“I was 16 years old when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and right then and there I wanted to go into the Navy,” Chief Petty Officer Hank Kudzik proudly remarked to a United States Navy Memorial Film Crew about his entry into the service. After the Japanese surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, Hank Kudzik was compelled to enlist, along with thousands of other young men, in the United States Armed Forces to defend their Nation. Chief Petty Officer Kudzik Enlisted in the United States Navy and was first stationed at Pearl Harbor. He shared, “I volunteered (for the Submarine Service) because I was doing some work like removing bodies from the Oklahoma when I got to Pearl Harbor and it was not a pleasant task… I spotted the Submarine Base...I wanted combat... I wanted to see what I could do.” This can do spirit prompted Kudzik to volunteer for the submarine service which would later take him aboard two submarines, the USS Nautilus (SS-168) and the USS Gar (SS-206). 

Reflecting on his early memories of World War II, Kudzik shared, “They put me on a waiting list for submarines and I passed all the tests… and the Nautilus came in.” His first submarine would depart Pearl Harbor for Midway and sail straight into harm’s way.

Kudzik remarked, “We proceeded to Midway… When we got off sight...it was only a couple of days off Midway when we ran into a flotilla... We didn't even have to plan an attack; they were coming right over us. The Skipper said make four torpedoes ready, tubes one, two, three, four...” Pausing for a moment, Kudzik shared an occurrence that plagued the submarine force, “Well an amazing thing happened. He chose a large ship...the four torpedoes were fired… they all hit their targets and they did not explode.” Although these torpedoes were defective, Kudzik would share that the Nautilus would inflict losses on the Japanese before returning to Pearl Harbor. Kudzik’s wartime account’s recorded and preserved by the United States Navy Memorial would span much of the War in the Pacific aboard two distinguished submarines.

The United States Navy Memorial honors Chief Petty Officer Hank Kudzik, featured within a new series titled, Stories of Service, Story of the Month. Each month, this series honors a Veteran’s story recorded by the Stories of Service Program at the Navy Memorial.