Pearl Harbour 7 December 1941

[brakedwell]

These photos were taken on 7 December 1941, but not developed
until 2009. The photographer, a sailor who was on the USS
QUAPAW ATF-11O, used old Brownie camera which has been stored in a foot locker until just recently.

The quality of the photos is amazing...

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/ATT00034.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/ATT00040.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/ATT00043.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/ATT00049.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/ATT00046.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/ATT00052.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/ATT00055.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/ATT00058.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/ATT00061.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/ATT00064.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/ATT00067.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/ATT00070.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/ATT00073.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/ATT00076.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c32/sedgwickjames/ATT00079.jpg

[alvin-sfc]

Fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

[PPRuNe Pop]

What a different story if the carriers had been home!

They are fantastic photos and worth a bit in the US I would suggest.

[virgo]

Carrying on from what "Pop" has said, could a 40s carrier fighter aircraft get airborne from an anchored carrier (not using catapults which presumeably took quite a long time to load - especially if under attack ) ?

[Mr_Grubby]

As remarkable as these photos are, they have been around for a while.

I first saw them in Feb. '07 I have some more to add.

If I was clever, which I'm not, I would post them. I will however try.

Clint.

[goudie]

What a different story if the carriers had been home!
Virgo You are correct but I think the point Pop is making is that the Carriers and their aircraft would have been destroyed also. It was fortunate that they were at sea at the time and could fight another day.

[brakedwell]

I received the photos in an email this morning and thought their clarity justified posting them. I have since been told they may have been around since 1941!! :uhoh::uhoh:

[GGR]

Great pics BD and worth the effort to share...Thanks.

GGR

[Mr_Grubby]

Further to my previous post, a little research would indicate that at least four of these pictures are in the 1957 Walter Lords book, 'Day of Infamy'

Pretty conclusive evdence in debunking the Kodak camera story.

Don't think I'll bother trying to post my pictures. :ok:

C.

[Tankertrashnav]

used old Brownie camera


However long they have been around, one thing is certain, these were NOT taken with an old Brownie. All the photoshopping in the world could not bring Brownie photos up to that standard, which as Brakedwell rightly is amazing. Great pics though and worth posting whatever their origin.

[Load Toad]

These photos have been on t'internets for ages. It's prolly worth checking Snopes but IIRC one of the things that rubbishes the claims is that the bloke must have moved PDfast to get photos at the airfield and the harbour....


Edited to add the Snopes link: snopes.com: Pearl Harbor (http://www.snopes.com/photos/military/pearlharbor.asp)

[Opssys]

What is sad about the chain email that distributes these pictures (and there are various versions), is not that the story is fantasy, but that it demeans the memory of the photographers who took these pictures whilst under attack and most of whom are probably no longer alive to defend their reputation, or indeed copyright.

This chain mail like others of its ilk (Shuttle Disaster springs to mind) have a life of their own. From hazy memory I first received this one about 3 years ago and I have received several more copies since. I expect I will receive another before Christmas.

As Terry Pratchett has written:
'A lie can run round the world before the truth has got its boots on ..'
But once the lie is out there, the truth can never eradicate it.
Example: the Holocaust denial!

[Arclite01]

If the carriers had been at home they would have been destroyed for sure.

I wonder though what would have happened then................ I don't think the Japanese were in any sort of position to invade mainland USA. They kind of shot their bolt in the remaining areas of the Pacific - they were on the limits of their ability in PNG I think - Australia would probably have been a step too far from a logistics perpective but would probably have been the next battlefield.

Did the US have any other carriers (non-Pacific fleet) that they could have diverted ?

With regards to the pictures - they are great but actually some of them even look like stills from 'Tora Tora Tora'.

Arc

[Gainesy]

Carrying on from what "Pop" has said, could a 40s carrier fighter aircraft get airborne from an anchored carrier (not using catapults which presumeably took quite a long time to load - especially if under attack ) ?

Carriers did not have catapults back then, all "free" take offs. I think arming up and rangeing any fighters would probably take too long even if there was sufficient deck run and wind over deck to get off.

Anyway, as Goering signalled to the Japanese Fleet: "Good Show numbnuts, but I said could you attack Poole Harbour for us".