Friday, December 09, 2016

"Ok, so we'll raise those ships, repair them, and use them the destroy you"

After a surprise attack that left Americans across the country reeling, the heroes of Pearl Harbor had no time to sit around and take in what happen.

Instead, they got to work repairing the dozens of boats that were sitting ducks for the Japanese air fleet.

The biggest targets for the Japanese were the U.S. Navy's nine battleships. While three of the battleships were considered a complete lost (the USS Oklahoma, USS Utah and USS Arizona - which still lays at the bottom of the harbor) the rest were resurrected and put to work winning the war.

Scroll down to see the 13 ships that were repaired after the attack on Pearl Harbor and how they contributed to the war effort after their resurrection.
Picking one,
USS West Virginia, battleship 
Damage during Pearl Harbor: Seven Japanese torpedos to the port side, hit by two bombs, caught fire from the burning USS Arizona and sank to the sea floor   
Repairs: Pumped free of water and patched up so that it could be sent to Washington's Puget Sound Naval Yard for full repairs  
Returned to service:July 1944    
WWII service: The USS West Virginia took part in the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinama and was present in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrendered after the second atom bomb was dropped on Nagasaki




No comments: