CLEVELAND SKYLINE

CLEVELAND SKYLINE
BORN HERE RAISED HERE AND MOST LIKELY WILL PASS AWAY AND BE BURIED HERE AS WELL.

San Francisco Skyline

San Francisco Skyline
I've been in my own boat sitting out in this water looking at this view. Awesome!-Sandee. This is a Tip of The Hat to Sandee, my Co-Author and blog wizard.

The Blogger's Prayer

Lord help me to learn to spell without spellcheck, manage to visit all that visit me, and post regularly - all in 5 minutes a day, so that I can clean house and take care of my family. Help me to not look at every occurrence in my life as a blog post, and to quit taking pictures of weird things to share as well. Please Lord, help me to stop talking about my blog friends as though they are next door neighbors or someone I have known all of my life. And help me dear Lord, to think of something witty and wise to post tomorrow.


Tuesday, December 06, 2011

Pearl Harbor

This Post Was Written By Cindy

Pearl Harbor was originally a shallow embankment called Wai Momi (Pearl Water) or Pu'rloa (long Hill).  It was considered the home of the shark goddess, Ka'ahupahua, and her brother, Kahiuka.  Tradition says that Keaunui, the legendary chief of the Ewa chiefs is the one w ho created a navigable channel near the present day Pu'uloa saltworks.  The estuary known as "Pearl River" was then accessible to shipping.  It was never used for large shipping because of the shallow entrance.  As whaling and trading began to use the islands as a half-way point in the Pacific, by 1820 the US was looking for a major harbor.  It was not until the turn of the century that Pearl Harbor began to be refitted for larger naval vessels.  The naval base we know today was formally opened when the dry dock was open to flooding on August 21, 1919.

As early as February 1, 1933, the Navy staged a mock attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese.  The exercise was a disaster.  Even in 1933 it was known that Pearl Harbor's defenses were considered, after the mock attack by Japan, a failure.  It makes the events of December 7, 1941 even more heart-wrenching.  The War Department knew the attack was coming.  They did not know when.  They did not realize that Pearl Harbor, which was basically a sitting duck, was to be the location of the attack.  It was assumed the attack would come in the Philippines.


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Photo taken by a Japanese plane shows Battleship Row at the beginning of the attack, along with the strike on the USS Oklahoma


"...Under the command of Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, the attack was devastating in loss of life and damage to the U.S. fleet. At 06:05 on December 7, the six Japanese carriers launched a first wave of 183 aircraft composed mainly of dive bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters. The Japanese hit American ships and military installations at 07:51. The first wave attacked military airfields of Ford Island. At 08:30, a second wave of 170 Japanese aircraft, mostly torpedo bombers, attacked the fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor. The battleship Arizona was hit with an armor-piercing bomb which penetrated the forward ammunition compartment, blowing the ship apart and sinking it within seconds. Overall, nine ships of the U.S. fleet were sunk and 21 ships were severely damaged. Three of the 21 would be irreparable. The overall death toll reached 2,403, including 68 civilians, and 1,178 injured. Of the military personnel lost at Pearl Harbor, 1,177 were from the Arizona. The first shots fired were from the destroyer Ward on a midget submarine that surfaced outside of Pearl Harbor; Ward sank the midget sub at approximately 06:55, about an hour before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japan would lose 29 out of the 350 aircraft they attacked with...."



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USS Arizona


The attack on Pearl Harbor, called Hawaii Operation or Operation Al by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters was designed to prevent the US Pacific Fleet from interfering with their military actions in Southeast Asia, against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, Netherlands, and the US.  The Japanese attack was so thorough that only 29 aircraft and five midget submarines were lost.  The US death toll was 2,403.  Only 65 Japanese servicemen were killed or wounded.  One Japanese sailor was captured.


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USS Arizona Memorial


Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam
WWII In The Pacific



--

Christopher Lee (Kawaistiyowa)

4 comments:

  1. That's one place we're going to visit when we go to Hawaii in January. The Arizona and the Missouri are definite stops.

    So many lives lost then and in the war that followed. My father would never talk about it, but he had no love for the Japanese whatsoever. Never did till the day he died.

    Have a terrific day. :)

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  2. Sandee,my dad ended his service as part of the occupation forces in Japan when the war ended.they even wanted him to re-enlist and offered him a promotion to Staff Sgt.He said no he wanted to get home to marry the love of his life,My Mom.

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  3. What a terrible thing war is. We need only look at the photos and realize the tragedy of it all.

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  4. Syd,yes you are right.the funny thing is that the man that planned this had said that by attacking the USA it would lead to Japan's ultimate defeat,but was overruled and he did do what was tasked to him by the high command.

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