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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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I have to agree with karl baba above. The Japanese set out to copy the West after Admiral Perry shot his way into their consciousness, and they realized they would have to compete or become a western colony like China, Indo China and the Phillipines. They modeled their army on the Prussians and their Navy on the British. Repeatedly they were told that to be taken seriously as a world power they would need an empire. The British in particular trained them to aspire to that.
America later hypocritically set out to block their efforts decrying colonialism while we occupied the Phillipines and backed the British, French and Dutch in Indo China along with the treaty ports in mainland China. We welcomed Chinese and Japanese laborers to Hawaii and the West Coast and then passed the Oriental Exclusion Act, something they still resent.
As for Pearl Harbor, a student of mine told me over 30 years ago that her father was a sailor stationed in Honolulu just before Pearl Harbor and the rank and file were placing bets in the bars on their off time as to when they would be attacked. They were only surprised by the ferocity and thoroughness of it all.
Seeing how young our sailors on the deck of the USS Ward looked, I was reminded of teaching last term at a Marine Corps expeditionary base on Okinawa up by the jungle warfare training area. Those guys looked just as young as he WWII sailors, even though many of them have done two or three tours in the Middle East already. Some of these veterans were so easily distracted by the giggly young female Marines in the class that I had to make the girls sit on one side and the easily distracted guys on the other. Married marines occupied the middle. War heroes and kids all at the same time. It never changes.
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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I wonder how our tankers felt about this.
The M4 Sherman was known as the "Ronson" (lights every time) "Tommycooker" and "Burning Grave"
The low velocity 75 mm gun was only effective against German tanks from the side or rear.
http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=40
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Park Rat
Social climber
CA, UT,CT,FL
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 9, 2012 - 11:56am PT
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(Park Rat, with all due respect the Norden didn't increase your chances of coming back from a mission it only increased the chances that you would hit the target you were sticking your neck out for.)
The reason I mentioned the bomb site was that it did save many lives.
Each time the men went out on a mission if they failed to reach the target or the bombs were off target two things could happen.
If they failed to reach the target they would have to be sent out again on another mission. If they reached the target but failed to hit the intended target, often a rail yard or bridge they would have to go back on a second mission to complete the job.
If the the bombardier had trouble lining up his drop site, as they did before the Norten came along. The bomb group would be forced to go around the target and make his second run. It was this second runs that often proved the most fatal, as the gunners on the ground now were prepared to shoot down the incoming bombers.
Every second over a target that is shooting at you can be fatal. That is why I mentioned the Norten it really did save lives because it was so accurate that the men did not have to risk their lives on a second or third go-round.
I hope that explains why I mentioned it. If you would like to know more about my husband's bomb group. See the 320th bomb group website. His squadron was the 442. There were four squadrons stationed together to make up 320th.
I'm including some pictures from the website. The 4 ship box picture was something my husband talked a great deal about. He felt it was the safest formation to be an during the combat. The closer the planes flew together the safer they were. because they could cover each other with their guns if they were attacked by fighter planes.
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John Duffield
Mountain climber
New York
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Tomorrow is Decmber 7th.
I saw recently,SCUBA divers, went down to a shipwreck of a tug that had sunk 3 days before and found a man alive and brought him to the surface alive.
It brought me to mind of the USS OKLAHOMA. After the attack, there were silors alive inside, banging away, they couldn't get at all of them, eventually the banging stopped.
During the war, they raised the vessel they recovered the bodies, they found a diary, I read somewhere it was scratched into the hull. After the war, they towed the ship and lost it. Last I heard, it's still on the top ten list of WW2 wrecks as yet not found.
What I can't seem to find, is a rocord of the diary. Seems like it should be an important part of the memorial.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Remember it well. Tried to crawl out of my crib and enlist but was told i had to wait until i was potty trained.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Park Rat, the B-26 was somewhat maligned because it was not as forgiving of
ham-fisted n00bs as most bombers were. It handled more like a large fighter
and rewarded those capable of utilizing its abilities while punishing those
who weren't up to the task. An acquaintance was working on one found in a
Canuckian peat bog after the ferry crew ran it out of gas on the way to Alaska.
It only had 40 hours on it. Unfortunately I never got to fly it. :-(
Just yesterday it was announced that the U of Hawaii had discovered an I-400.
"At nearly 400 feet long, the I-400 and its two sister ships were the largest submarines ever built before the nuclear age.
The I-400 was one of five Japanese submarines captured by the U.S. Navy at the end of World War II and sent to Hawaii for examination, the school said.
