some Pearl Harbor notes

[Nathan]

Being a Pearl Harbor buff I just wanted to point out some brief refreshers of some forgotten history.

70 U.S. aircraft were airborne before, during, and after the attack.

A PBY-5 from VP-14 helped the USS Ward sink a midget sub. Dropped smoke markers and depth charges.

JRS-1's took off to seek out Japanes fleet. A few encountered Japanese aircraft. Shooting back with 1911 .45's!

A Kingfisher from one of the Battleship squadrons took off from Ford Island. Ran out of gas and landing safely in the Oahu waters. He pattled his out of gas Kingfisher back to Pearl!

Two Curtiss SOC-3 Seagulls from USS Northampton got in a dogfight with two Japanese aircraft(A6M's). Neither side lost any aircraft.

P-36's and P-40's shared in downing up to 14 Japanese aircraft. These claims are disputed.

4 P-36's took off from Wheeler. Formation formed and attacked 6 A6M's. Lt. Gorden Stirlin was shot down and is still MIA off waters off Koneohe NAS.

Note: Practically every pre-war type aircraft you can think of seen some sorte of action on December 7th. Sadly, most of these accounts are well forgotten. I try my best to keep some of these notes fresh.

Thanks,
Nathan

REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR!

[cooper9411]

But weren't there 29 Japanese planes downed?

[Nathan]

But weren't there 29 Japanese planes downed?

Recent studies suggest 13 to 14 Japanese aircraft shot down from P-40's and P-36's. Older books point to 11 aircraft. But recent studies and the discovery of two A6M2 Zeros that were shot down by Mike Moore and Harry Brown in P-36's increased that total.

[cooper9411]

I don't think that there really is an accurate number. Years ago I heard 15-20 shot down. Here recently that went up to 29. I heard that off shore Oahu there have been a few different planes found, a couple Zero's, Corsair, and I think a P-36. The talk is recovering all of them except for the Corsair. The locals feel that the Corsair is a tourist attraction for divers and provides some income for the locals.

[Nathan]

29 is the combined total of Japanese aircraft lost recorded for Dec 7th. I don't think there has ever been any total collected as to how many Japanese were damaged. I have always been curious about that.

[cooper9411]

From the "official" Japanese records, many were lost on the way back to the carriers because of damage, low fuel, and pilot injuries.

[wingman1]

i heard a few years back that a Japanese Zero from the attack was found on a south pacific island and recovered. any truth to this?

[Jerry O'Neill]

It's funny when you think about it, the production team for the film, Tora, Tora, Tora, constructed just about the same amount of aircraft for the film that the Japanese lost in the attack.

[Ploesti]

Rare photo

[Warbird Kid]

[Clifford Bossie]

While I suspect most, if not all WIXers have knowledge of the Japanese midget sub activity during the Pear Harbor operation ( as well as the sinking of the midget sub by the WARD), it seems that not many people are aware that the Japanese also lost a fleet sub in that operation. The I-70, along with I-68, had been tasked to reconnoiter the approaches to Pearl and to sink any ships that sortied after the attack. The I-70 was been useless at those duties and on 10 December she was sunk by an SBD from the ENTERPRISE. That has always been a footnote I found interesting.

Last edited by Clifford Bossie on Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Todd Hackbarth]

I have run across a 228 page, 48mb, official USAF publication entittled "7 December 1941 - The Air Force Story". It was published in 1991 and written by Leatrice R. Arakaki and John R. Kuborn of the Pacific Air Forces Office of History, Hickam AFB, Hawaii. The table of contents includes:

Chapter I - Hawaiian Air Force: Before the Attack
The Commanders
The Personnel
The Aircraft
The Air Defense System

Chapter II - Assignment Paradise: Bomber Command
Hickam Field

Chapter III - Assignment Paradise: Fighter Command
Wheeler Field
Bellows Field

Chapter IV - 7 December 1941: A Day That Will Live In Infamy
The Japanese Attach
Radar Intercepts
B-17 Arrival
Air Force Opposition

Chapter V - Hell In Paradise: Bomber Command
Hickam Field

Chapter VI - Hell In Paradise: Fighter Command
Wheeler Field
Bellows Field

Chapter VII - After The Attack
The Dependents
The Continuing Search
Rumors Galore
The Long Night
The Submarine

Appendices
A - Army Air Force Units in Hawaii on 7 December 1941
B - Status of Aircraft on Oahu, Before and After the Attack
C - Hickam Field Maintenance Record
D - B-17s Arriving During the Attack
E - Army, Army Air Corps, and Civilian Casualty List
F - Hawaiian Air Force Casualty List

The report includes 3 charts, 7 maps and approx. 135 photos.

As one can imagine, this publication is quite detailed if not somewhat dry. I have not sat down and read it yet, but I hope to shortly.

The entire report can be found at:
http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/airforcehistory/www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/Publications/fulltext/7_december_1941.pdf
It can be printed or downloaded as an Adobe pdf, for free!!!

Hope this is of interest.

Todd

Last edited by Todd Hackbarth on Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[cooper9411]

Thumbing through it now. Very interesting.

[John Dupre]

Another interesting side bar to the attack was the number of private aircraft up and flying over Oahu. Cornelia Fort is probably the best known but there were perhaps a dozen or more airborne at the time. At least two private aircraft were shot down at sea with the wreckage washing up on shore some weeks later. I think Fort's Interstate and one or two Aeronca Champs that were airborne at the time survive today.

[TonyM]

Another interesting side bar to the attack was the number of private aircraft up and flying over Oahu. Cornelia Fort is probably the best known but there were perhaps a dozen or more airborne at the time. At least two private aircraft were shot down at sea with the wreckage washing up on shore some weeks later. I think Fort's Interstate and one or two Aeronca Champs that were airborne at the time survive today.

Unfortunately, Cornelia Fort was lost in a BT-13 mid air collision accident on March 21, 1943 in Texas.