The Ward fired on the intruder-the first American shots of World War II-and scored a hit. “At 6:30 a.m., the destroyer answered a similar alert from the target repair ship Antares and this time located the submarine, apparently trailing the Antares into Honolulu Harbor. Inshore waters were searched for an hour and a half but without success. Since this was an area where no American submarine traveled submerged, the Condor immediately notified the destroyer Ward. on December 7, 1941, the minesweeper Condorsighted a submarine periscope off the entrance of Pearl Harbor. Some contend that officials had prior knowledge of the possibility of the attack.

The association with Pearl Harbor in the popular imagination, however, began with Roosevelt’s speech: “Yesterday, December 7, 1941-a date which will live in infamy-the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”īut the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor might have been averted. Many ahupuaʻa, with names beginning with “wai,” met the shore at Puʻuloa-Waimalu, Waiawa, Waiau, Waipiʻo, Waikele-showing the importance of this body of water and its abundant seafood. A kupua, or shapeshifter, Kaʻahupahau (named in the famous song “Pupu a o Ewa”) was said to guard the harbor in the form of a shark. Roosevelt made the famous speech that marked a day, and a place, that would “live in infamy.” But Puʻuloa, or Wai Momi, later called Pearl Harbor, was not always associated with war.

I thought Iʻd repost it this year on the “day that will live in infamy.” This is a piece I wrote last year – 2011 – for the Hawaiʻi Independent.

Day of infamy bayonet