The Salvage of Pearl Harbor Pt 1 - The Smoke Clears
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- Опубліковано 10 лис 2020
- Today we look at the start of the salvage efforts in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbour.
Sources:
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00C0JIXJO
www.history.navy.mil/our-coll...
www.amazon.co.uk/Pearl-Harbor-Fleet-Salvage-Appraisal/dp/0898755654
www.amazon.co.uk/Descent-into-Darkness-Harbour-Divers/dp/0891417451
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Pinned post for Q&A :) - For those wondering why this is in two parts, basically there is only so much human tragedy I can take in a researching a given script and the salvaging of the Pearl Harbour ships is a long and harrowing account on that front.
You went back in time when operation downfall was a go. Your job is to organize the FAA aircrafts for the campaign. What would be the aircraft you choose, both indigenous and lend-lease ones
Q&A How useful were the remaining US Standards in the early Pacific Theatre?
Why did the Imperial German Navy make no serious attempt to intercept the transports carrying the British Expeditionary Force over the Channel in 1914? Surely they must have made very tempting targets. Was the threat of being cut off or intercepted by the Grand Fleet too much to be worth the risk?
@@bertholdvonzahringen6799 and how useful would they have been if the raid on Pearl Harbor failed.
I realize that the two destroyers in front of the Pennsylvania were severely hit, one nearly blown in half. How does one tell what is salvageable and what is not especially in those conditions. In other words the difference between the two destroyers and the Arizona?
West Virginia has to be the most incredible ship involved in this entire group of ships. Sunk, salvaged, becomes the most successful us battleship of ww2. It seems an absolute crime that this ship was not kept as a museum
Like the USS Enterprise, states either took the ships with their names, or they couldn't afford to take one one.
It certainly would be quite amusing to see the West Virginia in her name sake state.
Why? So she could rot and fall apart like texas?
@@natewatt3537 I think you may need to take a look at a map and see why that would be amusing.
@onceomegas3851 West Virginia parted from Virginia during the US Civil War. They had reasons.
the railway line is a key thing here: I'll admit, I'm a train guy. and Oahu had what was once the biggest 3ft gauge railway system in the entire US, let alone the only one to use double track and signals. when Pearl Harbor was hit, the Oahu Railway and Land Company (OR&L)'s entire roster of engines were all in the main roundhouse at Honolulu's yard--the railroad never ran on Sunday. frantic calls went out and even local workers were drafted to get the engines moving and dispersed. a Railroad historian once noted that bombing that engine shed would have done more damage to Pacific Fleet than the entire attack did. the Navy had small engines for moving about the harbor complex--losing the entirety of the OR&L's locomotive roster would have crippled the ability of the Navy to move supplies and equipment. the harbor engines simply didn't have the range or pulling power for long distance trips, such as those needed to haul heavy equipment like guns large quantities of steel (I have pictures of an OR&L engine hauling Arizona's unshipped guns on flatcars), to and from the harbor, to say nothing of something like the assembly of a Turbine or a boiler. In fact, the USN would requisition a much bigger mainline engine from the mainland to do this work in 1943, because everything they had wasn't really capable of it and they couldn't keep tying down an OR&L engine with the chores. and Considering that i know for a fact that at least one OR&L engine, perhaps as many as four, were moved down to Pearl and used as stationary steam plants to power cranes and other dockside appliances, they'd have lost that too. the harbor engines didn't have the steam generation rate for that.
I know too much about trains, don't I?
If the Japanese did not attack the oil storage tanks and only lightly touched the drydocks and repair facilities, I don't think a little locomotive shed was even on their list of targets or priorities. I'm a train guy too, but let's get realistic here.
@@johnstudd4245 that's kind of the point I'm making. the Japanese were almost pathologically focused on combat power, to the point of ignoring everything else.. destroying the railway infrastructure would have done a LOT to damage the USN's ability to repair the damage at Pearl. same with the oil storage and the drydocks.
@@sawyerawr5783 That may be true to a certain extent but they could only cover a certain amount of targets. I don't think Japanese were looking at the possibility of a long term war. They wanted to make a huge statement of shock and awe, propaganda and morale blow to make us come to a peace agreement so they could have their way in the Pacific. The best way to do that would be to do just what they did, hit the"'backbone" of our fleet and kill or disable it as much as possible. Attacking the Pear harbor infrastructure and not doing as much damage to the combat ships would have been viewed by their leaders as foolish. IMHO
@@johnstudd4245 I think you give them too much credit. their last real experience was against the Russians in 1905...that war colored their thinking in so many ways I can't even begin to list them here. but mostly, it played into their culturally-ingrained sense of superiority. how could any gaijin stand against Japan?! in truth they were cocky and arrogant...and assumed we thought like they did. at the end of the war the Japanese officers interviewed all thought we had twice the ships we actually did because it never legitimately occurred to them that the USN would focus on a fleet train. look at how they held their submarines back for so long...look at how they almost shunned ASW in many ways. their focus on the big fleet action that would win the war was so pathological as to border on disorder. even as the world came crashing down around their ears they clung to it.
@@sawyerawr5783 Victor Davis Hanson has written a fantastic book about the relative economic strengths and wartime strategies of the warring nations in WWII, "The Second World Wars", which concludes that the Allies were far more cooperative with each other, had better strategies, and were far more capable of outproducing the Axis powers in airplanes, tanks, artillery, ships, etc., which made the defeat of the Axis inevitable.
My grandfather was one of people tasked with salvaging the Arizona’s guns. He never liked to talk about the attack or the war. It was only a few years before his death that he finally talked about what happened. We now have a recording of his account, so that his story will never be forgotten. His work on the Arizona is included in the recording.
