The Nevada's Run

One of my favourite stories from the world of war is the cover star of today - the run of the USS Nevada from it's moored position in Pearl Harbor - a sitting duck - to the time it was beached short of the entrance to Pearl. Always a favourite story - while the stunning shock of what was transpiring was washing over the embattled harbour, and people realised that we were now @ war - smoke, explosions, whirring Valentines diving onto our ships, Kates skimming the surface and releasing their stunning Long Lances, Zeros strafing everything that moved - and all around there was sinking ships , burning oil tankers, bullets and shells =CHAOS COMPLETE= and @ 0840 - 45m after the first attack - the Nevada, because of where she was moored (of the eight battleships @ Pearl that morning, six were tied to each other - you've see all the famous pictures of that day of 'Battleship Row'- Pennsylvania was in dry dock (Famous pic of USS Shaw exploding in the same area), was able to start maneuvering out of the harbour.

I know we are not supposed to praise war and all that - but we have our interests - and we are not supposed to praise falsely the greatness of America (an
d all nations): but whatever jingoism that was bred in me when I was six somewhat remains in picked places* still. The very idea that in the complete cacophony of sound and vision violence and disbelief that morning - and w/ Kates and Vals suddenly attracted to a MOVING target - the image of the this lone battleship, put - put - ting to sea while all around is madness - has stayed with me.

It never made it to open sea. While the ship belched black smoke - and not just from the stacks - and headed to get out - the geographical feature that makes Pearl such a wonderful harbour - that narrow channel that separates the harbour from the sea - raised concerned alarm in the ship. I think Nevada caught six bombs and a long lance - and the
fear was that the Japanese would be able to sink Nevada in that narrow channel. If this happened, Pearl Harbour itslf would be useless for along time i
n terms of shipping - it would take weeks or months to raise th battleship out of the channel to re-allow shipping to get back in. San Diego - San Diego, believe it or not - would have to base the Pacific fleet until Pearl could take shipping again. So - the decision was to beach the ship short of the channel.

But once again - that image - of disaster striking in the worst possible way, but something sailing for open water and out to fight. It reminds me of that scene in "The Sand Pebbles", when the flag is raised before battle and each of the crew looks @ it in their different way. So - even during disaster- "This is not a drill" - and the smoke and fire and death and disbelief of the day I would like to think I would be able to rally myself and those under me to try to make it to open waters - and , as the situatoion changed, that i would give the order to beach my ship for the betterment of the fleet. But so often....
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*= I take no pride in , say, our attacking Mexico - Bush types are everywhere - for no reason and then cutting the country in half and taking it for ourselves. Again - for those of you who do not know - we attacked for no reason and then took half of Mexico - half of the fucking country - and incorporated it into our country. What - think Iraq was the first time? Shit - you all ave lived through Panama and Grenada - and that's not mentioning our funding of types like the terrorists who raped and murdered Roman Catholic nuns in Central America, Bin Laden in the 70's and 80's, and all the help to Iraq in making sure that in their war w/ Iran that they would have Weapons of mass destruction.