Unauthorized History Of the Pacific War podcast

American defensive preparations in Hawaii (or lack there of) before Pearl Harbor.

Unauthorized History Of The Pacific War podcast

Salvage operations after the attack on Pearl Harbor: raising the battle ships

Above in last few posts I posted a sprinkling of some Pearl Harbor -related episodes on Unauthorized History of the Pacific War podcast series on YouTube, which I can't recommend enough to anyone fascinated with specifically the WW2 Pacific War.

Seth has access to all raw footage in National Archives and sometimes they talk through some raw video footage that has not necessarily been seen/used in any previous documentary.

F4GIB71 said:

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I also think some of it was how the aircraft was used. The Russians flew it very successfully like an A-10 as a tank buster. The Russians had air to air kills but I imagine a lot of them were at lower altitudes because of weather were the P-39 preformed better than as under powered at higher altitudes

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The P-39 was a good aircraft, as its use by the Soviets says. The biggest problem is that it was intended as a high altitude interceptor, but for whatever reason, Bell or the USAAC removed the supercharger from its Allison engine. This resulted in poor performance at altitude but had no effect on it at lower altitudes.

The P-38, a twin engine fighter, had those superchargers, and was superlative at altitude. Of course, the Lightning was simply at great fighter with range - it was the chosen aircraft to intercept and kill Admiral Yamamoto.

Pumpkinhead said:

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ts5641 said:

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Owlagdad said:

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I have probably told this before: I don't know how long that news took to get to Houston, but mom was working in OR at old Jeff Davis hospital where she went to nursing school, when a surgeon who was Naval Reservist burst in and said, " The Japs just bombed Pearl Harbor. Who wants to join the Navy? Mother, three years off an Arkansas farm raised her hand. In no time she was in San Diego caring for burned sailors from Pearl Harbor.
Out there, she met a Marine Lt from Texas A&M,married him six weeks later and had to resign from Navy because they didn't allow females to be married. Eighty four years later they are side by side at National Cemetery in Dallas, she got her own space because she was a vet.
God Bless those who stepped up.

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That's a great story. Can't imagine the results would be the same now. There's a huge chunk of Millennials and Gen Z'ers who would never fight for the US regardless of the circumstances.

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As William Shirer wrote in the epic best seller The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich, extremely unlikely there will ever again be a war like WW1 or WW2, prolonged global conflicts requiring mass mobilizations etc. The next 'World War' if it ever happens will start and end quickly in Nuclear explosions and fallout. Mankind has simply gotten too good at this point in technology to kill each other. Aggressive adventurer conqueror nations like Hitler's Germany or the Empire of Japan would now have a very short adventure.

"Adolf Hitler is probably the last of the great adventurer-conquerors in the tradition of Alexander, Caesar and Napoleon, and the Third Reich the last of the empires which set out on the path taken earlier by France, Rome and Macedonia. The curtain was rung down on that phase of history, at least, by the sudden invention of the hydrogen bomb, of the ballistic missile and of rockets that can be aimed to hit the moon."

William Shirer - The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich

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On my reading list. I actually have the book in hand, but I'm intimidated every time I look at it.

LMCane said:

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Hornet was then sunk off Guadalcanal in late 1942!

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I will find out but it must have been another ship. He was only on the one that was sunk, to my knowledge. That uncle was an airplane mechanic during WWII. He was a career enlisted man and retired in the 1960's.

When the government wasn't saying who survived and who didn't, an older brother used that as an excuse to enlist and was assigned to the Sterrett, a destroyer. Said he was going to find out what happened to his brother. After the war, the shipmates had reunions all over the country until at least the 1990's. Once he had them come down to New Braunfels for Wurstfest. One of the guys had heart problems. His cardiologist told him if he went on the trip to NB he wouldn't make it back. He died dancing with his wife.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Sterett_(DD-407)

Lest we forget!

Thanks for the post, OP.

I still haven't asked my cousin but there was a second Hornet commissioned in 1943.

Tex100 said:

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I still haven't asked my cousin but there was a second Hornet commissioned in 1943.