With tensions rising between the Soviet Union and the United States after the war, the Navy scuttled the ships to avoid their advanced technology falling into the hands of the Soviet navy in what would become one of the first intrigues of the Cold War."
So if we were towing it to Hawaii why did we suddenly become afraid the
Rooskies were gonna nab it? I smell a fish.
I-400 Sub found off Hawaii
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John Duffield
Mountain climber
New York
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I did see that. There's also contoversy as to the location of the 5th midget and whether a midget fired one of the torpedoes that sank the OKLAHOMA. It's a shame the Vets are passing taking so much with them.
The IJN, had a greater variety of submarines than all the other navies combined. Where other navies would build many in a "class", many IJN vessels were built unique.
http://www.combinedfleet.com/ss.htm
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Curt
climber
Gold Canyon, AZ
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Just curious, has anything ever occurred in history that did not involve a government conspiracy?
Curt
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Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Just curious, has anything ever occurred in history that did not involve a government conspiracy?
No. Your decision to have Wheaties this morning. You think that just happened?
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Curt
climber
Gold Canyon, AZ
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Curt, how does the Navy use Bayesian statistical theory?
I have no idea. See how easy that is? I simply admit when I don't know something, instead of making something up.
Curt
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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I think it's a safe bet that Wheaties are a conspiracy.
Sugar plus corn syrup? And that BHT stuff gives me hives.
Sorry for the thread drift. I wonder how those old Nevada class ships would have fared in an open sea battle against the Japanese fleet? They would have been fully crewed too...
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Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Corn syrup IS a government conspiracy.
As for the Nevada class battleships, the battleship was already obsolete in 1941. Billy Mitchell had already proven that, they just didn't realize it yet. What happened to Repulse and Prince of Wales should have made that point very obvious.
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Along with what happened to the DKM Battleship Bismark. Already obsolete bi-planes hit her with a torpedo and jammed her rudder, so she was a sitting duck for the whole British fleet to pounce on and sink in the Bay of Biscay.
Each new war is always initially being fought with the outmoded weapons and tactics of the previous war. That is, until someone comes along with a new tactic like Blitzkrieg and takes all the marbles. Submarines, air-power and aircraft carriers were already the way of the future while the Great Powers were still pouring all their treasure into big floating gun platforms called battleships.
Too bad we weren't paying better attention when those British Swordfish torpedo-bombers trashed the Italian fleet at Taranto. However, the Japanese were paying very, very close attention and planned their attack on Pearl Harbor accordingly. I still have some newspaper clipping in a scrapbook with pics of Arizona all lit up for Fleet Week in Seattle. Pearl Harbor must have been a real shocker.
By the way, my late aunt's first BF is still entombed down in the Arizona. The Pacific Fleet was the pride of the whole West Coast from Bremerton, WA to San Diego, CA, so the Japanese attack real hit civilian morale very hard.
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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ontheedgeandscaredtodeath
Social climber
SLO, Ca
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I posted these photos before but whatever. Pulled my kid from school to show him these planes. There were old guys who had clearly flown in them in World War 2 who were having trouble moving around, touching stuff, etc. All quite heavy.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Didn't the Japanese build some huge submarine floatplane aircraft carriers with the intent on bombing the Panama Canal?
EDIT
Took a while to load the link.
Yup. Its one of 'em.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Toker, that was the I-400 I mentioned up thread. It carried three aircraft!
However, a little birdie is telling me they used a smaller one that only
carried one or two on that Panama Canal fiasco.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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My mother told me that she heard about Pearl Harbor just as she was watching me use my twin brother as a stepping stone to get out of my crib.......what were YOU doing?
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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What were YOU doing when Garfield was shot?
(and how come yer email's no good)
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Park Rat
Social climber
CA, UT,CT,FL
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Topic Author's Reply - Dec 7, 2013 - 12:40pm PT
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Pearl Harbor remembered 71th anniversary!
There are fewer WWII vets left each year to remember DEC 7th.
We should not ever forget those the men & women who fought in this war.
The moment people heard of the attack on Pearl Harbor they knew we were at war. The next day millions of Americans lined up at recruiting centers to volunteer to go to war.
So many people came forward that they were not able to process many of them into the various services for many months.
America was not prepared, even though the war in Europe had been going on for several years. Overnight we had to plan for new military bases and training.
The real problem was that we did not have the ships or airplanes that we would need to reach the enemy. Much of our military was using World War I equipment at the beginning of the war.
The real story of how quickly we reacted and turned from an isolationist, post depression country into a superpower virtually overnight is the great miracle of World War II.
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