Pearl Harbor Raid, 7 December 1941

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY ^ | DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

[Dubya]

Overview and Special Image Selection

The 7 December 1941 Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor was one of the great defining moments in history. A single carefully-planned and well-executed stroke removed the United States Navy's battleship force as a possible threat to the Japanese Empire's southward expansion. America, unprepared and now considerably weakened, was abruptly brought into the Second World War as a full combatant.

[oyez]

You have to consider American ingenuity on that one. At the time of Pearl Harbor, we were four years behind the Japanese. Within a year we were four years ahead of the Japanese.

I don't think anyone standing on Ford Island on Dec 7, 1941 would have believed that, but the USA was given plenty of incentive and invective to make that happen.

[GATOR NAVY]

Yes, it has been terrible. They say they are upgrading their servers, but I haven’t seen any improvement lately. It’s too bad.

[JoeFromSidney]

I was six at the time. I still remember the shock I felt as the news came over the radio. To me, history is still divided into "before the war" and "after the war." That war is still "the big one," despite my own service in SEA 1962 - 1963.

[PAR35]

America, unprepared

Not really. The draft had started, a major arms program was underway; reserves had been called up and ordered to Asia.

On the tactical level, the carriers had been ordered away from Pearl Harbor and given rules of engagement which anticipated conflict.

Meanwhile, in the Atlantic, the US was already engaged with the German navy. In Asia, naval and marine forces in China were withdrawn to the Phillipines to strengthen the defenses there. Facilities on Wake were being upgraded.

[henkster]

If you look carefully at the photo, you can see the concentric concussion rings around the wounded battleships caused by the torpedo hits.

[Maine Mariner]

Not surprising-we actually built a liberty ship (victory?)
ship in ten days. 10 days from laying the keel until launch.

[Wiggins]

My father was with the 1st Marine Division during WWII. I always take December 7th off too for personal observation. One of favorite videos is a movie short of the U.S.M.C. Band 1942. It’s a dated video but every time I watch it it reminds me of my father and the old corps. Here’s a link to the short.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93mkzZ-sLQI

[doc1019]

Thank you, I shall ad it to my Dec. 7th list of thing to watch..

[KoRn]

I wonder why they didn’t wait until 12.7 to release this. Wouldn’t it have been a bit more meaningful than to do it on 12.4?

[higgmeister]

If you look carefully at the photo, you can see the concentric concussion rings around the wounded battleships caused by the torpedo hits.

They become like hash marks where the rings intersect farther out in the bay.

[rfreedom4u]

From what I’ve heard those destroyers fought like battleships and the Japs decided not to continue the fight because of the fight.

[oyez]

Admiral Kurita failed to make a coordinated tun into the battle line, which made for faulty deployment. The Devastators and Wildcats overhead wasn't any help either.

[Stonewall Jackson]

The white splotches by the Arizona are bomb bursts from the first wave of horizontal bombers. Two bombs missed close alongside, while a third ricocheted off one of her aft gun turrets, penetrated the deck, and exploded.

On the right side of the photo, you can barely see the stern of the fleet tanker Neosho, which had just finished unloading her bunkers of aviation fuel for the aircraft stationed on Ford Island. If the Japanese had managed to hit her with just one bomb, the explosion would have made the Arizona's eruption look like a firecracker. Fortunately, the second-wave dive bombers that were targeting her were diverted by the Nevada's run to the sea.

[Stonewall Jackson]

Here are three photos of the New Orleans after the Battle of Tassafaronga.

[Gene Eric]

Not forgotten.

I have a vivid memory of the tears of oil from the USS Arizona rising to the surface.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

Thank you for these photos as I had only seen one on
the Navy site where it was backed onto the atoll.

[rlmorel]

"...E.B. Sledge's "With the Old Breed"..."

I just read that for the first time last year, on the suggestion of a Freeper. I am well read on WWII, but that book was a real testament to the absolute inhuman brutality of the Pacific War.

I had always thought someone would make something about the Pacific War, but I was disappointed with "Flags of Our Fathers", REALLY disappointed by "The Thin Red Line" and appalled by the absolute butcher job on "Pearl Harbor".

[Cripplehawk]

I When that day comes I usually watch
“From here to Eternity”(1953) for the drama
but I also watch “Tora Tora Tora” (1970.

BOth are very interesting films. Skip the Ben Affleck film
“Pearl Harbor”(2001)

[Badeye]

Skip the first half of the Ben Affleck film, and most of the second half.

That said, the attack itself is stunningly replayed in that movie.

As a Navy vet, I get ‘that feeling’ in my gut every time I watch it, or anything else related to the attack.

But I make it a point to watch it every year around this time.

Never forget. It will happen again, as 9/11 demonstrated.

[Uncle Hal]

I was 6 years old at the time of the attack, living in CA. and when we came out of church a women came running up to us and told us of the attack on Hawaii. We of course had never heard of Pearl Harbor. One of the thing I will never forget.