Any chance you can digitise and upload it? Seems like a valuable piece of record
@@Dutchbag1402 I’m hoping to get that done in the near future.
@@megalodon7916 Have you gotten it done yet? I think this would be awesome to hear.
Gentlemen, we can rebuild them. *We have the technology.*
I see that phrase a lot but nobody really asks if 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹
*Would sell an organ for that...*
just kiddin
I read that in Alan Rickman’s voice
6 million dollar man?
Unfortunately some of that technology has to be shipped out from California, but it'll get here!
I am forever haunted by the sailors trapped in the West Virginia who survived for over 2 weeks in an air pocket before they finally suffocated.
No kidding. That had to be one of the worst ways to go.
@@CSSVirginia Especially since you would never get to pick up a newspaper and find out what actually happened to you. You would die horribly in the dark about why you were dying. You also had to realize that only a few hundred feet away life was going on without you.
@@stanleyrogouski Hell itself.
@@stanleyrogouski Then there were the bodily functions in the contaminated brackish water consumed. Many didn’t live long, mercifully.
I really would have chosen to be inside of the Arizona where a quick death would’ve been more preferable. Two weeks inside of a cold dark miserable hell. I cannot imagine anything worse.
My dad's first assignment out of basic training was funeral detail on the raised ships from Pearl Harbor . He and his buddy's had to try to figure out which body parts went with which dog tags . I couldn't imagine how gruesome that had to be for a 17 year old kid .
A friend of mine was drafted in 1967. His job was to escort Vietnam casualties back home. My friend was a very smart and clever person. He was a graduate of Villanova University. Unfortunately this experence had a terrible impact on him. He ahd a neverous break down and never recovered! Just a terrible waste of our young people.
@@frankrizzo1433 but someone had to do that job or the men would have been lost...at the very least they got back home to their families and loved ones💜💚
@@lovekills3506 dead people don't need directions.
How do you identify "quality content" on UA-cam?
You endure 30 brutal minutes of watching this painful episode of your countries' history.
And you can't wait for part 2.
Well done Drach. Thanks.
Well said & totally true.
Even from Canada.
I view this tale as inspiring rather than painful. An interesting example of how a different perspective can change the perception of history. Both perspectives being valid of course.
@@nikolailucyk I suspect that part 2 is going to be a lot more gruesome. 2400+ died that day, most in the harbor. The salvage effort was essentially them digging up a battlefield. A battlefield filled with drowned, bloated bodies. Bodies burned beyond recognition. Crushed into paste. Liquified by explosions. I don't know where he's going to go with part 2. But I suspect, it won't be pretty.
There used to be star ratings for videos but it didn't work as people wouldn't give 4 out 5 when it was merited, it degenerated into a war of loves and hates. The only way it could be done is for trusted viewers, that is user names that haven't just been coined, to be allowed a top 30 or perhaps a top 50, after a while people would have to move a good but not great video out of the list to make way for a new great video. That is how our minds work, as teenagers everything new is great, as we get older we allow stuff to slide out of the list of the classics. But to make such a system work would require rewarding the user for the effort of rating videos.
@@Kevin_Kennelly Most of the bodies aboard the sunken ships were headless too. Some were decapitated by explosions, most by scavenger crabs.
As a retired US Navy Diver especially having been stationed at Ford island I greatly appreciate the work you put into this video.
For anyone curios - the Arizona (to this day) still leaks bunker fuel from it's tanks. I lived in Hawaii in the 80's and spent a LOT of time in the harbor with visiting relatives. You can see the leaking oil from Google Earth or on the Arizona Memorial.
My dad told of being able to smell the bunker oil leaking from USS Arizona when passing it on his destroyer in the early 1950's
Imperial Navy: That should keep them out of the fight for a while.
US Navy: *A-Team music plays*
I didn't mean to laugh at this...
Lol!!
Love it when a plan comes together. I ain't getting on no salvage tug fool
This is fascinating, interesting that a US officer was already helping the RN clear a Port before the formal entry of USA into the war. I hope they were not too disappointed when he didn’t turn up in Ethiopia, he did have the greatest excuse of all time for being late.
that awkward moment when a US carrier assisted the Royal Navy with their occupation of Iceland in June of 41......
Already? By late 1941 US involvement on the side of Allies was short only of direct participation in fighting.
Actually a US Naval Officer who was a salvage specialist came out of retirement to go to Massawa, Eritrea as a replacement. Captain Edward Ellsberg had successfully salvaged the US Navy submarine S-51 in 1926. He was successful in salvaging the various Italian ships at Massawa. With the success of Operation Torch he moved to Oran in Algeria where he led the efforts to clear the harbor of wrecks. Finally during D-Day he was on the staff of Gen. Eisenhower as the Commander of Salvage Operations charged with clearing all harbors captured by the American Army. He is a published author of several books about his efforts.
The British thought enough of his efforts that they made him an "Officer of the Order of the British Empire"(OBE) a rare honor. Two of his books are "Under the Red Sea Sun" covering his time at Massawa, and "No Banners, No Bugles" covering his time in North Africa.
@@johnbeaulieu2404 'Under the Red Sea Sun' is an excellent read. Hard to find, though. Ellsbergs career would make an excellent series for Drach.
@@johnbeaulieu2404 Thanks for the info, will have to check these books out
My father, James Harper, worked as a diver during these operations. He was a school teacher in Fresno CA and jumped at the chance to make some real money. He told me he had spent so much time in the water that coral started growing in his ears. He followed construction projects around the world. Was in Saudi Arabia and in Okinawa. Came home and went to grad school for a masters degree in education.
