Thoughts for the day -- Pearl Harbor

Colleges and Universities A-Z Service Academy Parents
1

<p>The Island of Oahu, with its military depots, both naval and land, its
airdromes, water supplies, the city of Honolulu with its wharves and supply
points, forms an easy, compact, and convenient object for air attack... I believe therefore, that should Japan decide upon the reduction and seizure of the Hawaiian Islands... attack will be launched at Ford's Island at 7:30 A.M. </p>

<ul>
<li>General William Mitchell
(memorandum for the Chief of Staff of
the U.S. Army, 1924)</li>
</ul>

<p>Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval
and air forces of the Empire of Japan. </p>

<ul>
<li>Franklin D. Roosevelt
(to Congress, 8 December 1941) </li>
</ul>

<p>To be defeated is pardonable; to be surprised -- never! </p>

<ul>
<li>Napoleon Bonaparte
(Maxims of War) </li>
</ul>

<p>I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a
terrible resolve. </p>

<ul>
<li><p>Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
(attributed*) </p></li>
<li><p>N.B. There is no evidence that Yamamoto ever really said this, but after
he was "quoted" to this effect in the 1970 motion picture Tora, Tora, Tora,
his supposed observation took on a life of its own. </p></li>
</ul>

<p>However, in a letter dated 9 January 1942, Yamamoto did note,
"A military man can scarcely pride himself on having smitten
a sleeping enemy; in fact, to have it pointed out is a matter
of shame." </p>

<p>Today is the 65th anniversary of the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, which brought the United States into World War II.</p>

<p>The meticulously planned and devastatingly successful operation was launched from six aircraft carriers and their escorts, which had managed to penetrate to within 200 miles of Oahu without being discovered. Of the eight American battleships in port that day, 4 were sunk or destroyed, and nine other warships were sunk or severely damaged. Over 2,400 U.S. servicemen lost their lives. </p>

<p>The only bright spots were the absence of the three U.S. aircraft carriers from Pearl Harbor that day and the Japanese' inexplicable failure to destroy the Pacific Fleet's enormous fuel supplies, which would have been an easy target. </p>

<p>After the attack, Senator Burton K. Wheeler (D, Montana), who had been a
leading isolationist, announced, "The only thing now to do is to kick hell out of them."</p>

<p>And we did.</p>

2

<p>The Arizona museum is one of the most moving sights I have ever seen.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, we never seem to learn our lesson vis-a-vis "kick[ing] the hell out of them" and continue to place young men and women in harm's way without such a clear statement of purpose.</p>

3

<p>
[quote]
After the attack, Senator Burton K. Wheeler (D, Montana), who had been a leading isolationist, announced, "The only thing now to do is to kick hell out of them."

[/quote]
</p>

<p>"When this war is over, the Japanese language will be spoken only in hell." - ADM William "Bull" Halsey</p>

<p>What a shame that we no longer seem to be able to muster that kind of rage and cold determination at having being attacked, and actually manage to maintain it for more than just a few weeks.</p>

<p>RIP, souls of Pearl Harbor. You did your duty and did it well, and your shipmates and countrymen avenged you many times over. You are not forgotten. :(</p>

<p>The ARIZONA Memorial is on my short list of places I MUST see before I die.</p>

4

<p>I've been to the Arizona Memorial. It is a must see if you get to Hawaii and worth the long wait in line. It did feel kind of odd to be in that hallowed place alongside some Japanese tourists.</p>

5

<p>Several articles on Pearl Harbor are in today’s newspapers. One caught my interest telling of the sinking of the USS Arizona Memorial itself. Apparently on a landfill & with over 4,000 visitors each day, it has structural damage from oversettling & water damage. Sadly, officials say that the memorial will have to be abandoned in as little as two to seven years. Sounds like they are raising funds for a new larger memorial & visitor’s center. I’m sorry we’re loosing such a treasure. What an awesome place to get a feeling for the nationwide patriotism & the will of the American people that we‘ve lost now due to today's war & our times.</p>

