A grim tableau of destruction greeted the task force built around the United States Navy aircraft carrier Lexington on December 11, 1941. As a yeoman on Rear Admiral John Newton’s staff, Joseph H. ‘Jack’ Adams witnessed the spectacle of defeat.

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‘I remembered how Pearl Harbor looked the previous August,’ Adams said. ‘It was filled with what seemed like hundreds of ships–battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers and destroyers. I thought nobody would be able to defeat us. Now Battleship Row was wrecked. Four battleships were sunk, and the other three were damaged. There was oil and every type of debris floating in the harbor. I said to myself, ‘This will go down in history. Everybody in the United States should see this.’ I was only 17 1/2 years old.’

Six months later, young Adams saw the tide of war turn in the Pacific at the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway. In an interview with Roger Steinway, he described his role in those pivotal events.

Military History: What prompted your enlistment in the U.S. Navy in 1941?

Adams: When I graduated from high school in Dayton, Texas, in May 1941, there were no jobs. Two friends of mine had joined the Navy in January of ‘41. They came home on leave and told me I could get good training and do more than swab decks. I received my parents’ permission and went into the Navy on June 3, 1941.

MH: Where was your initial training?

Adams: Boot camp was in San Diego, Calif. You could tell that America was gearing up for war. A carrier task force was across the bay at North Island. B-24 Liberator bombers from the Consolidated Aircraft factory flew over our barracks. New recruits were arriving by the hundreds.

MH: What did you learn in basic training?

Adams: It lasted for 10 weeks. We must’ve marched about six hours a day. There was physical fitness and swimming. We were taught self-defense, small-arms shooting, first aid, seamanship, personal hygiene and health, firefighting, discipline and how to properly pack a sea bag. Believe me, these things would be part of reality later on.

MH: Didn’t you meet someone from home at boot camp?

Adams: Frank Malcolm Rowell from Daisetta, Texas. We had competed against each other in high school sports. We went home on ‘boot leave’ together after basic training and took the Navy transport ship Wharton to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. I was assigned to the heavy cruiser Chicago. I saw Frank off to the motor launch that took him to the battleship Arizona in August 1941.

MH: What were your duties on Chicago?

Adams: My battle station was to operate one of the three shell hoists for the after 8-inch gun turret. On anti-aircraft exercises I was a pointer for a 5-inch gun. However, the ship’s tailor was about to be discharged. I was offered his job because I had done alterations for a cleaning and pressing shop back home. You could make around $50 extra a month tailoring for the crew. My pay was only $21 a month at that time.

MH: How did you make the jump from ship’s tailor to the admiral’s staff?

Adams: Everybody knew that I could type pretty well. My records made it up to the flag group–the admiral’s staff. One of the staff sailors was fixing to get discharged. A yeoman asked me if I would be interested in the job. It was like a message from heaven! I passed a typing test and became a member of the staff of Rear Adm. Newton.

MH: Who was in the flag group?

Adams: About 120 officers, signalmen, radiomen, yeomen and Marines made up the staff. The flag is in charge of the task force. My assignment was in the communications office, where I typed out dispatches. A chief petty officer taught me shorthand, which got me promoted to yeoman first class. There were no Xerox machines in those days. Everything had to be written or typed out. This meant that after the decoding officer, I was the first to know what was going on. Another nice thing was that I would type out letters home for the admiral’s stewards. They would then feed me the same food the admiral ate.

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