_coral started growing in his ears._
How is that possible ?
@@spirz4557 its not
@@spirz4557 I assume he was being over the top in order to emphasize his point.
How many times, Unca Drach, have we heard (and seen) the story of the attack on Pearl Harbor? Yet the story of the recovery from that attack is usually relegated to a couple of dependent clauses -- at best! Thank you for this tremendous contribution to understanding the history of WWII. How else can we possibly grasp the spirit and resolve of the United States in that conflict? What can be more inspiring than remembering those who put in the work -- difficult, dirty, dangerous, disheartening and often just plain disgusting -- that prepared the ground for Midway, the Philippine Sea and, ultimately, Tokyo Bay?
I wish I could tell you what to look for, but there is a great documentary on the recovery of the Oklahoma.
You must have a pretty small personal library. I can think of over a dozen books that are about the raising of the fleet, one of which is 'Resurrection: Salvaging the Battle Fleet at Pearl Harbor by Daniel Madsen.
@@vintagethrifter2114 Touché! I DON'T have an extensive WWII library. But I think you'll agree that the sources most readily picked up by the interested amateur -- as opposed to the serious historical reader -- skew heavily towards the glory stuff, at the expense of the merely messy, gory stuff. And I, for one, am grateful to Drachinifel for bucking that trend and providing a broader viewership with this -- to me -- remarkable and revelatory account.
One of the things left out from common sources is that there was a third attack wave. The third attack wave was the attack the Navy/USAAF fuel depots, the Navy repair facilities, and the only power plant on the island at that time. The Japanese decided against the third wave because they were met by an unexpected defense on the second wave as the initial surprise wore off. The Japanese had already lost close to ten percent of their aircraft after the second wave. They also thought that they had accomplished a lot more than they thought they would by the end of the second wave. They still didn't know where the aircraft carriers were and were afraid of a counterattack.
If they had launched their third attack and were successful, Pearl Harbor would have been out for most of the war.
A good place to find books is at thrift stores. They can be had for a dollar or two, or for less. At that price, there's no reason to not add a book or two to your collection every time you visit.
Good comment. I always think about the surrender and the promise the Japanese Emperor said. America has defeated us militarily but we will defeat America industrially. Lots of people buy Japanese products anyhow. Not me.
It was discovered later after an extensive study done in 1942 that no Japanese planes actually attacked civilian targets. The damage was caused by antiaircraft ammo fired from the ships in harbor. Since many of the AA gunners were not on board their ships other crewmen had to take their places and they adjusted the fuses incorrectly. The damage done by the 3in and in guns was quite extensive, and they actually found holes in base buildings done by the 50cal and 25mm AA guns as well. The fire house in Pearl City in fact was definitely hit by a 5in shell as identifiable fragments were found. Shallow craters found everywhere were a good indication that it was not a bomb, but AA shells.
This is absolutely fascinating! I've always wondered how they went about recovering from such massive damage, especially since it had to be done as quickly as possible.
Partly cause we were able to go into mass production, had available resources, and even more importantly a national will to WIN! Never have we been able to achieve that since nor we ever will - sadly, again.
@@redrock3109 Dark times bring people together.
@@redrock3109 I have the utmost faith in my fellow Americans. When we need is worst my fellow citizen will be right there.
@@whosonfirst1309 but we will not be able to produce our needs because we sold ourselves long ago sadly
@@whosonfirst1309 god forbid we ever experience something like Pearl Harbor again , but yes I agree
The herculean scope of this effort is already awe inspiring and we're not even all the way through the telling of it. I think we're witnessing what would be the foundation of how, 6 months later, the USN would be able to put a battle damaged USS Yorktown back to sea in 3 days.
Captain Buckminster of the Yorktown estimated it would take 90 days to get the ship fully repaired. Nimitz gave him 72 hours, and the work got done, thanks to the efforts of 1,500 sailors and civilian workers, who were tireless in getting Yorktown ready for Midway.
@Andrew Ongais Japanese officer "oh hey neat, I think that's the carrier we sank in Decemb- wait a second"
@@danielcobbins9050 And which had it not been for the Japanese submarine, would have survived to fight another day, even after the damage suffered at Midway, due to the herculean efforts of her crew to save her.
I strongly recommend "Descent into Darkness" by Edward C. Raymer. He was a hardhat diver who worked on raising the ships. You know it was a priority when he bumped some brass off of a flight from San Diego to Pearl on the 8th. It is a easy read.
Pick up 'First SEAL' by Roy Bohem. The man tasked by Kennedy to create SEAL. He was a diver on those ships at Pearl as well.
RESURECTION
Salvaging the Battle Fleet at Pearl Harbor
by Daniel Madsen
Naval Institute Press. 2003.
Available on Nook from Barnes and Noble as an E-book
Presumably available from Amazon as well.
A detailed and comprehensive account of salvaging the Pearl Harbor Fleet!
I highly recommend it.
If you want a somewhat harder read, there is "Pearl Harbor:
Why, How, Fleet Salvage and Final Appraisal" by Vice Admiral Homer N. Wallin himself. 360 pages of what it took to salvage the ships. Available on the Hyperwar web site for a free read.
@@lwilton also available on kindle!
by the way thanks
My father was rapidly moved from the East Coast to Pearl Harbor, arriving a week after the attack. He was a welder, but his first assignment was to clean up the harbor of floating bodies and body parts.
God Bless him. I’m a former EMT and have seen ugly death. But DAMN.
@@jimreilly917 can you imagine what they found there in those wrecks
@@invadegreece9281 I wouldn’t want to. God rest them all.
