World War II: Interview with Burdick Brittin

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When carrier aircraft of the Japanese Combined Fleet staged their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on the Sunday morning of December 7, 1941, many American ships were caught with their crewmen ashore. In the case of the destroyer Aylwin, only half the crew and four officers–all Naval Reserve ensigns–remained aboard. Of them, Stanley B. Caplan and Hugo C. Anderson had been with the ship for six months, while William K. Reordan and Burdick H. Brittin had been aboard only since November.

Caplan, who was officer of the deck that morning, responded to the attack by taking command, with Anderson as executive officer (XO), Reordan as gunnery officer and Brittin as torpedo officer, while a crewman, Quartermaster 3rd Class Charles E. Wilcox, served as navigator.

For Brittin, this memorable combat debut was the harbinger of another occasion when he himself would be called upon to take command of a destroyer in distress, as he recently explained.

Military History: What was your civilian background prior to World War II?

Brittin: I was born in 1917, in Lorraine, Ohio. My undergraduate degree was from Union College up in New York state: bachelor of arts, political science, 1940.

MH: What led you from Ohio to the sea?

Brittin: In my last year in school at Union, I was a policeman in the summertime at a fancy resort on the New Jersey coast. That’s where I met my future wife, Trudi. Even then, and later in law school, the courses had some utility in terms of ocean affairs. I liked that very much; I started writing, and published several articles.

MH: When did you ‘go Navy’?

Brittin: When I graduated from college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. The Navy had a representative in the area, so I went to see him with a friend. In one program, I could get a commission as an ensign and’see the world in a year.’ That sounded like a great idea to me, so I signed up for 90 days in the V-7 Naval Reserve training program–a ‘90-day blunder,’ as we were sometimes called by the Regulars. In order to get duty on a combat-type ship at that particular time, the things available were submarines or destroyers. Of the two, the one that appealed to me was the destroyer.

MH: Did you get one?

Brittin: Not at first. I was sent to torpedo school near Puget Sound, Wash. While the other 10 chaps with whom I graduated went to combat ships, I was ordered to the submarine tender Vulcan. My stay aboard her was very short–the commandant of the naval district noted that as a young squirt ensign I had been sent to a repair ship when I should be on a combat-type ship, so he had my orders changed to the destroyer Aylwin (DD355), which was based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I reported aboard her as assistant torpedo officer.

MH: Which, I presume, brings us to December 7, 1941. Where were you at that time?

Brittin: I was one of the four ensigns–and the only four officers–aboard Aylwin when the Japanese attacked. More than half the crew was ashore. That Saturday night, the night of the 6th, we had shore leave–ensigns didn’t get much shore leave in those days. We had gone to a place called Lawee Chow’s–dinner, music, dancing. I was a big spender, since I was dating a pretty nice girl, until all I had was a dollar or so left. Then I went back to the ship. The others stayed in Waikiki overnight.

MH: And on the ‘morning after’?

Brittin: I was asleep aboard Aylwin. We were moored to buoys in the Middle Loch. What awakened me was that I heard shells going off, and I thought it was a crazy time to have anti-aircraft practice. I looked out the porthole and there was the old battleship-turned-floating-target Utah rolling over on its side. That was my introduction to the ‘date that will live in infamy.’

Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Historical Figures, People, World War II

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