Attack on pearl harbor

The U.S.S. Neosho at Pearl Harbor  

 

In July of 1941, my uncle, Bill Leu, signed onto the new Navy oil tanker, the U.S.S. Neosho, in Bremerton, Washington.  When it was launched in 1939, the 553-foot long Neosho was the largest oil tanker in the world.  Bill, a 19-year old Fireman Third Class, worked down in the engine room in the "black gang," a moniker held over from the days of coal-fired ships.  

Above:  The U.S.S. Neosho (AO-23) in Norfolk, Virginia on August 7, 1939, just after being commissioned.

The main task of the Neosho in the days before World War II was to carry fuel from the U.S. mainland to the Pacific Fleet's new base at Pearl Harbor, on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.  Oahu had been a sleepy island, but that changed fast with the arrival of the Pacific Fleet in the spring of 1940 (see Prelude to War). 

One of the most important tasks for the Navy at that time was to build up an adequate supply of diesel and aviation fuel at Pearl Harbor, which meant shipping it in with tankers, such as the Neosho.  From July through November of 1941, the Neosho shuttled back and forth, carrying diesel and aviation fuel from San Pedro, California, to its destination in Pearl Harbor.

Photo #: NH 50603

Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941

A Japanese Navy Type 97 Carrier Attack Plane ("Kate") takes off from a carrier as the second wave attack is launched. Ship's crewmen are cheering "Banzai"
This ship is either Zuikaku or Shokaku.
Note light tripod mast at the rear of the carrier's island, with Japanese naval ensign.

NHHC Photograph.

Online Image: 57KB; 740 x 540
 

The U.S.A ship is attacking by japanese war plane

pearl harbour story

pearl harbour
The air attack was led by Commander Mitsuo Fuchida. The first wave of planes consisted of 183 fighters, bombers and torpedo bombers. It started its attack at 07.55 a.m. The second wave had 170 planes in it and attacked Pearl Harbour at 08.54 a.m.
They took off from the aircraft carriers Akaga, Kaga, Hiryu, Soryu, Zuikaku and Shokaku. By the time the war ended, all six had been sunk by the Americans along with all the other Japanese capital ships involved in the attack.
The pilots in the first attack used a radio station’s mast near Pearl Harbour to home in on. The first casualties were 35 American servicemen who were having breakfast at the Army Air Forces’ Hickam Field - a 550lb bomb hit their dining hall.
The most serious casualty was the USS Arizona. One torpedo and eight bombs hit her, 1,760 lbs. of explosives, as she lay moored up at Ford Island Naval Station. One bomb is thought to have pierced the forward deck setting off over one million pounds of gunpowder. 1,177 men were killed on the Arizona alone.
Those who survived on the USS Nevada – moored directly behind the Arizona and badly damaged in the attack - claimed that the Arizona was launched up to ten feet into the air as a result of the huge explosion that tore her apart and sunk within nine minutes. One witness on the Nevada said that the Arizona was broken in two before she sunk. Along with the Arizona, the Utah and the Oklahoma never sailed again but all the other ships damaged in the attack did sail again once repairs had been successfully carried out.