@@jimreilly917 yeah
My Dad was sent there early from the mainland, too. I don't think we can imagine how hard these guys worked. And then they went into combat.
Happy Armistice Day/Veterans Day/Remembrance Day, everyone -- especially current and former military personnel! Thank you for your service.
Thank you
Lest we forget
@@craigharrison6662 Lest we forget
Always remember... never forget
The USS Shaw retained one 5-inch gun (Mount 53) for its trip back to Mare Island. If it ran across a Japanese submarine on the way back it wasn't going to go down without a fight.
My Wife's cousin, Seaman 1/c Francis Anton Cychosz, (Bessemer, Michigan) is still aboard the USS Arizona. On the list of names at the memorial, his name is at the very bottom of the third column.
My wife's uncle was a sailor at Pearl Harbor aboard Oklahoma if my memory is correct. We went to visit him before he passed away several years ago and he told us his first person description of the after action clean up. He was the coxwain of a light craft picking up survivors and sadly, mostly bodies. This work went on for days. He described seeing the recovery work on the big ships and hearing the banging of trapped sailors as crews tried to cut their way in with welding torches. "Uncle Roy" served for the remainder of the war.
I want to Thank your Uncle for his Bravery in Serving Our Country.
@@maryhartsock5574 He was a fine man. Thank you Mary.
Imagine the scene six months later, with wreckage still being cleared, and little reaction action yet to be taken against the Japanese (The Flying Tigers as mercenaries were taking it to them in China, and there were a few contacts here and there and there was the Doolittle Raid in April 1942) but over all it wasn't going well for the USN. Then, on July 11, 1942 the USS North Carolina steams into Pearl Harbor. She was brand new and was known as "Showboat" because during construction she was celebrated as bigger, faster, more powerful, and more heavily armed than any other US battle ship. Work stopped, people gazed up and cheered! She had yet to do anything, but, there was no doubt what she was going to do.
Technically the Flying Tigers were not mercenaries as by the time they went into action the USA and Japan were at War.
@@brucenorman8904 technically they were, because they had left the U.S. military and were fighting as paid civilians. This went on for six months.
Yep, she even took a Jap torpedo in 1942, and had an 18 foot by 34 foot blown into her at turret 1, Powder magz were smoking but the captain refused to flood the powder magz cause he still wanted fight. She was an amazing ship too!
I was stationed on the USNS Waccamaw, a fleet tanker, in 1981 and she had a pearl harbor salvaged solo shell evaporator on board that I operated. It ran good. It was strange thinking about how this evap had been on a ship where sailors died. I have great respect for them.
Oh... My... The courage of those who faced the battle is reflected in the grim determination of the salvage and repair crews who struggle in the aftermath.
This is a story I've been longing for. The American narrative on Pearl Harbor and WWII in general lacks detail of the logistical and recovery work done. The popular version is the US Navy came back (somehow) and won the war in the Pacific. Thanks for the details on USN recovery efforts. This part of the history is fascinating.
Drach, This is easily the most thorough description of the salvage effort I have yet seen. That effort was immense and really does deserve to be addressed in your usual, careful manner. Thank you for your efforts, they are appreciated.
The salvage effort at Pearl was truly herculean. Marine salvage in itself is a fasinating topic. I read a book some years ago about the salvage depots in the Pacific theatre, some operating under primitive conditions. Those fellows deserve as much recognition as the men manning the guns.
Well, now we know what to ask Drach for after this series.
What book was it?
@@petlahk4119 It was a library book I read when I was stationed in San Diego back in the early ‘90’s. Wish I could remember the title.
I perused Amazon and EBay books to try to jog my memory. Most likely it was, Epics of Salvage: Wartime Feats of the Marine Salvage Men in WWII, by David Masters.
Why has there really been no documentaries, or better yet, movies to highlight this incredible come back? The challenges were incredible and the personal sacrifice and efforts just unheard of.
This might be the best and most respectful comment section I've ever spent 30 minutes in on UA-cam. Not a single triggered and disrespectful idiot. Well done folks. Very well done.
My Dad turned 18 on December 7,1941 he enlisted in the Navy and was sent to the Pacific.
He survived major battles and saw horrors and many of his friends die. I remember as a
small boy him screaming in nightmares. And my Mom comforting him saying over and over
it's OK I'm here it's OK. Love you Mom and Dad RIP.
You have a very proud history in your family. I was stationed in Hawaii in the 70''s and went to Pearl a lot because I loved ships. My first time on Arizona was very humbling for me, and to see 1177 names of the men killed that day is heroic, and sad. My hat off to you, and your family. Your mom was awesome taking care of her wounded husband many years after the war. He had PTSD, bit it wasn't called that back then, but shell shock or battle fatigue
A salute to the men who endured working in that mess. It must’ve have taken some serious mental and physical strength to just be continuously subjected to that toxic environment let alone accomplish the impossible in it. Hats off to those unsung heroes.
I think Drach and Felton need their own TV documentary channel. These gems shouldn't be limited to YT.
An interesting topic and one I don't see really covered by anyone.
i'm glad you don't do just battle summaries and ship histories (although they're very good !), but also cover logistical and technological subjets.
This was voted on by us on Patreon and the topic suggested by myself (not to take credit, it just seemed interesting).
@C B Yes, at certain tiers. I'm at the $15/month tier and you get excellent value in making suggestions. I am also responsible for the first question on Italian shell quality which led to somewhat of a cancer of questions for Drach over the years lol.
I imagine that USS Vestal is already on your list, but if not, that ship has quite the history!
My grandfather served on the Vestal after perlharbor as a election
I would love to learn more about her
..including surviving Halsey's typhoon. Quite a ship.
