U.S.S. Arizona

[AcePylut]

Pic taken when I was on my honeymoon to my (ex)wife, in 2004.

[AcePylut]

You can see some oil leaking up too.

[Yakface]

Hope I don't cause offence, but does the 'ex' bit have something to do with the fact you took her to a WWII wreck....on her honeymoon?

[AcePylut]

No offense taken at all.  Being from Illinois, we decided to do 10 days in hawaii for our honeymoon.  We both agreed that we couldn't go into Hawaii without going to see PH (me being a ww2 nut and her father having served in the Navy in Vietnam).  After doing the tour (which, in my opinion, was wayyyy to "Jap friendly") we flew to Maui for the rest of the time.
 
The thing that "surprised" me the most, about PH, was how short of a run it was for the torp planes.  Looking at pictures and stuff in the past, it seemed like the Kates had plenty of time to line up for their attack on BB Row... but then...  standing on the monument, looking at the approach vector, those pilots earned a lot of "respect" for their skills.  It was "come over the mtn, dive, level out, drop torp, and fly away"... all in a very short distance (and thus, time frame)... far shorter than I had imagined. 
 
I have more pics at home I can post later tonite.  They are pretty neat.

[mdiehl]

Double the amount of dead, same result.

Exactly. The Japanese had already used their "one free gunboat, get out of jail free" card.

[stuman]

ORIGINAL: AcePylut

No offense taken at all.  Being from Illinois, we decided to do 10 days in hawaii for our honeymoon.  We both agreed that we couldn't go into Hawaii without going to see PH (me being a ww2 nut and her father having served in the Navy in Vietnam).  After doing the tour (which, in my opinion, was wayyyy to "Jap friendly") we flew to Maui for the rest of the time.

The thing that "surprised" me the most, about PH, was how short of a run it was for the torp planes.  Looking at pictures and stuff in the past, it seemed like the Kates had plenty of time to line up for their attack on BB Row... but then...  standing on the monument, looking at the approach vector, those pilots earned a lot of "respect" for their skills.  It was "come over the mtn, dive, level out, drop torp, and fly away"... all in a very short distance (and thus, time frame)... far shorter than I had imagined. 

I have more pics at home I can post later tonite.  They are pretty neat.

Thx for the pic. And interesting observation. More pics are always welcome[:)]

[bilbow]

I was there 2 summers ago. What struck me was there are a number of survivors of the attack who chose upon their death in later years to be interred with their shipmates. Very moving.

[Bearcat2]

ORIGINAL: RevRick

Let your mind encompass this, and imagine the force of that which killed her...





From Pry's site, obviously...
Thanks to Paul for all of these pictures...

I think the illustration is after they dismantled the superstructure; pictures of the Arizona after the attack.
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/imag ... h97383.jpg
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/imag ... 021538.jpg

[RevRick]

Oh, yes. It's after she was dismantled. But I can not find one with her original state overlayed over the wrecked version - or vice versa.

What really gets me is the force necessary to obliterate two complete decks forward, and wreck the internal structure of the vessel enough to eliminate support for the barbettes and turrets forward, as well as the bridge structure. As well, the armor belt forward of the mainmast seems to have warped downward as well. That belt is probably the only thing that even came close to holding the forward structure to something even remotely resembling the original design of the ship. And God alone knows how many crew were absolutely vaporized by the force of the explosion. All they found of Admiral Kidd (from what I have read) was his class ring.

[Nikademus]

The way it was described in Battleship Arizona, was that the force of the explosion was such that it blew the ship virtually in half with the remaining structures (decks, barbettes, turrets) collapsing into the void created by the blast. Even more amazing is the actual footage of the blast.

[RevRick]

I know. The pictures I have seen give me goose bumps. In some book I have, which I may have just unpacked for the first time in four years, there is a sequence in which a very small speck seems to be descending from upper left toward the foredeck of the Arizona. There are two frames which show the ship before the explosion, and the speck seems to be falling. The third frame shows the foredeck erupting, and the fourth shows the full explosion. I'd love to find that shot and scan it.

[Aurelian]

http://archives.starbulletin.com/2006/1 ... ory04.html

[TOMLABEL]

If you slow down this vid, in one frame you can see the bomb falling towards the deck. You can also see the OK starting her roll as well as the WeeVee.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NaaN0wQtbg&NR=1

[Fallschirmjager]

So what is the generaly accepted theory of how the bomb managed to detonate the magazine? There is probably no way that the bomb penetrated the armor. Were doors left open? Was powder or shells not stored properly?

[TOMLABEL]

More from the artist in the original post.

Arizona.

[TOMLABEL]

December 7th, 1941

[TOMLABEL]

ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager

So what is the generaly accepted theory of how the bomb managed to detonate the magazine? There is probably no way that the bomb penetrated the armor. Were doors left open? Was powder or shells not stored properly?

Well the general knowledge is that it was a modified armor piercing projectile as opposed to an AP bomb.

[Fallschirmjager]

ORIGINAL: TOMLABEL

ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager

So what is the generaly accepted theory of how the bomb managed to detonate the magazine? There is probably no way that the bomb penetrated the armor. Were doors left open? Was powder or shells not stored properly?

Well the general knowledge is that it was a modified armor piercing projectile as opposed to an AP bomb.

Yeah I know it was an modified 800 kg naval shell turned into an aircraft bomb. But did not the Navy in 1944 find in their report that it did not penetrate the magazine?

[TOMLABEL]

ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager

ORIGINAL: TOMLABEL

ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager

So what is the generaly accepted theory of how the bomb managed to detonate the magazine? There is probably no way that the bomb penetrated the armor. Were doors left open? Was powder or shells not stored properly?

Well the general knowledge is that it was a modified armor piercing projectile as opposed to an AP bomb.

Yeah I know it was an modified 800 kg naval shell turned into an aircraft bomb. But did not the Navy in 1944 find in their report that it did not penetrate the magazine?

You tell me. What Navy report and please quote their findings. [;)]

[Fallschirmjager]

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/even ... /ph-az.htm

I will try and track down that report. In the meantime I have to do research that I actualy get paid for