Admiral Nimitz Arrives At Pearl Harbor - Dec. 25, 1941
" I was privileged to be one of the pilots that flew Adm. Nimitz from San Diego to Pearl Harbor on Christmas Day, 1941, about two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Adm. Nimitz was to relieve Adm. Husband Kimmel and take over the badly wounded Pacific Fleet. We took off from San Diego in the early evening of 24 Dec in a PB2Y-2, Coronado, BuNo. 1635. The Coronado
was a 4 engine seaplane, a big brother of the PBY Catalina. My log book shows the flight took 17.2 hours and we arrived at Pearl Harbor about mid morning of Christmas day, 1941. Upon arriving at Pearl, we invited Adm. Nimitz up to the flight deck and asked him if he would like to observe the damage and destruction inflicted by the Japs. He eagerly accepted. We made
wide circles over Pearl Harbor as well as Hickham Field. He was seated in the left hand pilot's seat for purposes of this observation and he just kept shaking his head and clucking his tongue. God knows what was going through his mind but if it was anything like what was going through ours it was: "Those dirty bastards! Somehow, someway, we are going to make them pay!" We were looking at the West Virginia, the California, the Utah, the Arizona, all crumpled hulks. We were looking at skeletons of what were once hangars and flight lines filled with the junk of what were once military planes. The carnage was sickening.
And with all of this on his mind, what was Adm. Nimitz' demeanor as he disembarked to take on this great responsibility? He took the time to shake the hand of every member of the crew and thank them for a comfortable flight and apologized to each for having taken them from their families
on Christmas Day! What a giant of a man. What a great leader to take over the Pacific Fleet! Why do I write this now? Two reasons: First, because I feel proud that we were able to deliver the right man to the right place at the right time. And second, I said I was one of the pilots on that flight.
The others were:
Lt. Bowen F. McLeod, USNA '30,
Ens. Ross C. Barney,
Ens. Thomas Robinson,
Ens. Frank L. DeLorenzo (all ex-aviation cadets)
and Warrant Machinist Clarence L. Pearson.
So why DO I write this now? Because of those five, I am the only one still living and I am 84 years old. Tomorrow might be too late!March 28, 1999 Frank DeLorenzo,
Captain, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
Although he flew Nimitz to Pearl Harbor in the four engine PB2Y Coronado
on Christmas day, they had actually tried to take him there the day before.
Christmas Eve, Delo took the PB2Y out in very rough windy weather. As he tried to turn the flying boat into the wind, the wind was so strong that the plane dipped to one side as he tried to make the turn. Delo looked out the window and saw a prop start to beat the water and knew he should not continue to try to get the plane turned into the wind. They aborted this afternoon attempt to fly due to the weather, and took the plane back to shore. Perhaps at this point they should have taken the plane ashore, but someone decided to keep them in the water. Delo and Ross Barney had to stay up all night, keeping the engines running. They were unsure of the weather and afraid the bow line might separate. So the two of them
had to sit there all night, periodically revving the engines. In the morning, the weather abated and Delo was able to go home and get some rest. That afternoon, Delo and the crew of that PB2Y Coronado were able to take off and make the sixteen hour flight to Pearl Harbor. I must think that at this point in the war, they must have had some concerns about running
into trouble on the way there. We had just been in the war two and a half weeks, a war we were unprepared for. Who knew what trouble might be in the way of their flight to Pearl Harbor. Nevertheless, Delo and the crew did their duty conveying Admiral Nimitz to Pearl Harbor to relieve Admiral Pye (who had relieved Kimmel) and take over the command of the Pacific Fleet.
They arrived at Pearl Harbor the following morning. I asked Delo if there were any smoke or flames still burning from the attack and he said the fires were all extinguished. However when they landed in Pearl Harbor, the harbor itself was covered with six inches of oil. It was a mess. After landing, Nimitz thanked the crew and asked about his cruise chest being brought ashore.
A Lt. Commander (whose name is intentionally not mentioned herein out of respect to the dead and his family) told Nimitz there is no way we can get the cruise chest out before the plane is brought ashore. An ensign, Tommy Robinson, took the cruise chest out the tunnel hatch and placed it in a dingy.
He soon had the chest ashore, which embarrassed the Lt. Commander after he had just Nimitz it could not be done.
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