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Tommy Burgdorf (Birddog), FC2
to remember
Ebel, Walter Charles, CPO.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Long Beach, CA
Last Address 115 1/2 13th St Long Beach, CA (Wife~Florence Ethel Ebel)
Casualty Date Dec 07, 1941
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Other Explosive Device
Location Hawaii
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment USS ARIZONA (BB-39) - Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Chieft Petty Officer Walter Ebel was Killed in Action on December 7, 1941, during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was stationed aboard the USS Arizona BB39. Shortly before 08:00 local time on 7 December 1941, Japanese aircraft from six aircraft carriers struck the Pacific Fleet as it lay in port at Pearl Harbor, and wrought devastation on the warships and the facilities defending Hawaii. On board Arizona, the ship's air raid alarm went off at about 07:55, and the ship went to general quarters soon after. Shortly after 08:00, 10 Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers, five each from the carriers Kaga and Hiryū, attacked Arizona. All of the aircraft were carrying 410-millimeter (16.1 in) armor-piercing shells modified into 797-kilogram (1,757 lb) bombs. Flying at an estimated altitude of 3,000 meters (9,800 ft), Kaga's aircraft bombed Arizona from amidships to stern. Soon after, Hiryu's bombers hit the bow area.
The aircraft scored four hits and three near misses on and around Arizona. The near miss off the port bow is believed to have caused observers to believe that the ship had been torpedoed, although no torpedo damage has been found. The sternmost bomb ricocheted off the face of Turret IV and penetrated the deck to detonate in the captain's pantry, causing a small fire. The next forwardmost hit was near the port edge of the ship, abreast the mainmast, probably detonating in the area of the anti-torpedo bulkhead. The next bomb struck near the port rear 5-inch AA gun.
The last bomb hit at 08:06 in the vicinity of Turret II, likely penetrating the armored deck near the ammunition magazines located in the forward section of the ship. While not enough of the ship is intact to judge the exact location, its effects are indisputable: about seven seconds after the hit, the forward magazines detonated in a cataclysmic explosion, mostly venting through the sides of the ship and destroying much of the interior structure of the forward part of the ship. This caused the forward turrets and conning tower to collapse downward some 25–30 feet (7.6–9.1 m) and the foremast and funnel to collapse forward. The explosion killed 1,177 of the 1,512 crewmen on board at the time, over half of the lives lost during the attack. It touched off fierce fires that burned for two days; debris showered down on Ford Island in the vicinity. The blast from this explosion also put out fires on the repair ship Vestal, which was moored alongside.
Comments/Citation:
Charles Ebel and Frieda Mattausch came to America in 1891 from their native Germany. Single and seeking prosperity in the country’s wide-open west, they met and married three years later. The newlywed couple settled in Genesee, Idaho, where Charles established his farm. On March 22, 1895, they welcomed their firstborn child, Walter Charles. The oldest of 14 brothers and sisters, it is likely that he helped on the family’s farm from an early age. The Ebel children attended local schools, doing daily chores as was the practice of farming families.
The couple lived through challenging decades in their new homeland. As their children arrived, nations of the world fought in The Great War. In the months that followed the war’s end, the Spanish influenza pandemic devastated the global population, killing an estimated 50 million people. Idaho’s farm economy plummeted after World War I, leaving more than 42,000 farm owners struggling to meet operating expenses.
Little information is available about Ebel’s entry into the United States Navy, his promotions through the ranks or his muster history. Family photographs of 1915 documented Walter’s Navy service as he posed in his uniform. Census archives record that Walter Ebel, 24, was a chief gunner’s mate in 1920. At some point, GCM Ebel was transferred to the East Coast.
Walter married Florence Murphy in New Haven, Connecticut on October 7, 1926. Their son, Edward, was born in 1928 in Long Beach, California, near the home port of the USS Arizona. Two years later, the Great Depression engulfed America and the world. The financial and societal catastrophe that lasted until the onset of World War II alleviated the nation’s economy.
As Chief Petty Officer, Walter Ebel specialized in Navy service as Chief Turret Captain (CTC.) The CTC supervised gun crews and servicing of weapons. His turret duties had been exercised during the Arizona’s recent patrol of the Hawaiian region. Now his ship was moored at Ford Island.
For weeks, everyone followed daily newspaper reports, though, international tensions were escalating. Honolulu citizenry and military had gone to bed on December 6, discussing President Roosevelt’s direct appeal to Emperor Hirohito to avert war. The following bright day, Christmas holidays nearing, a north wind of 10 knots blew over Pearl Harbor. Flying through scattered clouds, planes bearing a red disc festooned with rays of the Rising Sun bore down on American ships and their crews.
Chief Turret Captain Ebel, 46, was likely not at his station on that tropical morning. Aboard the Arizona and other vessels, Sunday morning duties were light. Chaplains were readying for services. Galley crews were preparing breakfast and gallons of coffee for their shipmates. As 0800 hours approached, senior officers on each ship made ready to order hoisting of the Prep flag. Then, in the instant between the order and 0756 hours, the harbor came under attack.
At the onset of the December 7, 1941 attack, the battleship USS Arizona (BB-39) was moored at berth Fox 7 on “Battleship Row.” The repair ship Vestal (AR-4) was on the port side; and the starboard side faced the northeastern shore of Ford Island. Just before 8 am, the ship’s air raid alarm sounded, and the crew was ordered to general quarters. During the attack the battleship was struck by as many as eight aerial bombs, including one 1,700 lb. armor-piercing shell which penetrated the deck near the Number 2 turret and detonated in the smokeless powder magazine, causing a cataclysmic explosion “which destroyed the ship forward” and ignited a fire which burned for two days. Most of the Arizona crewmen who perished in the attack died instantly during the explosion. The ship quickly sank to the bottom of the harbor along with 1,177 of the 1,512 personnel on board, representing about half the total number of Americans killed that day.
CPO Walter Clark Ebel, 46, was killed in action aboard the USS Arizona. Survived by Florence, his wife, Edward, son, his parents and siblings, he was awarded the Purple Heart. CPO Ebel was laid to rest aboard the USS Arizona with shipmates who were killed on that day. He was memorialized at the USS Arizona Memorial; on a cenotaph at the Courts of the Missing, Honolulu, Hawaii; and the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Stories Behind the Stars Contributing Author: Pamela C. Baker
