In the quiet, predawn hours of Dec. 7, 1941, the U.S.S. Ward, a 23-year-old, four-piper destroyer, rolling back to Pearl Harbor from a routine patrol, picked up a startling report from a minesweeper: a mysterious object, possibly a submarine, had been detected in the darkness to the west. From the skipper's cabin, Lieut. William W. Outerbridge, nervously proud of his first full command, hurried out to direct a search. Finding nothing, he gave the order to secure from general quarters, went back to sleep.
But within two hours he was again brusquely awakened. This time lookouts could plainly see the shape...
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