Cunningham, Winfield Scott, RADM

CONFIDENTIAL
From: Commanding Officer, NAS Wake.
To: Commandant, 14th Naval District.
Subject: Report on Conditions at Wake Island.
1. The first raid on Wake came just before noon, 8 December 1941. Wake had four fighters in the air, and the battery was in condition one. Remaining eight fighters were on ground spotted about one hundred yard apart. They were being serviced with ammunition and bombs. A force of about twenty-seven two-engine landplanes glided out of low clouds directly over landing field and released a heavy load of light and a few heavy bombs. An extremely heavy and accurate strafing attack was carried on at the same time. Four planes received direct bomb hits and three others were set on fire. The eighth was struck several times, but was later put into commission. Tents about the field were riddled. Two large gasoline tanks and a large number of filled drums were set on fire. Three officers and twenty-one men on the field were killed or received wounds from which they died. One fifteen hundred gallon gas truck was destroyed.
2. The formation continued over Camp Two, strafing this area. Immediately thereafter Pan Air was heavily bombed and machine-gunned. The hotel burned and nearly all facilities were burned or wrecked. A large number of gasoline drums were fired. Five Camorra employees of Pan Air killed.
3. The Pan Air clipper, Captain Hamilton commanding, had been unloaded preparatory to use as a patrol plane. At about 1250 he took off for Midway with all Pan Air white personnel, and all passengers excepting Mr. H.P. Havenor of the Bureau of the Budget, who remains and is well.
4. Immediate steps were taken to disperse personnel, distribute food and water supplies, and get aviation gasoline divided into small amounts. These measures have been continued to date, together with construction of open banked-up plane emplacements and two covered hangers in which work can be done at night, though they are by no means bombproof.
5. The second raid occurred at 1130 9 December 1941 was delivered by about twenty-five planes from about eight thousand feet. The attack was concentrated on camp two and the Naval Air Station. The contractors' hospital, a number of barracks buildings, aero logical building, construction material and spare parts storehouse, machine shop, garage and blacksmith shop, air station storehouse filled with stores and advance base equipment, were destroyed. The radio station was riddled and a large part of equipment destroyed. Many other buildings and a large percentage of equipment were damaged. Two bombers were shot down. Others believed damaged.
6. Two-hospital units and a communications center were established in three empty magazines. Due to several near hits in raid of 19 December, these are being removed to dugouts in a less dangerous location. Five more service deaths occurred in second raid, and a number of civilian deaths. Some of those killed were wounded in hospital.
7. Later raids added to damage to buildings and equipment. Raid of 14 December destroyed one airplane on ground and killed two men. Otherwise raids since 9 December have produced no casualties and relatively little damage to defenses. However, there have been many heavy bombs, which have fallen very close to objectives.
8. Our escape from serious damage may be attributed to the effectiveness of AA fire and the heroic actions of fighter pilots, who had never failed to push home attacks against heavy fire. The performance of these pilots is deserving of all praise. They have attacked air and surface targets alike with equal abandon. That none has been shot down is a miracle. Their planes (two now remain) are full of bullet holes. Two forced landings, fortunately without injury to pilots, have occurred with loss of planes.
9. The AA battery has been fighting with only about fifty percent of necessary fire control equipment. Four guns are useless against aircraft. One four -un unit is actually being controlled by data received from another unit several miles distant.
10. Only 1 and 1/4 unit's anti-aircraft (3 inch ammunition) remains.
W.S. CUNNINGHAM