Pearl Harbour Attack

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john sefton
Posts: 1816
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2009 1:59 pm

Pearl Harbour Attack

Post by john sefton » Wed Jul 06, 2011 3:54 pm

Japan opened her undeclared war on America by the aerial attack on the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbour on Oahu Island at 7.56 a.m. on Sunday 7th December 1941 and this was placed on record in Japan in December 1942 when they issued the small blue 5+2 sen stamps for the first anniversary of the attacks The photograph used for the design of the stamp was taken by a Jap. Photographer who came in with the first flight of 50, J97 dive bombers showing the first hits by torpedoes and bombs on the U.S. ships CALIFORNIA, OKLAHOMA and ARIZONA. In all 3,067 United States servicemen lost their lives that day, 1,102 in the. OKLAHOMA.
In the harbour that morning, of the U.S. Pacific Fleet Command, there were 8 battleships, 1 training ship, 8 cruisers, 31 destroyers, 5 submarines, 38 various smaller craft, plus tugs and other harbour craft, and also 75 new Curtis P.40 fighters recently delivered to Hickam Airfield.
When the raid plans were finally agreed by the Japanese War Ministry it is believed that Vice‑Admiral Chuichi Nagumo had been alarmed at the prospect of such an event, but he was later won over, and was appointed to take command of the Force, with his flag in the battleship HIEI.
Warships, carriers, supply ships, etc. were made ready at the ports of Sasebo, Kure, Osaka, and Yokohama, then made their way northwards to the Kurile Islands where the final assembly base was located; and when Vice‑Admiral Nagumo eventually sailed for Hawaii from Tankan Bay on 26th November 1941, he had command of a raiding force consisting of two battleships, six aircraft carriers with 350 aircraft, three cruisers, eleven destroyers, three submarines, and eight refuelling and supply ships.
Their 5,500 miles course to their target led through the North Pacific at a time noted for violent storms and wild seas, and there was plenty of sea sickness aboard. the ships, in particular with the aircraft crews; the supply ships kept the refuelling going, and by 6th December had all been sent back to base, and the striking force got into positions for the take‑off, about 500 mile north west of Oahu, for 7th December.
Much has been written about the raid in various books and periodicals, but there are two items of interest which may not be so well known.
1. The Japanese had meticulously planned the raid over a period of months beforehand, and they built a large scale model layout of Pearl Harbour, with the buildings, airfields, warships etc. in a secluded bay in the Northern Kurile Islands. (The model warships were about 5ft long).
There were various progress photographs taken for the planning records, and in one aerial photograph of the battleship rows is a Japanese soldier adjusting the positions of the warships, another is poling a raft towards them, and a "city gent" is walking through the water, complete with a little pair of shorts and a black bowler hat.'
When the U.S.Forces eventually entered Tokyo in 1945 and took over the War Ministry, Vice‑Admiral Shafroth, U.S.N was surprised to find that the Japanese had made no attempt to destroy any war records, and the plans and details of all the events that had taken place during the war had all been carefully indexed and filed away. Amongst the items which Vice‑Admiral Shafroth took back to the U.S.A. were the Pearl Harbour raid plans, including the photograph used for the stamps, and those of the secret base in the Kuriles.
2. Early in 1941 the British Government had sent to the U.S.A. for experimental use three of our mobile self‑contained SCR‑270B radar units with parabolic aerials, and one unit was stationed on an elevation at Opona and operated by a U.S technician and a U.S. serviceman. The unit was treated rather sceptically, and was now in need of on overhaul and some spare parts, so that it was only operated for an hour or so each day, but the technician, who was also a "Radio Ham", was very interested in its operation. The two men came on duty that Sunday morning, the 7th December 1941, and switched on the unit, then about 6.45am saw the first echoes appearing on the screen, and as they were still visible at 6.55 am decided to notify the Duty Officer by telephone, but he negatived the report. The two men should have now gone for their breakfast, but on being told that their tansport to the base would be late, the technician returned and switched on the unit again at 7.20 am and saw that the echoes were still on the screen.
He estimated that the echoes were moving southwards towards Hawaii at a speed of 225 miles per hour, so at 7.04 am he telephoned the Control Centre and reported this to the Day Officer, but he decided it was a squadron of U.S. bombers that were due that day and rang off. At 7.28 am the echoes had now joined up with all the others on the edge of the screen, and at 7.30 the breakfast truck arrived, so the unit was switched off. The first wave of Japanese dive bombers was just 50 miles away.
C.A.Woad Log Book January 1982
Japan SG410
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SG410
SG410

D. v. Nieuwenhuijzen
Posts: 871
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2010 7:46 pm

Re: Pearl Harbour Attack

Post by D. v. Nieuwenhuijzen » Tue Nov 04, 2014 8:20 pm

Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941

Torpedo planes attack "Battleship Row" at about 0800 on 7 December, seen from a Japanese aircraft. Ships are, from lower left to right: Nevada (BB-36) with flag raised at stern; Arizona (BB-39) with Vestal (AR-4) outboard;Tennessee (BB-43) with West Virginia (BB-48) outboard; Maryland (BB-46) with Oklahoma (BB-37) outboard; Neosho (AO-23) and California (BB-44).
West Virginia, Oklahoma and California have been torpedoed, as marked by ripples and spreading oil, and the first two are listing to port. Torpedo drop splashes and running tracks are visible at left and center.
White smoke in the distance is from Hickam Field. Grey smoke in the center middle distance is from the torpedoed USS Helena (CL-50), at the Navy Yard's 1010 dock.
Japanese writing in lower right states that the image was reproduced by authorization of the Navy Ministry.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
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pearl harbour.jpg

aukepalmhof
Posts: 7771
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:28 am

Re: Pearl Harbour Attack

Post by aukepalmhof » Sun Sep 13, 2020 9:05 pm

Palau 1991 29c sg 501, scott 299a
Dominica 1991 $6 sgMS 1478 (Japanese torpedo bomber attacks American ships in Pearl Harbor,
Antigua Barbuda 1991 $6 sgMS 1484, scott 1389.
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1991 Pearl-Harbor-attack-begins.jpg
Image (4).jpg
Image (17).jpg

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