Lest we forget- 79 years ago today. The USS Oklahoma raised after capsizing during the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. A total of 429 crew died when she capsized. (Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives). [960×938]
Imagine being in the hull of that ship. It’s pitch black, you can’t hear anything. The water’s starting to rise as you can feel it move around your feet. First to your ankles, then to your waist.
You try screaming for help, but you’re just stuck in that metal coffin. There’s nothing but silence and the sound of water moving around you. All you can do is sit there and wait as the water starts to rise above your chest. You’re going to die.
And there’s nothing you can do about it.
Some-unique-username
My great grandfather was there. He served on the USS Farragut, he told my grandma and mom that he heard sailors calling out for their mothers.
Yeutter
And don’t forget about the USS Arizona, she was demolished that day – I had a conversation with George Hutton once, a man who was brushing his teeth on the Arizona at the time of the attack. Crazy times
Retireegeorge
I do t know exactly how to describe it, but I think the salvage recovery and refit of the Pacific fleet following Pearl Harbour was one of the greatest achievements in history. To be so wounded, but so determined and perform at such an extreme level – all those divers and welders and so many other trades working around the clock – to me that is America at its best. Certainly it was the an extreme project management success. And I’m not an expert but I believe that if you follow it along, these ships that America was able to return to service despite all expectation and so quickly, was material in defeating the Japanese when it hung in the balance.
>> After a systematic search for survivors, Captain Homer N. Wallin was ordered to lead a formal salvage operation.[122][nb 19]
>>Around Pearl Harbor, divers from the Navy (shore and tenders), the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, and civilian contractors (Pacific Bridge Company and others) began work on the ships that could be refloated. They patched holes, cleared debris, and pumped water out of ships. Navy divers worked inside the damaged ships. Within six months, five battleships and two cruisers were patched or refloated so they could be sent to shipyards in Pearl Harbor and on the mainland for extensive repair.[citation needed]
>>Intensive salvage operations continued for another year, a total of some 20,000 man-hours under water.[124] Arizona and the target ship Utah were too heavily damaged for salvage and remain where they were sunk,[125] with Arizona becoming a war memorial. Oklahoma, while successfully raised, was never repaired and capsized while under tow to the mainland in 1947. When feasible, armament and equipment was removed from vessels too damaged to repair and put to use aboard other craft.
AikiYun
Naval history YouTuber Drachinifel recently done an fantastic video on the cleaning up efforts after the Peael Harbor attack. His recent video gone into the efforts to raised the OK.
Fluttergirl
A cousin of mine (2x removed) died in the radio compartment of the USS Oklahoma. They identified his remains in 2018 and laid him to rest next to his parents, 76 years after he passed.
bassabas
Youtube channel World War Two wil start a 5h minute-by-minute documentary about the Pearl Harbor attack 20 minutes from me posting this.
lambmoreto
Then you turned around nuked two cities, firebombed a third killing dozens of thousands of civilians and occupied the country for seven years. I’d say you’re even.
dave_the_magic_man
There’s a 5 hour Pearl Harbour live documentary on YouTube today not sure when it starts because of time zones. Its hosted by Indy Niedel from the Great War on his WW2 channel.
Lasshandra2
My mother was an army brat on that day, living on base with her brother and mum and dad (who was in the army).
After that day, my grandmother couldn’t fall asleep properly. She had to take a series of different sleep medications, as the years passed.
It was a Sunday morning.
The parents went to make oatmeal at the school cafeteria on Monday morning, but they didn’t know how to use the large equipment and burned the bottom of the oatmeal.
My mother said no one complained.
She passed away ten years ago this week. The experience lives in her children and grandchildren, planes flying low along their street, her personal gas mask, her fear when they took way her personal gas mask: that sort of thing.
When they were evacuated to the mainland, she was unique in school. Her experience set her apart. She didn’t use colloquial English so the teacher used her as the proper example (really cruel, socially).
She had brought hula dancing to her school in Hawaii. She wasn’t afraid of associating with the indigenous people.