6

<p>Besides the landfill problem at the visitors center a more critical issue may be dealing with the ships leaking bunker fuel oil. The following is an excerpt from a recent National Park Service report entitled the Long-Term Management Strategies for USS Arizona.</p>

<p>“USS Arizona apparently contains several hundred thousand gallons of Bunker C fuel oil, which has been slowly escaping since its loss in 1941. This oil, a potentially serious environmental hazard, is contained within the corroding hull. Catastrophic oil release, although by all indications not imminent, is ultimately inevitable.”</p>

7

<p>
[quote]
Besides the landfill problem at the visitors center a more critical issue may be dealing with the ships leaking bunker fuel oil.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>The flip side of that is that the fuel oil is actually helping to hold up the wreck. The seeping oil is resulting in more and more stress being put on the corroded hull of the ship, so we have a snowball effect. You can't take the oil out or the wreck will collapse. If the wreck collapses, the oil will REALLY come out.</p>

<p>It's eerie, though, to see the ship still bleeding 65 years later. :(</p>

8

<p>If Bush was President during WWII, we would have invaded Korea, because they had as much to do with the Pearl Harbor Attack as Iraq did with 9-11.</p>

<p>So FDR went after Germany</p>

9

<p>Germany declared war on U.S. After the Pearl Harbor attack, Einstein. There was some trepidation on the part of the U.S. to go after Germany since, you're right, Germany did not attack us. We only were commited to sending troops into the Europe Theater after the German Declaration of War on Dec. 11. Go research your facts before you talk. Good day, sir.</p>

10

<p>We visited Pearl Harbor on one of the days they were filming the Ben Affleck movie "Pearl Harbor". It was very weird standing on the Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri while Japanese torpedo planes and fighters with their big red "meatballs" on the wings and fuselage (followed closely by film helicoptors) were buzzing the harbor. They had mock torpedos hanging below them and the fighters were flying escourt. This went on for a couple of hours--I got lots of interesting video of these "Japanese" planes flying low over the water as they filmed the dropping of torpedos. They were prepping the deck of the Missouri for filming the next day (the ship was to play the part of the Tennessee that day)</p>

11

<p>"If Bush was President during WWII, we would have invaded Korea, because they had as much to do with the Pearl Harbor Attack as Iraq did with 9-11."</p>

<p>Thanks MF97</p>

<p>Your comments are priceless on this somber and hallowed day.
Of course you know FDR knew and approved of the attack beforehand right?</p>

12

<p>maybe I'm wrong here, but I would think as the fuel leaks out it is being replaced by seawater, right? I don't know how a liquid of a different density (1.025 as apposed to ~0.996) would effect the structural integrity of the tanks. Maybe that would cause some problems. Anyway, eerie and sad is how I would describe my feelings when I saw the oil.. Check out the picture link to see for yourself.
<a href="http://new.photos.yahoo.com/deepdraft1/album/576460762330198085/photo/294928803433000818/16%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://new.photos.yahoo.com/deepdraft1/album/576460762330198085/photo/294928803433000818/16&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

13

<p>I am not the one that took this somber day and tried to make into a political idea. It was Zaphod's first post (#2) at 12:01 P.M. that tried to make this a debate about how wesupposedly don't go after those who attack us. Jamzmom dutifully followed like a sheep.</p>

<p>Uh, when did I say FDR knew about Pearl Harbor. Oh, I guess it's a common belief among anyone to the left of Reagan. Just like how all conservatives want to blow up all non-Christians. Right?</p>

<p>And back to the Germany argument, there was a mutual declaration of war. I never heard Iraq declaring war on the U.S.A. after 9-11, maybe I missed it because I don't watch Fox. Sorry.</p>

14

<p>Oil is much more boyant than water. When you add up the volume of oil, the bouyancy force can be pretty considerable.</p>

<p>Seawater, OTOH, would provide no support at all, so while the oil remains in sufficient volume, the integrity of the hull is helped.</p>