Was she eventually buried due to having men inside her?
Yes I would absolutely love a vid on the Vestal. The polar opposite repair ship to the Kamchatka.
After looking for years to find info about the damage and salvage after Pearl Harbor, I am glad someone finally put out some good info about it. Thank you and I am looking forward to the next part.
the sad thing was many of the Arizona crew were not recognized until the advent of DNA testing.........
It's very frustrating little attention is given to this subject in most media. In At Dawn We Slept, it isn't even mentioned in any detail.
Find the book "Into the dark"...very excellent about the effort to salvage the ships...
Well Done Drach! Both my parents were there . Father stationed at sub base, mother a civilian nurse. I grew up with their memories of this fateful time.
I like how the problems presented by the results of the attacks are ordered.
Problem 1) They damn messed up our darn harbour!
Problem 2) We lost, like, _most_ of our battleships, which could potentially hinder our war effort slightly.
I mean, without the harbor, you can't really _fix_ the battleships so . . .
If they had damaged the repair harbor or fuel supply, would have set us back most.
In practice, battleships in this war proved to be not THAT much useful compared to carriers. Losing these battleships accelerated the shift of US Navy to carrier force.
Sometimes I think the Japanese did the US a big favour. First the treacherous nature of the attack, planned and initiated long before the event, unified and set US will to avenge. Second, taking out a half dozen obsolete BBs required the US to rely on the far better suited submarines and aircraft carriers...the navy had a compulsory shift from the past to the future. Third, the Japanese passed up on the dry docks and fuel farms the destruction of which would have harmed the combat ability of the US worse than taking out the BBs.
@@denysvlasenko9175 on the other hand, these old gals filled a role in invasion bombardment that they were well suited for. They got a measure of revenge @ the Battle of Surigao Strait in Oct ‘44. That saved the newer faster BB’s for defending the carrier fleet in an anti aircraft role. The newer BB’s got in quite a few shore bombardments toward the end of the war. The real sadness came when neither the Pennsylvania or Nevada were saved as a museum due to their historical role @ Pearl.
I really can't imagine one of the more horrible jobs done in the aftermath; the recovery of the bodies. I know it was done, but have always avoided reading about that aspect of war (or even peacetime service).
For the USS Arizona, pretty terrible considering that the majority of the crew were incinerated beyond recognition and not many parts of them left.............
Read 'First SEAL' by Roy Bohem.
He was tasked by Kennedy to create SEAL and was a diver on those ships at Pearl.
Great read.
WW1 was one of the most awful times for such things, during the time of trench warfare. I’ve read descriptions of what that work was like at the Somme, Verdun and at other battles. It’s downright horrific.
Robershaw Joseph z. Capt. 5th infantry. Better to bring them home than leave them there to recover as many as possible.
@@BHuang92 - Most of those who died on the Arizona were left there. From the book "Decent Into Darkness" by Edward C. Raymer (The author was a U.S. Navy diver who worked on the Arizona and a number of other vessels), divers entered the Arizona to recover as much of the 5" AA ammunition as was possible, not to recover the dead. However, after being lowered through a deck hatch which was now awash because the Arizona had settled, the author kept bumping into bodies floating within the passageway he was working in. He couldn't see the bodies. The surface hatch from which he entered was covered in oil blocking even minimal ambient light from entering. Those bodies had to be removed before the ammunition locker could be accessed. I think in that one passageway it took several hours to perform that grim work.
You could call it braille diving, even after the dead had been recovered. The diver was given an instruction that might go like this, "After dropping into the passageway, extend your left arm until you find the bulkhead wall. Start walking down the passageway counting your steps. (This was for a hardhat diver, so they couldn't swim.) At around 40 steps you should find the hatch to the ammunition storage locker." There was a long process of bringing out each shell individually and putting them on some type of sled to haul them back to the deck opening to be lifted to the surface. It was really hard work as each shell weighed 50-55 lbs.
The Arizona wasn't written off until it was discovered the ship's back had been broken by the magazine explosion and that damage extended up the side of the hull on both sides.. It simply couldn't be patched up like a vessel which had one or even several holes put into it.
"Less gnawed on equipment"...
I lost it right there, Drach.
Thank you very much for opening my eyes to the horrors and brutality of the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor. You are right that the shear size of the task was unthinkable- but I had no idea how many would continue to die in this vital effort. The sacrifices made were just as valuable and notable as front line actions. Thanks for shining a light on them. I will add this to my reflections on Remembrance Day here in Canada. I will give thought especially to those who got the short straw (and had to clear out the meat lockers after months and more time had elapsed).
The pylons you spoke of at USS California is what my father jumped into to escape the strafing fire from Japanese planes. They had not finnished digging all of pylons. The hole dad crawled into had no rebar installed my Dad was in R Division damage control switch board operation aboard USS California. He served on USS California from 1939 to just before the Okinawa Invasion.
Never heard about the the salvage before, other than "some ships were salvaged". This makes the extent of the damage more clear than just learning about the battle itself, and the numbers of dead, numbers of ships destroyed or damaged. Fascinating topic. Just calling it America's biggest naval defeat doesn't really cover the disaster.
There’s a really good book about this operation called, ‘Decent into darkness’ by Edward C. Raymer
My Dad had a cousin whose brother was blown off a ship by the blast of the Japanese attack in Pearl. He swam for his life in water where he had to avoid burning oil. He reached shore only to look back and see the terrible devastation. He found an apple floating and that was all he had to eat for two more days.
Americans were not so mad that Japan attacked as they were completely incensed that Japan had sailed for the battle while pretending to negotiate "a peace deal" in Washington DC. And that set the tone for the US not accepting anything but unconditional surrender for ending the war. But Truman conceded on them keeping their Emporer.