![Lest we forget- 79 years ago today. The USS Oklahoma raised after capsizing during the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. A total of 429 crew died when she capsized. (Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives). [960x938]](https://i.redd.it/kun189y0er361.jpg)
DonOmet
Imagine being in the hull of that ship. It’s pitch black, you can’t hear anything. The water’s starting to rise as you can feel it move around your feet. First to your ankles, then to your waist.
You try screaming for help, but you’re just stuck in that metal coffin. There’s nothing but silence and the sound of water moving around you. All you can do is sit there and wait as the water starts to rise above your chest. You’re going to die.
And there’s nothing you can do about it.
Some-unique-username
My great grandfather was there. He served on the USS Farragut, he told my grandma and mom that he heard sailors calling out for their mothers.
Yeutter
And don’t forget about the USS Arizona, she was demolished that day – I had a conversation with George Hutton once, a man who was brushing his teeth on the Arizona at the time of the attack. Crazy times
Retireegeorge
I do t know exactly how to describe it, but I think the salvage recovery and refit of the Pacific fleet following Pearl Harbour was one of the greatest achievements in history. To be so wounded, but so determined and perform at such an extreme level – all those divers and welders and so many other trades working around the clock – to me that is America at its best. Certainly it was the an extreme project management success. And I’m not an expert but I believe that if you follow it along, these ships that America was able to return to service despite all expectation and so quickly, was material in defeating the Japanese when it hung in the balance.
From Wikipedia:
>> After a systematic search for survivors, Captain Homer N. Wallin was ordered to lead a formal salvage operation.[122][nb 19]
>>Around Pearl Harbor, divers from the Navy (shore and tenders), the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, and civilian contractors (Pacific Bridge Company and others) began work on the ships that could be refloated. They patched holes, cleared debris, and pumped water out of ships. Navy divers worked inside the damaged ships. Within six months, five battleships and two cruisers were patched or refloated so they could be sent to shipyards in Pearl Harbor and on the mainland for extensive repair.[citation needed]
>>Intensive salvage operations continued for another year, a total of some 20,000 man-hours under water.[124] Arizona and the target ship Utah were too heavily damaged for salvage and remain where they were sunk,[125] with Arizona becoming a war memorial. Oklahoma, while successfully raised, was never repaired and capsized while under tow to the mainland in 1947. When feasible, armament and equipment was removed from vessels too damaged to repair and put to use aboard other craft.
AikiYun
Naval history YouTuber Drachinifel recently done an fantastic video on the cleaning up efforts after the Peael Harbor attack. His recent video gone into the efforts to raised the OK.
Fluttergirl
A cousin of mine (2x removed) died in the radio compartment of the USS Oklahoma. They identified his remains in 2018 and laid him to rest next to his parents, 76 years after he passed.
bassabas
Youtube channel World War Two wil start a 5h minute-by-minute documentary about the Pearl Harbor attack 20 minutes from me posting this.
lambmoreto
Then you turned around nuked two cities, firebombed a third killing dozens of thousands of civilians and occupied the country for seven years. I’d say you’re even.
dave_the_magic_man
There’s a 5 hour Pearl Harbour live documentary on YouTube today not sure when it starts because of time zones. Its hosted by Indy Niedel from the Great War on his WW2 channel.
Lasshandra2
My mother was an army brat on that day, living on base with her brother and mum and dad (who was in the army).
After that day, my grandmother couldn’t fall asleep properly. She had to take a series of different sleep medications, as the years passed.
It was a Sunday morning.
The parents went to make oatmeal at the school cafeteria on Monday morning, but they didn’t know how to use the large equipment and burned the bottom of the oatmeal.
My mother said no one complained.
She passed away ten years ago this week. The experience lives in her children and grandchildren, planes flying low along their street, her personal gas mask, her fear when they took way her personal gas mask: that sort of thing.
When they were evacuated to the mainland, she was unique in school. Her experience set her apart. She didn’t use colloquial English so the teacher used her as the proper example (really cruel, socially).
She had brought hula dancing to her school in Hawaii. She wasn’t afraid of associating with the indigenous people.