INCIDENT OFF NIIHAU

Following the attacks on Pearl Harbor, two Japanese Zeroes, one from Admiral Nagumo’s flagship Akagi and the other from the Hiryu were flying in the area of Niihau Island 150 miles west of Oahu, a predesignated rendevous for any lost aircraft. They overflew the small island and headed out to sea, the Hiryu Zero trailing heavy black smoke. Simultaneously, two Curtiss Soc-1 Seagulls from the heavy cruiser USS Northhampton, part of Admiral Halsey’s Task Force Eight returning to Pearl Harbor after delivering Wildcats to Wake Island, were on patrol in the area off Niihau. The Akagi Zero spotted them over the Pacific and attacked from above. The Seagulls slowed, dropped to wave-top level, and turned to keep the enemy fighter in their gun sights. On the seventh pass by the Zero, Radioman First Class Robert Baxter, gunner on the lead Seagull, waited for just the right angle on the fighter and fired. His .30-caliber shells struck the Zero in the engine and the Zero pilot broke off the engagement; he was last seen headed toward Niihau. He never made it.