Wouldn't your fathers cousins brother also be his cousin?
@@HawklordLIIt was supposed to say brother in law. So much for editing WORKING in YT.
And here we get a lesson in the power and importance of logistics. I've looked into, on a casual basis, some of the heartbreaking work done recovering or clearing the wreckage from the attack - I never heard about the issue of out-of-date and gnawed diving equipment.
Thank you again for your work.
„A port in Eritrea - what‘s now called Ethiopia“ ... you mean, what‘s now called Eritrea - as Ethiopia since lost access to the sea entirely
Fair point
Yes, that seemed an odd comment.
It's been independent for 20-29 years, depending on your view on the matter.
@@rogerwilco2 Might have gotten his references from an older book.
It was part of Ethiopia during World War 2 though.
@CipiRipi00 Oh, Eritrea is not one of those, it is full bona fide sovereign and recognized -- UN member, African Union member, relations with all the major world and regional powers, treaty of "peace and friendship" with Ethiopia (often ignored), the works.
My father was there in the 19th INF/ 24th IF at Schofield barracks. They took water cooled MG's up on the barracks roof and were strafed but they hit nothing. They saw the huge explosion of the Arizona and for 6 month prepared to defend Hawaii making trenches and bunkers near the beaches. You have great content and production. Bravo.
I've been to Hawaii and stood at the memorial site out on the water, done some studying over the years since, but nothing could have prepared me for this three-part series, which I watched last night, back to back, the first part for the second time. Thank you so much for this amazing content. Your naval historical video work is really stellar, and what a way to begin to recognize the herculean work and workers who did the salvage at Pearl Habor! And thanks for directing my study, via your book recommendations at the end of Part 3. As luck would have it, the Los Angeles library owns two copies of Descent into Darkness, and I just put an online hold on it. It will be delivered to my local branch for pickup, thanks to you. Your narration and accompanying stills and video of the divers are what really captured my attention. I did some skin and scuba diving as a young man, but what these young men did with the equipment of the day required superhero skills and and balls of steel. I don't remember seeing anything at Pearl Harbor about them, but maybe that has been remedied in the years since I've been there. If it hasn't, I'm going to do further research, via this book and others that I can find, and suggest a permanent display there at Pearl Harbor. I would welcome any further videos on this subject, but don't want to appear greedy. This series is such a tremendous contribution to the naval history of WWII, in particular the salvage of Pearl Harbor. Well done! Well said! Exceptionally well documented via stills and video.
Wow! I think this may be one of your best offerings to date Drachinifel. I was stationed on Oahu for 4 years, 1976 - 80. 18 months of that was spent at Pearl Harbor where the salvage efforts became the subject of a good deal of my off duty time (when I wasn't wooing a girlfriend who is still living with me today.)
As always you present information that either hadn't learned earlier or expanded upon. The difficulties and dangers the divers faced were horrendous and as I recall some divers and a number of other salvagers lost their lives due to accidents. Something more to remember this Memorial Day, or Remembrance Day as you Brits call it.
Utah is still there of course. She had rolled over very much as Oklahoma had, but unlike Oklahoma, the effort to right her was only partially successful because of the nature of the harbor bottom in that berth. Instead of rolling upright she actually slid over the bottom as the winches and derricks pulled on her. She finally came to rest partially upright and much of her anti-air armament was removed during the salvage effort. The effort to raise her to clear the berth was abandoned despite it being wanted for carrier moorings. Around 3 dozen men remain entombed in the hull.
Everyone knows about Arizona of course, but while I was stationed at Pearl we hadn't realized that she still carries the 3 rifles of 'A' Turret (#1 Turret as it's called today.) Many of the buildings strafed on 7 December still bore bullet holes, 'temporarily' patched but still clearly identifiable. Many of those old buildings have been removed since my tour of duty there.
Bravo Zulu sir. I very much look forward to Part II.
As the son of a sailor, I grew up around Pearl Harbor in the late 50s - early 60s. My two brothers and I used to swim out to the USS Utah wreck and climb all over it (we didn’t know any better and it was pretty much forgotten with no marker, etc., such as it has now. A most excellent presentation - thanks for putting this together. Can’t wait for Part Two, but can understand the toll these productions must take on you.
Reassigning sailors to recovery/repair duties was a bit chaotic. My grandmother received a telegram from the Department of the Navy on December 16, 1941 stating that her son John was missing from the USS California. Later that night she received a telegram from John stating he was okay and would write a letter to her as soon as he found the time. The night of January 1, 1942 she got a telegram from the Bureau of Navigation stating that John was a survivor and "the anxiety caused you by the previous message is deeply regretted." It was signed by Rear Admiral Randall Jacobs. A similar series of telegrams had gone to another mother in the same area and was reported in the same newspaper story in the Niagara Falls Gazette, dated January 3rd, 1942. It would be apparent that Admiral Jacobs sent a lot of those telegrams.
Decent into Darkness is a great book about a group of these salvage divers.
My dad served under Halsey, one uncle was Marine on Iwo Jima, another uncle was Navy, at Pearl on that fateful day. While at Pearl and several months prior to the 7th, my uncle watched his brother perish in an aircraft incident. Subbed, waiting for Pt 2
The one downvote is probably the ghost of Yamamoto.
Or Nagumo, or Fuchida before he got religion.
I think some more joined the ghost of the Yamato
Probably Yamashiro and Fuso
By the time i'm writing this the downvoters have grown to 14...not a big issue, anyway. Stupid people. Go away and follow some idiotic content suitable to you! Stop bother us! Go away!
