{"id":82246,"date":"2025-11-17T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2025\/11\/17\/with-his-bare-hands-this-sailor-sealed-off-his-ship-to-save-its-crew\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:17:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:17:31","slug":"with-his-bare-hands-this-sailor-sealed-off-his-ship-to-save-its-crew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/veterans\/military-history\/2025\/11\/17\/with-his-bare-hands-this-sailor-sealed-off-his-ship-to-save-its-crew\/","title":{"rendered":"With his bare hands, this sailor sealed off his ship to save its crew"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Evaluated on strictly tactical terms, the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941 has been praised for its precision and criticized for the importance of targets it neglected. The Japanese focused their effort against warships and aircraft, but overlooked fuel stores and a new fleet oiler, USS Neosho (AO-23). Although Neosho would be eliminated five months later \u2014 and even then, due to misidentification \u2014 its presence over those months kept the recuperating United States Navy operational in a desperate hour \u2014 and produced a Medal of Honor recipient amid its last fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oscar Verner Peterson was born Aug. 27, 1899 in Prentiss, Wisconsin, and swiftly grew into his chosen career, enlisting in the U.S. Navy on Dec. 8, 1920. By the end of 1941, he was Chief Water Tender (chief petty officer) aboard Neosho, which had just been commissioned in 1939. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cShe simply was the kind of unglamorous workhorse without which a modern navy could not operate,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usni.org\/magazines\/naval-history-magazine\/2019\/april\/least-likely-combatant\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.usni.org\/magazines\/naval-history-magazine\/2019\/april\/least-likely-combatant\">writes historian Robert C. Stern<\/a>. \u201cExcepting a few token defensive guns, no one would ever mistake her for a warship. But against all odds, not only did the Neosho have a combat career, she had an extraordinary one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"757\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Stern-NH-MA-19-2.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-109688\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Stern-NH-MA-19-2.jpg.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Stern-NH-MA-19-2.jpg.jpg?resize=300,189 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Stern-NH-MA-19-2.jpg.jpg?resize=768,484 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Stern-NH-MA-19-2.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,646 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">With the listing battleship USS California in the foreground, the Neosho (background) backs away from Ford Island\u2019s Gasoline Wharf during the Pearl Harbor attack. The oiler was one of the few ships in the harbor able to get under way during the attack on Pearl Harbor. (National Archives)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Capable of carrying 146,000 barrels of fuel, the ship was delivering aviation gas at Ford Island on Dec. 6, 1941. The next morning saw it tied up in Battleship Row. And while the Japanese were targeting the battleship Maryland (BB-46), their bombs fell nearer to Neosho as it cast off its moorings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Its three 3\u201d-23 caliber anti-aircraft and one 5\u201d-51 caliber gun were among the first to fire back against the enemy that December day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Narrowly missing the Oklahoma, the Neosho backed its way into mid-channel and slipped into Southeast Loch. Three of the oiler\u2019s crew were wounded by strafing, while its gunners claimed to have shot down a Japanese plane. Otherwise unscathed through the carnage, Neosho played an important role supporting the aircraft carriers that had likewise avoided the disaster at Pearl Harbor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fate that Neosho initially managed to avoid finally caught up during the Battle of the Coral Sea,however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> On May 1, 1942, Neosho fueled up carrier Yorktown (CV-5) for the coming fight. As the main carrier forces closed on each other, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usni.org\/magazines\/naval-history-magazine\/1992\/september\/frank-jack-fletcher-got-bum-rap-part-two\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.usni.org\/magazines\/naval-history-magazine\/1992\/september\/frank-jack-fletcher-got-bum-rap-part-two\">Rear Adm. Frank Jack Fletcher<\/a>, commanding Lexington (CV-2) and Yorktown, ordered Neosho to withdraw south of his force, with destroyer Sims (DD-409) for escort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ironically, Neosho became involved in the battle by mistaken identity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At 0722 hours on the 7th, it was spotted by two patrolling Nakajima B5N2s from the Japanese Shokaku, whose crews reported it to be an \u201caircraft carrier.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vice Adm. Chuichi Hara sent contingents from both of his flattops to dispose of that threat and in the ensuing action Neosho took seven dive bomber hits, with another eight near misses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even then, some crewmen manned the oiler\u2019s anti-aircraft guns, setting fire to a Zuikaku D3A crewed by Petty Officer 2nd Class Shigeo Ishizuki and Petty Officer 3rd Class Kawagoe Masayoshi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Judging his plane doomed, Ishizuki pulled up enough to drop his bomb and then crashed into Neosho\u2019s No.4 gun, further spreading the fire. At the same time, USS Sims was hit by three bombs, one of which which caused a boiler explosion causing the destroyer to sink within minutes, taking all but 15 of its 250-man crew with it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Neosho was turned into a floating conflagration, but its crew did all they could to save it, most notably Chief Water Tender Peterson, who led a repair party throughout the uneven encounter. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cmohs.org\/recipients\/oscar-v-peterson\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.cmohs.org\/recipients\/oscar-v-peterson\">As his citation describes<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLacking assistance because of injuries to the other members of his repair party and severely wounded himself, Peterson, with no concern for his own life, closed the bulkhead stop valves and in so doing received additional burns, which resulted in his death.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In spite of third degree burns, Peterson\u2019s determination in mechanically closing critical stream-line valves amid smoke and flames kept Neosho \u2014 and 123 of its crew \u2014 afloat until well after the battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Coral Sea ended in a tactical victory for the Japanese, seeing the sinking of Lexington, but a strategic win for the Americans, who sank the light carrier Shoho and, more important, drove back the Japanese attempt to seize Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In its aftermath, the destroyer Henley (DD-391) rescued Sims\u2019 15 survivors and on May 11 it found Neosho, dead in the water with a 30-degree list and 21 of its crew dead. After evacuating its 123 surviving sailors \u2014 including Peterson \u2014 it finished off the valiant oiler with gunfire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the 13, Peterson died from the severe burns he had suffered during battle and was buried at sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In December 1942, Peterson\u2019s wife, Lola, and his sons, Fred and Donald, received a letter announcing his award of the Medal of Honor. A memorial to him can be found in the \u201cTablets of the Missing\u201d in the American Cemetery in Manila, Philippines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On June 27, 2025, he was further memorialized when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/06\/03\/hegseth-orders-renaming-of-ship-named-for-gay-rights-icon-harvey-milk\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/06\/03\/hegseth-orders-renaming-of-ship-named-for-gay-rights-icon-harvey-milk\/\">Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered<\/a> the underway replenishment oiler Harvey Milk (AT-AO-206) renamed Oscar V. Peterson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the Battle of the Coral Sea, Oscar Peterson sacrificed all to keep his flaming ship in the fight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":109687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":91,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,91,12,25,19,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3113],"class_list":["post-82246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-military-history","category-news","category-newsletters","category-veterans","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"VPMQWZKMXNHN5C2DZZN67X2SLY","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/military-history\/2025\/11\/17\/with-his-bare-hands-this-sailor-sealed-off-his-ship-to-save-its-crew\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>With his bare hands, this sailor sealed off his ship to save its crew - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"During the Battle of the Coral Sea, Oscar Peterson sacrificed all to keep his flaming ship in the fight.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"With his bare hands, this sailor sealed off his ship to save its crew\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During the Battle of the Coral Sea, Oscar Peterson sacrificed all to keep his flaming ship in the fight.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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