Evening star., 1942-12-27
Pearl Harbor Repairs
Began Before Jap Raid
Ended, Navy Reports
Pacific Yord Doubled
Output Immediately
After Dec. J Attuck
~ the Associated Press.

y
1y the Associated Press.
The Navy reported yesterday
that repair work on ships and
shore installations damaged in
the Pearl Harbor attack actually
started before the enemy bombs
stopped falling and that i'm
mediately after the disastrous
raid, the production Of the Navy
Yard there was more than
doubled.
Several months before the attack
which started the war in the Pacific,
the Navy frankly said, Pearl Har-
Dor was not in true fact the "Gibral-
tar of the Pacific which it was
alleged to be- s..-
When the Pacific fleet began
using Pearl Harbor as an operating
base IN l940,' the Navy resume con-
tinued, many deficiencies became
apparent and immediate steps were
begun to remedy the situation. :.
Construction of the more important
new facilities, which were so badly
needed, was approaching completion
on December 7, 1941."
Repairs Began Immediately.
The force of workmen at the yard
had been increased six-fold by the
time the attack came, but many
were wholly inexperienced in ma
r1ne construction and engineering
This handicap was cited as all the
more reason for giving great credit
to the yard force for successfully
accomplishing by far the biggest
and most difficult job which had
ever confronted any navy yard"
Before the heat of the attack
had passed and, literally, before the
bombs stopped falling" the Navy
related, men not engaged IN de-
fense,, rescue, or control of damage
were busy at their assigned repair
tasks or in the survey and planning
Of damage to be repaired. A quick
survey of the Navy Yard itself
showed that only minor damage
had been done to the plant ia
cilities.
"Officers and men went to work
with such zeal and energy that
productive output Immediately more
than doubled in an already hard
working, efficient organization. A
pace was set which all knew could
not be squirt but which had to be
maintained indefinitely following
the declaration of war"
Worked 24-Hour Shifts,
During the first few days, many
men worked virtually 24-hour shifts.
eating and sleeping where they
could. Some were fed aboard the
ships they worked on. Some slept
In shops or on shipboard.
TOO much cannot be said of the
devotion to duty and the unselfsh
sacrifices made daily by all naval
and civilian personnel of the yard
proper, working two shifts of 10
and IA hours, respectively the
Navy declared. working condi-
tions In the muddy and oily debris
of salvaged vessels cannot be imag-
ined by anyone not personally in
touch with such a situation.
THE highest tribute must be
paid to the untiring and most ef-
fective assistance rendered from the
beginning by the civilian employees,
the engineering staff, and super
visors of the contractors group of
the Pacific naval al, bases who were
present at Pearl Harbor on and
after December 7, 1941.
Feat Of Engineering.
'Without the personnel, the en-
gineering skill and the equipment of
these contractors, on the site, it
would have been wholly impossible
to handle successfully salvage job
of the magniture of that which con-
fronted the yard without the loss
of many months of vital time In the
rehabilitation of the fleet"
The Navy also reported that "it
can be said finally that, had the
Japs DESTROYED the navy yard, 1t
might have been different story
Among vessels which were quickly
repaired, at least to the extent that
they we're able to get back to United
States West Coast bases for per-
manent repairs, the Navy mentioned
the cruisers Helena, Raleigh and
Honolulu; the seaplane tender Cur
tiss and repair ship Vestal and the
destroyer Shaw.