Yamamoto was an honorable opponent. He had a job to do and did it well.
The part of Pearl Harbor where people forget, how the US Navy at the time accomplished one of the biggest salvage operations in its history. The fact that they brought back several warships into service is quite an achievement! Although, I would hate to be around the USS Oklahoma, hearing the desperate pounding and calls from the trapped sailors in the ship, knowing full well that there is nothing that can be done as those cries eventually fade into silence..........
Thanks to FDR.
@@chuck8835 Give it a rest.
Tirpitz crew had the same experience.....but it was not ambushed in peace time.
@@francoistombe Also did not had resources and need of a battleship near the end of the war..........
The flip side of the attack on Pearl Harbor, in relatively shallow water, was that recovery was relatively straight-forward. The battle wagons and ships recovered buoyed up the fleet, and morale.
God rest the souls of all of those died in Pearl Harbor.
Millions have visited.
None have forgot.
And those that survived. My uncle was on the New Orleans. It was not hit but a bomb hit the dock beside the ship. The blast killed some sailors on the New Orleans, literally blew them go bits. Some of this gore splattered over my uncle. He had nightmares for decades after. He died in 1993. I have his 50 year Commemorative medallion that the govt gave to members of the military present at Pearl Harbor that day (given out in 1991.)
@@francoistombe Agreed. My father-in-law (Canadian) flew with the RAF in the India / Burma theatre. He was a bombadier - they did things like skip bombs into the sides of ships from 50 feet off the waves - so he go to see the impact of what he was doing - up close, immediate and in real time.
He also saw his best buddy shot down in front of his eyes.
His wife (they literally had a week end together) tells me that he was different when he came back.
I was also told that he would suffer from migranes that were bad enough that he would bang his head on the wall to change the pain.
So, yes, we owe EVERYONE who fought a great debt of gratitude. Thank you for your insightful comment.
We shall never forget
Do an episode on Bunks vs Hammocks on ships.
Not every old sailor liked bunks when they became standard or semi standard on warships as a hammock somewhat compensates for a ships movement.
bunks also take up deck space, where hammocks can be more easily taken away in daytime to allow the deck to be used for other things.
I might be wrong but I feel like he might have covered this on the HMS victory video
@@jwenting I doubt that was really an advantage because sailors work in shifts.
Bunks have the advantage of granting you a bit of privacy compared to hammocks.
I'd interested to know how many months this person actually spent at sea. Hammocks...bullocks.
I like the shot at 22:22 of the officer standing on the main gun barrel being hoisted.
It really shows the scale which you often lose just looking at a picture of a silent gun.
Fantastic episode! The Japanese made two mistakes that could have crippled our ability to retaliate even further. Did did not attack the oil tanks as you pointed out, and they did not attack the submarines stationed there. The subs could still fight, even with the horrible torpedos and officers stuck on pre war battle doctrine.
You can argue the other mistake was to attack when the US carriers were not there. Battleships turned out to be extremely vulnerable to air attack and the Pacific Naval war was one of carrier battles. The outcome was never in doubt after Pearl Harbor thanks to the US economy's immense resources but loss of the Pacific carrier fleet would have an absolutely hammer blow.
The Japanese air crews wanted a third strike but were overruled. Nagumo thought it too risky, and the fleet turned away from a golden opportunity and just went home. Had he allowed a third and even fourth wave, and then went hunting the USN carriers, the outcome of the war would have been very different.
My grandfather was a Naval Aviator on leave during the attack on pearl, where he was badly burned over the majority of his back and not be ready for service again till 1943 and eventually flying Hellcats off the USS Bonhomme Richard CV-31 until the end of the war.
This is a really great video and I'm looking forward to seeing the next part.
Great video Drach! I'm a self made WWII historian and have been reading about WWII for nigh on 40 years and have watched countless documentaries about Pearl Harbor. I dare say 90% of the recovery efforts you have detailed here weren't covered in any of those books or documentaries. They usually gloss over it, aside from the rescue efforts on the Oklahoma, and just say that most of the ships were raised and fought again. Your video really brings home the herculean effort put into their raising of the ships, and the ingenuity and organization of it all! Nicely done, as usual!
My great grandpa was a Catalina radio stationed at Pearl.
Glad to see the aftermath of Dec 7 covered, is a topic that gets skipped over all to often
I am a retired Navy veteran.!!! Go Navy. Great video
Superb video. I am continually impressed by the spirit of the US Navy in fighting both damage control and salvage operations. You don't have to be an engineer or anything of the sort to appreciate this kind of professional excellence. Thanks, Drach.
Thanks for posting. We of the later generations forget the nastier parts of the war.
It is so good to see and hear a documentary presented with a good clear voice over, without any loud, annoying music or sound FX. This is so much more satisfying and easy to listen to when you are trying to learn and absorb the content. Imagine a child in a classroom being taught by a teacher, whilst loud music and crashing SFX were present. What a great test that would make. Got that off my chest!
It touched me deeply when I visited Pearl Harbor where my father served in WW2, the USS Arizona still on station was something that will never leave my thoughts.
Allied logistics: salvage a fleet, fly supplies over the Himalayas, D-Day, evacuate Soviet industry to Urals and convoy system
Axis logistics: No fuel, winter clothing or food
The Allied side had a massively larger industrial capacity.
www.combinedfleet.com/economic.htm
@@tz8785 yes, and that's why we can assume axis leadership was superficial and amateurish! As an italian, i'm particularly and sorely aware of this! So many of my fellow citizens, good soldiers, sent to battle without the minimum necessary equipment! Eighty years later it is still so painful! Our pilots sent to fight in open cockpit planes, our soldiers with carton made shoes, our tank crews facing the T-34 in their M13-40! It's so painful!
