In remembrance of the attack at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, I want to highlight a sailor born and raised in Michigan who sacrificed his life to save two fellow divers in the aftermath of the attacks.
Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Owen Francis Patrick Hammerberg was born on May 31, 1920, and grew up in the Upper Peninsula. He eventually lived in Flint during his teen years as his family moved around growing up.
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He joined the Navy on July 16, 1941, at age 21, after hitchhiking west and landing a job at a ranch.
Hammerberg was remembered for his heroic act—saving two people while sacrificing his own life in the West Loch Disaster.
What was the West Loch Disaster?
There are three subareas, or lochs, in Pearl Harbor—East, Middle and West.
On Dec. 7, 1941, the East and Middle Lochs exploded in flames from the Japanese air attacks, leading to the United States being involved in World War II.
In May 1944, several ships were moored to Pearl Harbor’s West Loch since it was spared from the attacks in 1941. All the ships were loaded with ammunition and fuel for an upcoming mission in the Pacific. On May 21, one of those ships exploded and caused a chain reaction to set several other ships on fire. The Navy had to sink several of the ships just so it wouldn’t put the other ships in danger.
It’s unclear what caused the first explosion at West Loch, but experts gathered some risk factors leading to the disaster. According to eyewitness reports, men were seen smoking cigarettes near gasoline drums, welding was underway on deck and a Navy intelligence report suggested a dropped mortar shell. The direct cause remains a mystery since no one close to the initial explosion lived to tell their side of the story.
The West Loch Disaster killed 163 people and injured more than 350. It became known as one of the greatest non-combat disasters in US History.
Hammerberg’s heroic act
In February 1945, Five Navy dive teams were called to raise the hulks and clear the channel in West Loch. Hammerberg and his team raised their assigned ship with no issues, but another team wasn’t so lucky. Two divers that tunneled under a ship that sank in 40 feet of water and 20 feet of mud got trapped in steel and cables. Other divers tried to reach them, but this made the waters even muddier—the Department of Defense said even a special diving team wouldn’t risk the mission.
A call for volunteers went out, and Hammerberg was one of them. He dove into the black, muddy waters to find the stranded men despite the concerns about cave-ins and jagged pieces of debris.
Hammerberg spent five hours in complete darkness underwater to find and free George Fuller, one of the trapped men. Congressional records state Fuller was pinned by a steel plate and shook Hammerberg’s hand underwater before reaching the surface.
Hammerberg continued to push his way through the buried wreckage to find the second diver, Earl Brown. He found Brown 18 hours after the rescue mission began. During the rescue, a cave-in happened, causing a heavy piece of steel to pin Hammerberg on top of Brown.
Hammerberg was crushed to death, but Brown survived because Hammerberg protected him from the blow.
Two days later, a Filipino father-and-son dive team rescued Brown from the murky depths and recovered Hammerberg’s body.
Hammerberg died on Feb. 17, 1945, at 24 years old. He was buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield.
Posthumous Honors
Hammerberg received the Medal of Honor for giving his life to save another. His parents accepted the award on his behalf.
In 1954, the Navy named a destroyer escort in his honor—the USS Hammerberg. It was christened by his mother. Around the same time, Hammerberg Road in Flint and a Detroit park were named for him.
A large monument was also dedicated to Hammerberg near Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5966 in Menominee.
