Unit:
USS YP-345
Date of Birth:
January 3, 2021
Hometown:
Honolulu, Hawaii
Date of Death:
November 1, 1943
Place of Death:
Pacific Ocean, northeast of Laysan Island, Hawai'ian Islands
Awards:
Purple Heart
Cemetery:
Ernest Keaouli Sur was born in Kaumalumalu, North Kona, in the territory of Hawaii on January 3, 1921.
His mother, Mary Kahinano (Haaheo) Cleveland, was born in 1903. Her parents were of Hawaian and Korean descent. 1903 marked the year that the first Korean laborers arrived in Hawaii. The Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association (HSPA) arranged for Korean laborers to replace Japanese laborers on strike. His Korean-born father, Sung Bac Sur, most likely labored on one of the plantations on the island of Hawaii and was one of the original Koreans to come to the plantations.
The youngest of three, Sur had two elder brothers, William Sur and James Bac. Their father, Sung Bac Sur, passed away when the boys were children.
In his youth, Sur, known as Ernest Cleveland, moved to Honolulu and attended Likelike School for elementary school. He also attended middle school at Kalakaua Intermediate School up to the eighth grade. After school, Sur lived with his mother. Records reveal that he got into a little trouble at 18 for receiving stolen goods.
By 1941, Ernest had moved to the predominantly Mormon community of Laie on Oahu, where he was a member of the church.
On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan attacked the Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii using their Imperial Japanese Navy and Air forces. Two waves of Japanese aircraft attacked various military targets on the island starting at 7:55 in the morning. Japanese aircraft destroyed equipment, vehicles, and facilities on Schofield Army Barracks, Kaneohe Marine Corps Base, Wheeler Army Airfield, and Hickam Airforce Base. Aircraft bombed planes parked wingtip to wingtip on Ford Island and the Naval ships on “Battleship Row.”
Residents in neighborhoods around the military installations witnessed shells exploding in the streets while seeking shelter. As the U.S. military responded with anti-aircraft shelling, many shells did not detonate in the air and fell into the streets and hurt civilians in the area. These explosions killed at least 57 civilians and started three significant fires in Honolulu alone. Service casualties included 2,117 killed, 779 injured in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and about 696 U.S. Army personnel killed.
Two hours after the attack began, Governor Pointdexter announced over the radio that Hawaii would go into an emergency martial law, known as the M-day Act. Then the U.S. Army shut down the radio for fear of radio waves being used to coordinate attacks. All civilian dependents were evacuated from all military installations during this time, as well as the round-up of “enemy agents and suspicious characters,” namely those of Japanese ancestry or Japanese descent. This unofficially began the internment of Japanese Americans in Hawaii before the release of Executive Order 9066, on February 19, 1942, and Executive Order 9102, on March 18, 1942.
Following the attack, President Franklin Roosevelt petitioned the U.S. Congress, which declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941.
With martial law established, military governor General Short assumed comprehensive executive, legislative, and judicial power, making his actions unchallengeable. Unsatisfied with the current state of martial law, General Short ordered a statewide blackout. A strict 6:00 p.m. curfew went into effect in the following weeks, and Short blocked civilian vehicle access to the highway. Under martial law, schools and roads closed, citizens had to ration food, drinks, and gasoline, the military government suspended civil courts and habeas corpus, and curfews remained in place.
Hawaii’s civilians and other federal government agencies filed complaints about the legality of martial law. However, the U.S. Army kept tight control of civilians until after the Battle of Midway in June 1942.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Hawaii governor called to order and organized the Territorial Guard to secure the state. The guard doubled in size by December 8. Sur and other citizens joined the Home Guard to protect public buildings and other areas throughout the city day and night. After completing his training, Sur began his service as part of the 299th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Company E. He lived at the National Guard Armory located in Wahiawa and helped to guard Hawaii’s Kaneohe Bay Hospital for the next seven months.
Months earlier, the Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific fleet addressed the Japanese’s threat of occupation of the islands in the area. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz created Task Force (TP) 4, composed of YP class ships (yard patrol craft) to patrol the entire Hawaiian Islands chain. For YP class ships, the U.S. Navy requisitioned tuna fishing boats with wooden hulls, used successfully for minesweeping missions. The USS YP-345 and three other YP class ships were stationed at various islets and islands in the Hawaiian chain.
Admiral Nimitz placed district patrol vessels at smaller islands in the Hawaiian chain in case of an attack targeting Midway Atoll. He grouped four YPs into Task Force 4, all assigned to the Hawaiian Sea Frontier. YP-345 set out with its sister ships, YP-284, YP-290, and YP-350, from Pearl Harbor “to prevent the capture and occupation of Midway by enemy forces.” Right before the battle, Task Force 4 scattered to different islands to prepare. YP-345 went to Gardner’s Pinnacles, YP-290 went to Laysan Island, YP-350 went to Necker Island, and YP-284 returned home to Pearl Harbor.