@@tz8785 Yet the fascist leadership said "we're GREAT, so lets attack". And the sheeple followed to their doom.
The axis did have decent winter clothing (not up to Russian winter standards but good enough for Europe). As evidence of this see the Americans taking winter clothing off of dead Germans at the Battle of the Bulge.
YOU HAD HORSES, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?
Ooh just in time for remembrance day the ww2 channel was also teasing us for pearl harbor
Watching this video series again on December 7th, 2021.
Drach wonderful video of a relatively unheralded aspect of the war in the Pacific theatre.
I'm most grateful to you for your excellent contents! Every single video from you contains a lot of valuable informations, even for a 4 decades enthusiast like me! Thank you Drach! Keep up the outstanding work! In these years of flat earthers serious research is sorely needed!
a new drach series. here we go again, once more basking in glory
My grandfather was a Navy diver & was part of the salvage operation at Pearl Harbor. I was 9 when he died in December 1985. I'll never forget it because his Christmas gifts sat unopened for years. That house was never really the same. I'm trying to find out more of his story, but it's been rough. He was in the Navy for 11 years. The only thing I remember him saying about what he did there was he'd never eat crabs again but he loved cooking them. Those ships are like small cities & having been in the Navy 11 years I'm sure he knew a lot of men. I can say that he never said a bad word about anyone & he respected his enemy because they were young men serving their county just like him.
Thank you for covering this. It is rarely mentioned but was a vital effort that restored the US Fleet far faster than the Japanese anticipated.
I have to say, this was excellent. An aspect of PH that I never thought about much, I was shocked when it came to an end, I had no idea 30 minutes had passed at all.
Thank you. My Dad was on a troop ship in route when the attack took place and spent a good part of his first year rebuilding Hickam Field.
One of the best video series I have watched on You Tube. Been spreading it on all the BB sites.
well done, best description I HAVE SEEN IN 60 YEARS OF VIEWING DOCUMENTARIES
As a resident of HNL and a frequent visitor to PSNSY, I'm struck by how familiar the overhead images of the dry dock areas seem. What amazing work by limited personnel under pressure, both strategic and materiel! Thank you for an excellent history of these evolutions and the crisis.
3:30 Can't imagine the guilt suffered by rescuers who inadvertently killed the men they were trying to rescue from certain death.
This reminded me of a scene I saw in the Michael Bay Pearl Harbor movie. They showed some people trying to rescue survivors trapped inside one of the ships. Then water flooded the section they were cutting into and drowned the men before the rescuers could get to them. It was extremely hard to watch that scene.
Drachinafel, you did a superb job with what could have been a very maudlin and depressing topic. You kept your own style and wit and did it so tastefully.
I'm looking forward to part 2. Thank you
Winning wars through logistics. This is my favorite kind of video.
Without it, you are or already on your way to losing the said war... they value in importance.
This is why I love this channel! Everyone talks about and has done videos about the events of 7 December. This is the first time I've seen a video about what happened afterwards.
View, Like, and Comment to feed the YT algorithm.
Well done, thank you. The recovery of Pearl Harbor and the magnitude of the operation is something that is often overlooked.
Drach: "Arizona could still be salvaged"
UA-cam robot: "Beep Boop This claim about election fraud is disputed!"
To what end?
DEMONITISE THE HERETIC!
@Peter Rogan We will no longer surrender this country, or its people, to the false song of globalism.
I could listen to that all day. Very interesting.
A good book on the the Salvage is
Descent into Darkness: Pearl Harbor, 1941, A Navy Diver's Memoir by Edward C. Raymer.
The recovery of the capsized USS Oklahoma BB37 is an interesting read. @50 foundations grounded to bedrock were poured on the beach, huge winches were installed on each foundation, and miles of cable were attached to the ship across the harbor to pull it upright; nearly 30,000 tons compounded by the over 500 feet of suction on the harbor floor took months to accomplish.
After it was re-floated it was leaking so much pumps had to run continuously to keep it floating. I read an amusing story of a young Lieutenant who was in charge of the Oklahoma one night and had to deal with a blackout which stopped the pumps and came within about ten minutes of having it go under again! Someone had decided that an air raid was coming and killed the power to blackout the area.
Some time after that they got it into dry dock and patched it and attempted to tow it back to California but it hit a storm and went down in mid ocean.
The salvage of these ships was a tale of heroism-- especially on the part of the salvage divers-- that few knew about.
So impressed by the spirit and tenacity of the American Navy to overcome this tragedy and remembering those who died on that terrible day, looking forward to part 2. Thank's Drach 👍
I cannot begin to imagine the depths of shock, horror and despair they had to overcome those first few days. Hard brutal work became an escape.
I love the style of your videos. They're informative, cover everything from the most basic to the most fringe in quite an agreeable detail and they are funny. Subscribed for well done content !
WOW... excellent series... well deserving of high viewing figures. Thanks.
The cleanup of Pearl Harbour wasn't a process I had ever considered but the professionalism, logistical cleverness and plain energy of the Navy personnel was incredible. All that in a couple of weeks after a devastating blow. Very impressive.
Its good to see this fascinating bit of history. Hope to see one about the salvage of the High Seas Fleet from Scapa Flow.
Amazing video. Cant wait for part 2! One of my favorite stories is that of the battleships that were salvaged getting payback at Surigao Strait
Thank you D for your continued great efforts.
Fantastic video, Drach! Loved every bit of your coverage of the gallant efforts to the salvage effort! Keep it up!