Duncan, Pat Perry, PO2

The USS Raleigh was the first ship struck on December 7, 1941.

At 0755, Pat Duncan reported for duty on the quarterdeck of the USS Raleigh (CL-7). He was getting ready to play "Colors" when planes appeared and began dropping torpedoes. He and the others on deck thought these were American planes dropping fake bombs as part of a drill. They continued to think this until the first blast knocked them to the deck. When they looked up, they finally saw the "Rising Sun" on the planes. Pat began to sound "General Quarters" on his bugle and continued to repeat the call until he reached his battle station at the 3-inch anti-aircraft gun where he passed ammo to the gunner's mate.

The Raleigh was listing and the crew was afraid the ship would sink. Once the battle was over, they jettisoned any unnecessary equipment off the decks to help increase the ship's buoyancy. Once the ship was safe, every man aboard was accounted for. Although there were some injuries, none of the crew was killed.