December 7th

If you are interested in a detailed and unbiased reading of the events that lead up to the attack, and why we were so unprepared, I highly recommend
"At Dawn We Slept" by Gordon Prange. It's the best work I've read on the subject, and I've read a lot of them.

As a Navy vet, I feel angry still.
 
Nitt1300 said:
If you are interested in a detailed and unbiased reading of the events that lead up to the attack, and why we were so unprepared, I highly recommend
"At Dawn We Slept" by Gordon Prange. It's the best work I've read on the subject, and I've read a lot of them.

As a Navy vet, I feel angry still.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip. Will track that one down.
 
Didn't have anyone at Pearl, but that event affected my family. My grandmother's brother (maternal) was killed in action near Epinal, France, trying to push the German army back towards Strasbourg. My grandmother's brother (paternal) was on the U. S. S. Yorktown when it was hit by kamikaze attacks. He was trapped below deck for about two and half hours with the ship listing about 16 degrees. He lost about 800 shipmates in that attack. The ship didn't sink, and he survived.
 
Side note:

Pearl Harbor Veteran Expected To Be Last USS Arizona Survivor Interred On Ship




When the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, sailor Lauren Bruner was the second-to-last person to get off the USS Arizona alive.

Bruner and five others were stranded on the doomed ship when a sailor on a repair ship spotted them and threw them a line. Even though Bruner was badly burned and had been shot twice, the 21-year-old managed to climb to safety.

He died in September at the age of 98, and on Saturday, his remains will return to the USS Arizona. He is expected to be the final USS Arizona survivor to be interred on the sunken warship, Pearl Harbor National Memorial spokesperson Jay Blount tells NPR.

There are three remaining survivors and they have expressed other wishes for their remains. According to the USS Arizona Memorial, Don Stratton, Lou Conter, and Ken Potts "are the only former crewmen remaining from the 337 men who survived the attack on the battleship."

Pearl Harbor 75 Years Later: U.S. Recalls A Shocking Attack
THE TWO-WAY
Pearl Harbor 75 Years Later: U.S. Recalls A Shocking Attack
Bruner's family will hold a funeral at the USS Arizona Memorial on Saturday evening. A team of National Park Service and military divers will then receive the urn of his ashes and place it in the hull of the USS Arizona wreckage. Blount says that 43 other survivors of the attack have been interred on the ship in the same location since the Navy started the practice in 1982.

A total of 1,177 sailors and Marines were killed on the USS Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941, in an assault that prompted the U.S. to formally enter World War II. Bruner's memorial ceremony coincides with events marking the anniversary of the devastating attack.

Bruner explained his decision to be interred on the ship during a 2014 news conference.

"Well, I studied it for a long time," the veteran said, according to Stars and Stripes. "All my family and friends have been buried in various places, cemeteries. But it seems like after a while, nobody pays attention to them anymore after about five years. I hope that a lot of people will still be coming to the Arizona. I would be glad to see them."

In a 2016 interview with Arizona Public Media, Bruner remembered seeing the first signs of the 1941 attack.



Bruner was shot twice in the leg, and the Japanese warplanes hit the ship with several bombs.

"I and five others were located on the anti-aircraft gun directors platform above the bridge when the forward powder magazine blew," he said, according to the USS Arizona Memorial. "All of us were badly burned."

The repair ship sailor, Joe George, sprang into action to help them.

"George spotted the six of us, who had no way to escape the burning ship. Joe George realized the desperate situation of the six of us on the Arizona and threw a line over to us, which was contrary to his Commander's orders," Bruner said. "We secured the line on the Arizona and each of us climbed hand over hand over to the Vestal even though we were severely burned."

After he recovered, Bruner went back to fight in the war, including seven operations in the South Pacific. He was awarded a Purple Heart and retired from the Navy in 1947.
 
PSUTE said:
Side note:

Pearl Harbor Veteran Expected To Be Last USS Arizona Survivor Interred On Ship




When the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, sailor Lauren Bruner was the second-to-last person to get off the USS Arizona alive.

Bruner and five others were stranded on the doomed ship when a sailor on a repair ship spotted them and threw them a line. Even though Bruner was badly burned and had been shot twice, the 21-year-old managed to climb to safety.

He died in September at the age of 98, and on Saturday, his remains will return to the USS Arizona. He is expected to be the final USS Arizona survivor to be interred on the sunken warship, Pearl Harbor National Memorial spokesperson Jay Blount tells NPR.

There are three remaining survivors and they have expressed other wishes for their remains. According to the USS Arizona Memorial, Don Stratton, Lou Conter, and Ken Potts "are the only former crewmen remaining from the 337 men who survived the attack on the battleship."

Pearl Harbor 75 Years Later: U.S. Recalls A Shocking Attack
THE TWO-WAY
Pearl Harbor 75 Years Later: U.S. Recalls A Shocking Attack
Bruner's family will hold a funeral at the USS Arizona Memorial on Saturday evening. A team of National Park Service and military divers will then receive the urn of his ashes and place it in the hull of the USS Arizona wreckage. Blount says that 43 other survivors of the attack have been interred on the ship in the same location since the Navy started the practice in 1982.

