Photos From Pearl

Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules

They not only had P-36's and P-40's at Pearl, but still had P-26's as well. After the attack the remaining P-26's provided a significant portion of the defense force and flew many patrols. The cowl and prop from a destroyed P-26 seem to be visible in this photo, with P-40 or P-36 debris visible in the background.

 
Here's an article from today's Air Force Times about Lt (later LtCol) Kermit Tyler, explaining why his decision to not notify his superiors of Opana's contact was not the blunder it seemed to be: Could a young Army pilot have prevented the Pearl Harbor attack?

And asked-for, some pictures. All photos and captions are from NHHC and are public domain.


USS Arizona (BB-39) ablaze, immediately following the explosion of her forward magazines, 7 December 1941. Frame clipped from a color motion picture taken from on board USS Solace (AH-5). Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.


Panorama view of Pearl Harbor, during the Japanese raid, with anti-aircraft shell bursts overhead. The photograph looks southwesterly from the hills behind the harbor. Large column of smoke in lower right center is from the burning USS Arizona (BB-39). Smoke somewhat further to the left is from the destroyers Shaw (DD-373), Cassin (DD-372) and Downes (DD-375), in drydocks at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.


Japanese Navy Type 97 Carrier Attack Plane (Kate) flies high over Hickam Army Air Field during the attack. Pearl Harbor is in the background, with smoke rising from burning ships off Ford Island and at the Navy Yard. Photographed from a Japanese plane. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
 
Last edited:
Actually, I think that is a Grumman OA-9 from one of the two group headquarters squadrons (note the float at center-right). I'll check my files. There were indeed P-26s.present, though. MW
 
There was a Zero that made a relatively intact landing on one of the more remote HI islands. The pilot told two men of Japanese heritage, one an American citizen and the other a Japanese immigrant, that the IJN was invading and they'd better follow his orders. They took the machine guns out of the Zero and together with his pistol, seized control of the island. There was no radio communication with Honolulu, so some people set out on a boat to get help. A local man and his wife managed to steal the ammo for the machine guns but was shot a number of times with the pistol and the IJN pilot was killed. It was this incident that led to the forced movement of Japanese Americans from the West Coast, for fear that others would cooperate with the IJN.
 
Thumpalumpacus said:
A cool article from AF Times about the Zero recovered after the attack:
Click to expand...
Thank you for that! Note the following statement:
"The Signal Corps investigator said that the radio compass, dial and loop control, and compass dynamotor were American-made,..."

That was also the case for the radio in the Koga Zero captured in the Aleutians. The receiver/direction finder were made by Fairchild.

Note that for P&W engines copied by the Japanese they even copied the PWA insignia, but in Japanese. This kind of thing probably led to some claims of American made equipment being used.

Note also this: "In the hail of fire, the engine and mount of the Cub ripped from the airframe. Machinist Mate 2nd Class Marcus F. Poston of USS Argonne, taking what he thought would be a pleasant Sunday morning flying lesson, managed to bail out safely."

That guy was wearing a parachute while flying a J-3 Cub, not a normal practice. Maybe he got the chute from the USN stores?

The Interstate Cadet flown by the female instructor pilot not only survived the attack but is still around today.

And thanks to that article we now have a number of other pictures of the same Zero shown in the picture above.

 
On 7 Dec 1941 Gen Short had given everyone the weekend off. A a result many of the pilots of the 47th Pursuit Squadron were not even on Oahu. They had been invited to go deer hunting on Molokai by Chung-Hoon, a merchant in Honolulu had a son who had gone to the US Naval Academy. So about 15 airmen took an unarmed B-18 and went to the deer hunt on Saturday. They heard of the attack, climbed in the B-18 and flew back, assuming that in reality it was just another drill. On the way back they saw the smoke and thought it was unusually realistic. They did see a few Japanese airplanes but fortunately they showed no interest in the B-18. After being fired on by USN flak they managed to call the control tower land at Wheeler Field.
 
One of the lesser-known photographs of the magazine explosion on board the destroyer Shaw (DD 373), taken perhaps three seconds following the explosion and eruption of the fireball that followed. At left is the stern of the seaplane tender Avocet (AVP 4), with garbage lighter YG 21 just behind Avocet's boom. Shaw lies in the floating dry dock YFD 2 at left center. Note the battleship Nevada (BB 36) beached on Hospital Point at right center, with the outbound harbor current having pivoted the ship on her forefoot, so that she now points up the harbor's entrance channel. This image was taken near the west corner of the Administration Building (Bldg 77) on Ford Island, looking approximately south. The 1st floor Radio Department (where the message "AIR RAID PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NO DRILL" was sent) lies just out of frame to the photographer's left.

 
Last edited:
Excellent work! I have the entire [?] run of photos taken at Fort Kamehameha, and in the HAD. Contract me offline if you would like to have them. A collector at Lousiville bought them all off of a vet ten or so years back. Stopped in and scanned them all (at a hefty price) on the way from NC to the National Archives in St. Louis. A very, very lucky occurance as so often occurs in the course of research. Most people interested in history have a story like this to tell!
 
"It was this incident that led to the forced movement of Japanese Americans from the West Coast, for fear that others would cooperate with the IJN."
Not disagreeing with your statement but the plans had been made quite some time before and this incident was used more as justification than as cause.
 
junkman3353 said:
Not disagreeing with your statement but the plans had been made quite some time before and this incident was used more as justification than as cause.
Click to expand...
Interestingly enough, guess who said that we should not be doing that since we were violating their civil rights?

J. Edgar Hoover!

By the way, the Nisei were not forced to go into camps. They were only forced to leave the West Coast. They could go anywhere else in the country and do anything they wanted. Going into the camps was voluntary. Admittedly, finding a place where they could have lived peacefully probably would have been a challenge.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)

Similar threads

M
Some old photos
Replies
10
Views
1K
TheRealMrEd
O
B-26 from a NC scrapyard circa 1970
Replies
2
Views
507
Snautzer01
D
Looking for photos of Spitfire MJ772 front cockpit
Replies
4
Views
250
DaveR
D
A
Seeking photos or links to 4 BFTS
2 3
Replies
44
Views
2K
Alex Smart
A
Any photos needed ?
Replies
16
Views
2K
Crimea_River
Menu
Log in
Register