In 1941 a senior Naval Officer decided to have the USS Remembrance and its escort ships anchor off Lahaina rather than dock at Pearl Harbor. The thinking was that the ships would be safe from Japanese attack since they would be 90 miles further west than Japan expected. The crew were skeptical and Lt. Cdr. Hiram Pottinger expressed concern that the Remembrance would be lost in the deep waters off Lahaina rather than being re-floated in the shallow waters of Pearl if the high command were mistaken.