HONOLULU — Warren Upton, the oldest living survivor of the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the last remaining survivor of the USS Utah, has died at the age of 105. He passed away Wednesday at a hospital in Los Gatos, California, after a bout of pneumonia, according to Kathleen Farley, the California state chair of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors.
The USS Utah, a battleship, was moored at Pearl Harbor when Japanese planes launched their surprise attack on the Hawaiian naval base in the early hours of December 7, 1941, an event that propelled the United States into World War II. Upton, in a 2020 interview with The Associated Press, recounted his experience. He described preparing to shave when the first torpedo struck the Utah. Initially unaware of the cause of the ship’s violent shaking, he witnessed the impact of a second torpedo, which caused the vessel to list and capsize.
The then 22-year-old Upton swam to Ford Island, seeking refuge in a trench to avoid strafing Japanese planes. He remained there for approximately 30 minutes until a truck arrived and transported him to safety. While he didn’t shy away from discussing the attack itself, Upton expressed greater sorrow over the continual loss of his shipmates over the years. By 2020, only three surviving crew members of the Utah remained, including himself.
According to military historian J. Michael Wenger, an estimated 87,000 military personnel were stationed on Oahu during the attack. With Upton’s passing, only 15 survivors remain.