KILLED BY FRIENDLY FIRE
AT PEARL HARBOR
The carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) departed Pearl Harbor on November 28, 1941, to deliver Marine Fighter Squadron 211 (VMF-211) to Wake Island. On the morning of December 7, 1941, Enterprise was returning to Pearl Harbor and was several hundred miles away when notified by radio of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. At about 5:00pm, upon receiving a report of the possible sighting of a Japanese carrier, Enterprise sent aircraft off to search for the Japanese, but the search was unsuccessful as the search was to the south and west of Oahu and the Japanese ships were north of the island. The strike force of eighteen torpedo planes and six dive bombers was ordered to return to Enterprise after the unsuccessful search but the accompanying flight of six Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters of Fighter Squadron Six (VF-6) was directed to land on Oahu. The six planes flew in pairs led by a flight leader. Lieutenant Junior Grade Eric Allen Jr. and his companion, Ensign James Ganson Daniels III, trailed at the back behind the other two pairs.
Enterprise had informed Pearl Harbor by radio of the flight’s return. As the flight neared Hawaii about 9:00pm, approaching from the south, the flight observed fires ahead and thought they were seeing Kauai sugar cane fields being burned. Upon realizing their error, the flight radioed Ford Island that they were approaching and were told to land there. As they approached the illuminated Ford Island runway they entered the normal landing pattern at 500 feet, lowering their wheels and flaps. Unfortunately, their approach was over the burning dry dock area and battered, bleeding Battleship Row. There, several ships challenged the “intruders” to give the day’s recognition signals which the aviators lacked. Failure to respond caused antiaircraft officers aboard the battleship USS Pennsylvania to give the order to start shooting. After the first few shots, the floodgates opened as it seemed that every nearby gun opened up, firing on the flight. One witness later said, “The sky was lit up like daytime and the sound was deafening.”
The six pilots immediately realized they were in serious trouble and the group broke up as they attempted to break away from the carnage. As the shooting began, LTJG Allen’s plane was one of the first to be struck and within seconds it burst into flames. Desperately low, Allen bailed out of the flaming plane which crashed into the water next to Ford Island. Allen pulled his ripcord, but his fall was barely checked as he smashed into the oily water. The fall inflicted severe internal injuries, but even worse, as he was descending he had been struck in the left chest by a .50 rifle-caliber bullet that ultimately collapsed a lung. Incredibly and with an indomitable spirit, Allen was able to swim, making his way in great pain through the oil and debris past the crippled battleship USS California toward Ford Island. At the Naval Academy, from which he graduated in 1938, he had been a strong swimmer. As he passed the minesweeper USS Viero (AM-52), sailors pulled Allen from the oily water and rushed him to the naval dispensary. Only when they tried to clean the fuel oil from him did they realize he had been struck by a bullet. By that time it was too late and LTJG Eric Allen died at 2:00am on December 8th. After his death, he was buried in Halawa Naval Cemetery on Oahu but was later laid to final rest at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
ENS Daniels was the only pilot who was ultimately successful in landing his plane that night. Unfortunately, five of the six planes were shot down by friendly fire during the melee and only three of the six pilots were still alive 24-hours later.
Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)
