When the USS Utah was attacked and sunk Dec. 7, 1941, in Pearl Harbor, the ashes of an infant girl, the twin daughter of the ship's chief yeoman, were entombed along with 58 sailors.
Fifty-nine years ago Thursday the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked U.S. forces in Hawaii in what has been called the most dastardly act ever committed against the United States, sinking much of the Pacific Fleet. One of the first two ships to be sunk was the USS Utah.
An urn containing the ashes of Chief Yeoman Albert Wagner's daughter, Nancy Lynne, was in the chief's locker when the ship went down. The baby had died two days after a premature birth on Aug. 29, 1937, in the Philippines. Her twin, Mary Dianne Wagner Kreigh, lives in California. In a previous interview she discussed her feelings about the Utah: "Whenever I go to Hawaii, I always go to Ford Island. The scene is breathtaking. The Utah is lying on her side like a magnificent metal giant guarding her cherished treasures entombed within her bowels like a mother guarding her children.
"She is at peace as are her charges — 58 gentle men and one tiny baby. Her bed is an azure carpet of blue, her blanket is a gentle breeze and her lullaby is a mixture of a whispered wind and the delicate sounds of song birds lulling her and her children to sleep on into eternity. And as I quietly release a fragrant floral lei out to her as an offering of gratitude and love, I can't help but whisper, 'Aloha, my little sister. Thank you, my brave warriors, for taking such good care of her.' "
While Kreigh's father wasn't a Utahn, apparently there were native Utahns serving on the Utah, but it's now unclear how many were aboard during the attack.
Wagner was waiting for a chaplain who was to accompany the Utah and perform a burial at sea while the ship was out on maneuvers. The Utah was scheduled to go to sea Dec. 8.
Wagner was unable to reach either his battle station or his locker to retrieve the urn, his journal states. Two weeks after the sinking, Navy divers attempted to retrieve the urn but couldn't. The ship's bell was recovered and given to the state of Utah in 1961. Today, it stands at the entrance of the Navy ROTC building at the University of Utah.
Mervin L. Brewer, chairman of the Western Military History Association, said the attack on the Utah was a mistake. "It should not have been targeted," he said, explaining the Japanese knew the ship was in the harbor, though not where it was supposed to be. It was moored where the aircraft carrier USS Lexington was expected to be.
Brewer was to speak on "Attack on the Battleships Utah & Arizona" Thursday afternoon at the Rio Grande Station in an event sponsored by the Utah State Historical Society.
The USS Utah was originally a battleship, but by 1932, it became a radio-controlled target ship and could go six hours with no crew — a technological marvel in its time.
Because the Utah was a target ship, its decks were covered with 12-inch planking, its guns were covered and from the air the ship easily could have been mistaken for a carrier.
After two torpedoes hit it, the Utah listed about 40 degrees to starboard and sank at its mooring in less than 15 minutes.
Detailed information on the USS Utah is available on the Web at www.members.home.com/wmhughes/ussutah.html.
For more information on the Western Military History Association, call Brewer at 481-4814, or 596-9526.
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com