<p>Of course, at this point so many different variables get thrown into the mix that predictions become the baliwick of real naval architects (of which I am not one). How much oil was originally in the tanks? How much burned? How much has leaked out and at what rate? Do ships sailing by on their way into and out of the harbor produce enough suction and turbulence to affect the flow and/or the wreck itself? etc., etc., etc...</p>

<p>Frankly, I wonder what 65 years of immersion in salt water has done to the oil itself. I can't imagine it's in the same condition it was when she went down. Sure, it floats and all, but how much of it has broken down over the years?</p>

<p>Either way, I hope they let her rest where she sank, and if the harbor reclaims her, then so be it. Let nature take its course and let the wreck collapse if it has to. It won't change the significance of the site one bit.</p>

<p>I have to admit that the story above that said the memorial was sinking, too, was a shocker. I'd never heard that.</p>

<p>
[quote]
We visited Pearl Harbor on one of the days they were filming the Ben Affleck movie "Pearl Harbor". It was very weird standing on the Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri while Japanese torpedo planes and fighters with their big red "meatballs" on the wings and fuselage

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yeesh. I'll bet it was!</p>

15

<p>Indeed Zaphod, oil IS more bouyant than water.. Hull bend and sheer stress is complicated on a ship afloat, let alone one that has been on the bottom for 65 years..
My "stability and trim" class back at school never covered the difficulties that are facing the NPS. We always started with the assumption the ship would be floating. Although we did study some of the problems one faces when aground.
The report on the condition of the ARIZONA hull structure can can be found at the following site.. <a href="http://www.pastfoundation.org/Arizona/Legacy_3.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.pastfoundation.org/Arizona/Legacy_3.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

16

<p>
[quote]
We always started with the assumption the ship would be floating.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>LOL. Well, yeah. That was always deemed kinda important. ;)</p>

<p>Ah! I'd forgotten about the USGS study.</p>

<p>Wasn't there some documentary about this a while back, where they sent a probe INSIDE the ARIZONA for the first time ever?</p>

17

<p>Thanks for the link DD1. I'd found (& lost) a great informational web site that said that the amount of oil leaking are drops about the size of a pin head but has been constant over these many years. If it were to eventually break free, (I couldn't find how much oil is truly left down there) how bad do you suppose it would be? Not to be slow... but can oil break down after several years in sea water? I dunno. And too, where does a zebra get it's stripes? Sorry, I'm just curious.</p>

<p>Shogun, Oooooo. That had to be spooky.</p>

18

<p><a href="http://soundwaves.er.usgs.gov/2003/01/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://soundwaves.er.usgs.gov/2003/01/&lt;/a>
Heh... nevermind. Kind of an old study but very interesting anyhow. I had no idea that much fuel was down there. Truly a concern.</p>

19

<p>Casual records, deck log and official testimonies indicate the USS Arizona had berthed at Pearl Harbor December 6th for minor repairs. She was refueled at that time.</p>

<p>Normal fuel capacity for ARIZONA was 4630 tons (approximately 29,800 Bbls.) Assuming that they bunkered to around 96~98% of capacity would mean there was around 4400 tons of fuel aboard at the time of the attack. Additionally the ship carried 75 tons of diesel oil (for boats), 11-3/4 tons of aviation fuel and 5,000 gallons of lube oil.</p>

<p>The lighter distillates are probably long gone by now. Hard to say about the lubes..</p>

<p>Given the threat of a possible war with Japan, my guess is the ship was pretty well “topped up”.</p>

20

<p>JM: I had always heard that Zebras were black on white. I suppose some might argue that they are white on black. In any event, althought their markings are distinctive to our eyes, to a lion, apparently, it is the nature of the markings rather than the colors that are important. That is, since a lion is color blind, the black/white issue is insignificant. It is the wavy pattern that confuses the rascally ol' lion. </p>

<p>Kind of like how good lookin' women confuse us ol' guys on a Friday [it is Friday?] afternoon. We don't care so much what they have to say or what color they are, it's the wavy patterns that get us confused.</p>