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There were two Hornets. The first, CV-8, is best known for carrying the Doolittle Raiders in April 1942. She was lost at the Battle of Santa Cruz. The second, CV-12, was originally christened as the Kearsarge, but was renamed after the loss of the first carrier and commissioned in late 1943.

LMCane said:

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F4GIB71 said:

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My Dad was in ROTC at Ga Tech when Pearl was attacked. He quit school and was in aviation cadets by February. Flew 75 combat missions in P-39s in South Pacific. I was oldest of three boys. We were raised that we had an obligation to serve and should join ROTC when in college. Thought I'd go to Tech but we moved to Texas after my Sophomore year in HS, Got interested in A&M, drank the Aggie cool aid, and rest is history. My middle brother was '74 in Sqdn 1. Youngest was '77. Made one semester in Animal 8, one semester as non-reg, and was not invited back. Ended up at West Texas State but not in ROTC

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P-39 or P-38??

the Airacobra was such a poor plane that only one American pilot ever became an ace.

the P-38 was one of the best fighters of the war and shot down Yammamoto

*the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack

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The soviets loved the P39 as a tank buster because of the 37mm cannon in the nose. Several P39 squadrons transitioned to the P38 in the pacific including the overall #2 scoring ace Tommy McGuire who did most of his scoring in the Lightning. Of course Dick Bong was #1 flying a 38 in the pacific.

Cinco Ranch Aggie said:

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Tex100 said:

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I still haven't asked my cousin but there was a second Hornet commissioned in 1943.

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There were two Hornets. The first, CV-8, is best known for carrying the Doolittle Raiders in April 1942. She was lost at the Battle of Santa Cruz. The second, CV-12, was originally christened as the Kearsarge, but was renamed after the loss of the first carrier and commissioned in late 1943.

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correct

as I stated, Hornet was sunk off Guadalcanal in 1942

then there was a second Hornet commissioned the next year.

I remember this because all 4 US carriers that started the war were hit by bombs and only Enterprise survived.

Lexington
Yorktown
Hornet

all sunk in the first year.

Late Saturday Night December 6 - Washington D.C.

U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt makes a final appeal to the Emperor of Japan for peace.

There is no reply. Late this same day, the U.S. code-breaking service begins intercepting a 14-part Japanese message and deciphers the first 13 parts, passing them on to the President and Secretary of State.

The Americans believe a Japanese attack is imminent, most likely somewhere in Southeast Asia.

Early morning Sunday December 7 - Washington D.C.

The last part of the Japanese message, stating that diplomatic relations with the U.S. are to be broken off, reaches Washington in the morning and is decoded at approximately 9 a.m.

About an hour later, another Japanese message is intercepted. It instructs the Japanese embassy to deliver the main message to the Americans at 1 p.m.

The Americans realize this time corresponds with early morning time in Pearl Harbor, which is several hours behind.

The U.S. War Department then sends out an alert but uses a commercial telegraph because radio contact with Hawaii is temporarily broken.

Delays prevent the alert from arriving at headquarters in Oahu until noontime (Hawaii time) four hours after the attack has already begun.

Navy Fire Controlman 3rd Class Victor Patrick Tumlinson, Class of 1942, killed aboard the USS Oklahoma, December 7, 1941; according to my research, he is the first and only Texas Aggie to be killed at Pearl Harbor



On December 7, 1941, the 19-year-old Tumlinson, a native of Raymondville, was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma (BB-37), which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor. During the Japanese aerial attack, the Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits and quickly capsized. FC3c Tumlinson was among the 429 crewmen killed during the historic start of World War II.

From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, interring them in the Halawa and Nu'uanu Cemeteries.

In September 1947, the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred these remains and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. However, the laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board officially classified those who could not be identified, including Tumlinson, as non-recoverable.

In April 2015, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a policy memorandum directing the disinterment of the USS Oklahoma unknowns from the Punchbowl. DPAA personnel began exhuming the remains on June 15, 2015, for detailed analysis.

To identify Tumlinson's remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, dental and anthropological analysis, in addition to circumstantial and material evidence.

U.S. Navy Fire Controlman Third Class Victor P. Tumlinson was officially accounted for on February 8, 2019.

