At 7:55 AM on Sunday December 7th, 1941, Michael DeCicco was setting up chairs for a church service on board his ship the Helena—a Navy Destroyer which was docked at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The Helena was docked at what was called the 1010 Harbor. It was across from “battleship row” - where the US Navy’s large battleships were docked.

Michael observed many planes approaching at low attitude. As they came close by he saw a red circle on the side of each aircraft, this symbol was “the rising sun” and it belonged to Japan. He immediately realized what this meant. No one had expected war at the base, but here it was. Within three minutes of the first Japanese bomb exploding, the attack came his way, one enemy plane released a torpedo aimed at The Oglala which was an old mine layer that was docked in front of the Helena. (Most ships were docked two deep at Pearl Harbor.) The torpedo went under the bottom of the smaller Oglala and hit Michael’s ship The Helena. The engine room clock stopped at 7:57 AM. The explosion killed several on the ship. One engine room and one boiler room were flooded. Some wiring was severed—cutting power to some of the guns. The sailors immediately responded by closing the water tight doors and hatches throughout the flooded areas. This kept the ship afloat. An additional generator was started and power was soon restored to all guns.

The debris that broke apart from the two ships covered the 1010 dock. The section that had been set up for church now looked like a cyclone had hit it. But quickly Michael DeCicco and the other crew members started to fight back and got the anti-aircraft guns firing at the Japanese planes. Historians credit The Helena as one of the first ships to start fighting back at Pearl Harbor. Michael helped to ready the ammunition that was being fired at the attacking aircraft. The attacking enemy aircraft fired back, inflecting more casualties on The Helena sailors.

The initial torpedo blast on the Helena was so great that it burst the seams of the ship next to it, The Oglala. Soon, the Oglala started listing heavily and her signal flags drooped over the Helena’s bridge. Sailors responded by getting a tug boat to clear the sinking Oglala away from the Helena so it would not interfere with the anti-aircraft fire.

The Helena would shoot down at least one Japanese plane and perhaps as many as three. In the confusion of battle it is hard to determine exactly which ship fired which shot.

The attack lasted just under 2 hours. The Japanese planes returned to their aircraft carriers and withdrew. While the Japanese were the proud winners of the battle at Pearl Harbor, every Japanese ship that participated in the attack would be sunk by the end of the war. The Helena was soon repaired and the crew along with Raritan’s Michael DeCicco would return to battle the Japanese again at Guadalcanal and other battles.