While unpacking her fiancé’s collection of books in Hemet, California, Tracylyn Sharrit noticed a well-worn, marked volume. The spine indicated it was an official government record related to U.S. Navy yards and stations. Pages 282 and 283 detailed events from December 6 and 7, 1941, headlined "Log Book, U.S. Navy Yard Pearl Harbor."
The majority of the log entries documented routine daily activities of the naval facility — weather observations, tidal data, ships docking or departing, and repair work. The usual entries dramatically shifted at 7:55 a.m. on December 7th, stating: “Pearl Harbor and other military and naval objectives on Oahu are being bombed by Japanese aircraft and submarines.”
Sharrit had stumbled upon the U.S. Naval Station Log Book of Pearl Harbor covering March 1941 through June 1942. Spanning over 500 pages, it remained privately possessed after its recovery from a trash container in California. In 2025, the logbook was officially returned to the U.S. Government and subsequently digitized for public access by the National Archives.
An Everyday Record That Captured a Historic Moment
The log’s significance lies partly in its routine nature. Every four hours, it recorded atmospheric pressure, air and sea temperatures, wind conditions, and weather data, alongside the comings and goings of naval vessels.
This steady recording offered an exact snapshot of the days surrounding the attack.
On December 5, the arrival of battleships USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma was noted; both were sunk during the assault two days later. The December 6 log detailed the presence of USS Pennsylvania and destroyers USS Cassin, USS Downes, and USS Shaw undergoing repairs.
Entries continue beyond the bombing itself. On December 8, while damaged vessels still smoldered, the log observed USS Utah drifting toward a channel and suggested securing it alongside the quay. Subsequent notes reported fires at an ammunition storage and Hickam Field.
Archivists from the National Archives have exercised caution in interpreting the log’s contents. Investigator Mitchell Yockelson told The Washington Post that it mainly reinforces the accepted history of Pearl Harbor, rather than challenging it, though some historical reevaluation based on the entries may still be possible.
The record extends well past December 7.
The National Archives’ report on its recovery reveals it includes the March 4, 1942, Operation K raid — a second Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor — and details the USS Yorktown’s repairs after the Battle of Coral Sea. The logs continue through June 1942, around the Battle of Midway timeframe.
The Journey from Military Record to Trash
The logbook’s path after World War II remains uncertain.
In the 1970s, Oretta Kanady, a civilian worker at Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, California, discovered the log in a refuse bin. Her son, Michael William Bonds, later recounted to The Washington Post that she sought permission to rescue the volume and received approval. She took it home and handed it to her teenage son.
Bonds kept it safely.
Over decades, the book traveled with him, often stored in a box. Archive officials have yet to determine how a Pearl Harbor Navy Yard official record ended up in California, let alone discarded at an Air Force base.
The log’s importance only became clear when Sharrit spotted it during a move-in. They reached out to Whitmore Rare Books in Pasadena, where founder Dan Whitmore identified its potential significance. However, the federal government could still claim ownership of the official logbook despite its origins.
Whitmore alerted the National Archives, which confirmed the volume’s government status. Special agent David Stupar traveled to California to reclaim it. The Archives publicly revealed the recovery in August 2025.
Naval Logs’ Contemporary Relevance
This recovered naval station logbook belongs to a broader collection of Navy records that are now valuable beyond just historical military research. In 2023, a study used weather data extracted from logs of 19 U.S. Navy ships active in the Pacific during WWII, many linked to Pearl Harbor.
With the assistance of over 4,000 volunteers, researchers transcribed upwards of 28,000 logbook images from Hawaii-based ships between 1941 and 1945. This vast dataset compiled more than 630,000 entries and over 3 million individual weather observations, including temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind speed, and direction.
Scientists anticipate these extensive records could help correct biases and gaps in wartime climate data, as some marine observations during the war were irregular and timing shifted predominantly to daylight hours. The University of Reading’s research highlights how these handwritten military records might offer climate insights previously inaccessible.
It’s important to clarify this effort is separate from the newly recovered Navy Yard logbook.
The climate study utilized logs from multiple individual ships rather than the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard volume. What connects these findings is how enduring military logs can unexpectedly contribute valuable data long after their initial purpose.
Now digitized, the recovered logbook is accessible through the National Archives. According to Smithsonian, typed transcriptions covering December 6 through 14, 1941, have also been released.
For years, this volume rested forgotten inside a worn government binder, rescued from a landfill and moved across homes in a box. Today, anyone can read the moment when a routine Navy yard log became a historic witness: 7:55 a.m., December 7, 1941.
References:
- National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
National Archives Recovers & Preserves Rare Pearl Harbor Navy Logbook
📎 archives.gov/news/articles/nara-recovers-phny-logbook - Smithsonian Magazine
She Found a Tattered Logbook in the Trash. It Turned Out to Be a Rare Record From Pearl Harbor
📎 smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/pearl-harbor-logbook-found-180987259 - National Archives Catalog
Pearl Harbor Naval Base Logbook, March 1941–June 1942 (Full digital archive)
📎 catalog.archives.gov/id/552663772 - The Washington Post
Lost and Found: Rare Pearl Harbor Navy Book Returned to Archives After 50 Years
📎 washingtonpost.com/history/2025/08/18/pearl-harbor-navy-attack-book-lost-archives-found - University of Reading
Pearl Harbor Battleship Logs Boost Climate Science With Millions of WWII Observations
📎 reading.ac.uk/news/2023/Pearl-Harbor-Bombed-battleships-boost-for-climate-science
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