The Battle of Midway took place from June 4 to June 7, 1942, and four of the Japanese Imperial Navy’s aircraft carriers were destroyed with all of their aircraft. Meanwhile, YP-345 and her sister ships patrolled the islands around Midway to rescue downed airmen. Soon after the battle, they all returned home to Pearl Harbor.
At the end of May, Japanese American soldiers of both the 299th and 298th Infantry Regiments were reassigned to the all Japanese American 100th Battalion. The 299th Infantry Regiment was removed from the 24th Infantry Division and deactivated on July 21, 1942. Sur faced a tough decision: transfer to another guard unit on the mainland or leave for another branch of the U.S. military.
Sur enlisted with the U.S. Navy Reserve on August 8, 1942, as a seaman apprentice. Upon completion of his training at the naval shipyard at Pearl Harbor on September 16, he was promoted to seaman second class. A letter to the Navy stated, “The Skipper of the [USS YP-345] would like to have this man if you can assign him” in the Fourteenth Naval District Honolulu. The Navy granted the assignment.
Sur joined the USS YP-345’s patrol of Midway months after the June battle.
On October 31, 1942, while en route from Pearl Harbor to Midway Island via French Frigate Shoals, district patrol craft YP-345 was lost without a trace to unknown causes, about 80 miles northeast of Laysan Island.
Sur’s mother received notification of his missing status on November 20, 1942. The letter from the government stated, “After a complete review of all available information and in view of the length of time that has elapsed, I am reluctantly forced to the conclusion that your son, Ernest Keaouli Sur, Seaman Second Class, United States Naval Reserve, is deceased. He was officially reported to be missing as of 31 October 1942, having been serving aboard YP-345 when that vessel was lost in the Hawaiian area while on a routine voyage. After a radio report was received stating that this vessel was sinking rapidly, an escort vessel and several patrol planes searched the area intensively for a number of days without any success.”
Never to be found, the U.S. Navy declared Sur and his fellow 16 sailors dead on November 1, 1943.
During World War II, Seaman Second Class Ernest Keaouli Sur served his country as a U.S. Navy sailor aboard Yard Patrol ships in the Pacific Theater. During one mission to the French Frigate Shoal that Sur’s ship, the YP-345, went missing. We remember him today for his bravery and sacrifice at sea.
On August 8, 1942, Sur enlisted with the U.S. Navy Reserve and was assigned to the USS YP-345, helped the U.S. Pacific fleet address the threat of Japanese targeting the Hawaiian Islands. On October 31, 1942, while en route from Pearl Harbor to Midway Island via French Frigate Shoals, Sur’s district patrol craft YP-345 was lost without a trace to unknown causes, about 80 miles northeast of Laysan Island. He was officially reported to be missing as of 31 October 1942, having served aboard YP-345 when that vessel was lost in the Hawaiian area while on a routine voyage. After a radio report was received stating that this vessel was sinking rapidly, an escort vessel and several patrol planes searched the area intensively for a number of days without any success. Never to be found, the U.S. Navy declared Sur and his fellow 16 sailors dead on November 1, 1943.
Seaman Second Class Ernest Keaouli Sur was a true hero of America and Hawaii alike. After his home was attacked, he bravely stood and fought against the assailants. Although his service was short-lived, it was not meaningless. Sur gave his life for a larger plan while on a dangerous mission in the Pacific Ocean Island chains. His remains were never found, but he lives on in memory here on the Courts of the Missing. May he forever rest in peace.
As seen from Helm’s bridge, YP-239, YP-284, and YP-346 endeavor to keep formation as they near Guadalcanal. Photograph. September 1, 1942. National Archives and Records Administration (80-G-32146). www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/y/yp-284.html.
Battleship Row following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Photograph. December 7, 1941. University of Hawai’i at M?noa Library Digital Image Collections (hwrd2216d). digital.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/items/show/28853.
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Laie, Hawaii, 1940 – The Laie Hawaii Temple and reflecting pools. Photograph. April 1942. Brigham Young University Archive.
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Pearl Harbor Attack. Photograph. December 9, 1941. Naval History and Heritage Command (NH 97427). www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/our-collections/photography/wars-and-events/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor-raid/attacks-on-airfields-and-aerial-combat/naval-air-station–kanoehe-bay–during-the-pearl-harbor-raid/NH-97427.html.
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The American Battle Monuments Commission operates and maintains 26 cemeteries and 31 federal memorials, monuments and commemorative plaques in 17 countries throughout the world, including the United States.
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