A total of 1,177 sailors and Marines were killed on the USS Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941, in an assault that prompted the U.S. to formally enter World War II. Bruner's memorial ceremony coincides with events marking the anniversary of the devastating attack.

Bruner explained his decision to be interred on the ship during a 2014 news conference.

"Well, I studied it for a long time," the veteran said, according to Stars and Stripes. "All my family and friends have been buried in various places, cemeteries. But it seems like after a while, nobody pays attention to them anymore after about five years. I hope that a lot of people will still be coming to the Arizona. I would be glad to see them."

In a 2016 interview with Arizona Public Media, Bruner remembered seeing the first signs of the 1941 attack.



Bruner was shot twice in the leg, and the Japanese warplanes hit the ship with several bombs.

"I and five others were located on the anti-aircraft gun directors platform above the bridge when the forward powder magazine blew," he said, according to the USS Arizona Memorial. "All of us were badly burned."

The repair ship sailor, Joe George, sprang into action to help them.

"George spotted the six of us, who had no way to escape the burning ship. Joe George realized the desperate situation of the six of us on the Arizona and threw a line over to us, which was contrary to his Commander's orders," Bruner said. "We secured the line on the Arizona and each of us climbed hand over hand over to the Vestal even though we were severely burned."

After he recovered, Bruner went back to fight in the war, including seven operations in the South Pacific. He was awarded a Purple Heart and retired from the Navy in 1947.
Click to expand...
Fair winds and following seas. May this hero rest in peace.
 
A song...

There goes the siren that warns of the air raid
There comes the sound of the guns sending flak
Out for the scramble, we've got to get airborne
Got to get up for the coming attack
Jump in the cockpit and start up the engines
Remove all the wheel blocks, there's no time to waste
Gathering speed as we head down the runway
Got to get airborne before it's too late
Running, scrambling, flying
Rolling, turning, diving, going in again
Running, scrambling, flying
Rolling, turning, diving
Run, live to fly
Fly to live
Do or die
Won't you run?
Live to fly
Fly to live
Aces high
Move in to fire at the mainstream of bombers
Let off a sharp burst and then turn away
Roll over, spin 'round to come in behind them
Move to their blindsides and firing again
Bandits at 8 o'clock move in behind us
Ten ME-109s out of the sun
Ascending and turning our spitfires to face them
Heading straight for them, I press down my guns
Rolling, turning, diving
Rolling, turning, diving, doing it again
Rolling, turning, diving
Rolling, turning, diving
Run, live to fly
Fly to live
Do or die
Won't you run?
Live to fly
Fly to live
Aces high
 
I posted another thread about this. But with all I have read about that day. And as terrible as it was. It is hard to believe that less than 40% of the over all ordnance used that day was successful. And much of it was over kill on the same targets.

That day could have had double the body count. Thankfully it didnt get worse than it did
 
Irishblooded said:
I posted another thread about this. But with all I have read about that day. And as terrible as it was. It is hard to believe that less than 40% of the over all ordnance used that day was successful. And much of it was over kill on the same targets.

That day could have had double the body count. Thankfully it didnt get worse than it did
Click to expand...
Besides the obvious, of no smart bombs back then, it was all skill alone. A tick too late, or soon, and you miss with a gravity bomb. These were carrier based pilots, and may not have had much experience in combat during the mainland Asia invasion. No need to risk your specialized (carrier take off and landing) pilots. Additionally, they were using special designed shallow water torpedoes, yet untested in combat. A different doctrine in attacking, than typical. Plus they were attacking in a harbor with limited run time to target, while facing ship bourne and land based defenses. A different animal from a typical torpedo attack at sea.
 
RuffledFeathers said:
Besides the obvious, of no smart bombs back then, it was all skill alone. A tick too late, or soon, and you miss with a gravity bomb. These were carrier based pilots, and may not have had much experience in combat during the mainland Asia invasion. No need to risk your specialized (carrier take off and landing) pilots. Additionally, they were using special designed shallow water torpedoes, yet untested in combat. A different doctrine in attacking, than typical. Plus they were attacking in a harbor with limited run time to target, while facing ship bourne and land based defenses. A different animal from a typical torpedo attack at sea.
Click to expand...
An uncorrected dive angle error of only 5 deg can cause a miss of 225 yards or greater.
 
RuffledFeathers said:
That works out to 2,575 ft of altitude, at release point.
Click to expand...
I'm not a pilot, much less a dive bombing pilot. But I know our pilots had hell hitting stationary tanks on the range with MK-82's even with a modern bombsight. The "grease pencil on the window" had a higher success rate. Of course in their defense, bombing runs weren't part of our normal mission profile, so they didn't get to practice it very often.

Side note: At 300ft, and 300 knots, we were a half-second ahead of the frag pattern of a MK-82.
 
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