1941 Pearl Harbor Attack Aftermath (HD) - YouTube
Lest we forget.

 

Thanks for the reminder

 

Thanks for the reminder although I didn't forget..

Tomorrow night at 8:00 Pm on the History channel they have a show highlighting the hours after the attack on Pearl harbor..

It is called Pearl Harbor: 24 hours After

 

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...HH3k_xWPPomq-Q

It's interesting that this famous quote may never have been said, but wasn't it the truth!?

The Japanese invasion on PH spawned an industrial revolution that ultimately and decidedly defeated Hitler and the Japanese Empire. Truly amazing indeed.

 

Admiral Yamamoto warned the Japanese High command against using the Pearl Harbor strike, that he himself had devised.

What would the world look like today if they had listened to him, and done as Hitler wanted and attacked Russia in the east instead of going to war with the U.S.?

Russia would have fallen, and Germany would have won the war.

 

That's revisionist supposition on your part...it might have happened, might not. In fact, Japanese troops clashed with Russian troops in Siberia early in the war.

They lost and hightailed it back to Manchuria with their tails between their legs.

November 1940: The British Navy raided Taranto, the Italian port where their fleet was located. The Brits were using obsolete Fairey Swordfish biplanes flying from the carrier HMS ILLUSTRIOUS. Two battleships were sunk, one damaged.

Taranto's harbor was similar to Pearl Harbor as it was also very shallow. Pearl Harbor was no more than 40' deep at that time.

After studying the raid, Admiral Yamamoto began to devise a similar plan. The major obstacle was their torpedoes, because as designed, they would sink into the mud when dropped.

After weeks of testing, wooden fins were fitted and the drop angle was altered.

Bombs: Some were 16" shells taken from Japanese battleships, were also fitted with wooden fins.

At 0806, one of these bombs went thru the starboard deck adjacent to B turret, thru the main deck, then exploded in the black powder magazine, which set off the adjacent forward powder magazine.

The USS ARIZONA blew up and sank. A US Navy doctor stationed on the hospital ship USS SOLACE filmed this event in color using a Super 8 movie camera.

At some point, the image was reversed, making it appear when viewing the film that the ship is facing NE instead of SW. The color film has (so some claim) been lost, but it's in the two hour film Victory at Sea, broadcast on TV by NBC in 1954.

btw: When Hitler was informed of the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was flabbergasted! He knew nothing about it and supposedly turned towards Bormann and Goebbels, said...we just lost the war.

 

Did anyone see this touching story of Pearl Harbor Survivors returning to the ships after death..

Pearl Harbor survivors return to ships after death - Nation & World - The Olympian - Olympia, Washington news, weather and sports

 

This may be new news to some, but it's old news to others.

After WWII ended, Navy personnel that survived the attack could have their ashes interred with their shipmates in the USS ARIZONA and the USS UTAH, two of the three ships that were sunk that day that remain in place.

The USS OKLAHOMA was also sunk, but it was righted in 1943, patched up, then towed to a dock.

In 1947, it was towed out of Pearl Harbor destined for a west coast scrap yard, but the tow line parted in a storm 900 milles NNE of Oahu...and it sank.

 

^^^
Bill, I knew about the USS Arizona survivors' crew being able to be buried in the ship, upon request, after their death, but, I didn't know about the USS Utah's crew.

Thanks for sharing that!

 

I live In central O'ahu, we had an early morning fly over by a fighter jet.
I can imagine what bit was like in 1941.

 

The USS UTAH is located on the west side of Ford Island, and there's a memorial there for the ship. But since 9/11, the only way it can be visited, is if one is active military or can get someone to take them there that is.

The reason why I've been told is...there's a large housing tract for USN personnel within shouting distance of the memorial. You can see the housing tract from the decks of the USS MISSOURI, but not the UTAH.

The original plan was to raise the UTAH, patch it up, tow it out of Pearl Harbor, then sink it in deep water. But the ship was only partially raised...all work was then stopped and it has remained in situ ever since.

The USN did sink one ship in deep water after the attack, but it wasn't damaged, it was taking up space.

The decommissioned USS BALTIMORE, a former Protected Cruiser that dated back to 1888, was a member of Admiral Dewey's Squadron during the Spanish-American War, sailed with TR's Great White Fleet, was rusting away in North Loch.

 

"Revisionist supposition" is always fun..............
The battle between the Soviets and the Japanese took place long before the German invasion of the USSR, the Russians had the forces in place to crush the far lighter equipped Japanese invaders. Had the Japanese waited until late 41' to open the "
Second front" in Mongolia/Siberia, the entire Red Army was trying to hold back the full fury of the German Wehrmacht in the west and losing badly. It would have been a cake walk for the Japanese Army and Air Forces.

With the vast natural resources of Siberia and China at their disposal, no need to invade Indo-China and western colonies there or have war with the US, the Japanese empire would be self sustaining and Germany would have easily defeated a Russia trying to fight a war on 2 fronts.

The US and Great Britain would have stood alone.

 

The Greatest Generation is passing into the sunset with each passing day, until all that will be left is stories and newsreels.

Their sacrifice and bravery should never be forgotten, if you have a story about a relative that served, share it here.

Everyone should know before the last voice of those days falls silent.

 

Lots of interesting history there, Bill! Some I knew, some I didn't! I was a PacTheater history buff for a number of years but have let that lapse. Maybe because it's my birthday, too!

 

Something else we have in common, Ken. Happy Birthday.