S. West Virginia Bell Prior to Installation, Morgantown, W. Va.
Date:
ca. 1967
Description:
Bell of the U.S.S. West Virginia before installation on the campus of West Virginia University. The bell was dedicated on December 7, 1967, and joined the mast of the U.S.S. West Virginia in Memorial Plaza.