He was reburied in the Raymondville Memorial Cemetery, Willacy County, Texas on December 7th, 2019

Navy Sailor Killed in 1941 Pearl Harbor Attack Set to be Buried in Raymondville

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, at least 78 Texans died --- perhaps as many as 86. Many were aboard the Arizona when the ship was heavily damaged and sank at her moorings. One of them was the young man shown here, Seaman First Class Samuel… pic.twitter.com/uZjtpC7zPm

— Traces of Texas (@TracesofTexas) December 7, 2025

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When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, at least 78 Texans died --- perhaps as many as 86. Many were aboard the Arizona when the ship was heavily damaged and sank at her moorings. One of them was the young man shown here, Seaman First Class Samuel Adolphus Abercrombie, who was born in Polk County in 1919 and enlisted in Houston. Not much is known about him but a family member described him as kind, fun to be with, and loved by everybody.

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As I said earlier, when the U.S.S. Arizona was attacked at Pearl Harbor, 76 Texans lost their lives, including the only father/son pair to die that day, William Thomas Free and Thomas Augusta Free, both from Bryan, Texas. Traces of Texas reader Karen Baker is related to the… pic.twitter.com/9wpeGu5cFb

— Traces of Texas (@TracesofTexas) December 7, 2025

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As I said earlier, when the U.S.S. Arizona was attacked at Pearl Harbor, 76 Texans lost their lives, including the only father/son pair to die that day, William Thomas Free and Thomas Augusta Free, both from Bryan, Texas. Traces of Texas reader Karen Baker is related to the Frees and graciously shared these photos of them. Shown on the left is Thomas Augustus Free, Karen's great-great uncle. He was born in 1891 and is shown here in 1917 when he joined the Navy. He died at Pearl Harbor as did his son, William Thomas Free, shown in the photo on the right, who had only recently joined the Navy at the age of 17.

Thank you, Karen. May the Frees rest in eternal peace.

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Not PH related, but I am named after an Uncle who survived the USS Houston sinking (3/01/'42) the day after the HMS Perth was sunk. He spent the entire war as a POW working on the Burma RR. In the movie "Bridge Over the River Kwai", the main character Wm. Holden states he was a crew member of the USS Houston.

YES...these men and women of WWII (real heroes) deserve our recognition...living or deceased.
My uncle passed in 1973...a broken man who seldom discussed his ordeal and NEVER bragged about it.

ETA - 1,061 Navy and Marines on board at time of sinking. 386 survived and were captured on nearby islands. 77 died in captivity. 309 (29%) were returned home.

Post war pic ('45 or '46) after his return home.

Is it not ironic that exactly one year from Dec. 7, 1941 on Dec 7, 1942 Bell Aicraft did the maiden flight of its P-63 King Cobra?
The U.S. didn't like it either and again most went to the Russians to use. Like 2500 or thereabouts.

Thank for the post! Today, we remember and honor the Americans who lost their lives in the Pearl Harbor attacks 84 years ago today. We will never forget them, and we will always honor their memory.

95% of Americans have no idea that an ever greater catastrophe was to follow TEN HOURS LATER:

The main Japanese air attack on U.S. bases in the Philippines occurred around 12:35 p.m. local time on December 8, 1941.

The attacks in the Philippines took place approximately ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, due to the International Date Line.

Timeline of Major Attacks (all on December 8, 1941, local time):

Early Morning (approx. 6:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.): Japanese forces conducted initial, smaller-scale air attacks and landings in the northern Philippines, including Davao, Baguio, and Tuguegarao airfields.

12:35 p.m.: A massive wave of Japanese bombers and fighters struck the main U.S. air base at Clark Field, north of Manila, catching most American aircraft on the ground.

The nearby fighter base at Iba Field was attacked simultaneously. This surprise strike effectively neutralized American air power in the Philippines.

These initial air attacks were followed by major ground troop landings later in December.

so few Americans knew even what Pearl Harbor was

that the main news broadcaster in the first few audio clips was calling it:

OHAU

instead of OAHU

Kimmel and King did not have the main base at Pearl Harbor use

TORPEDO NETTING to protect the battleships in their berths.

because they believed "well the water is too shallow for torpedoes"

imagine the insane negligence that was- a torpedo net would have saved most of those ships.

this was DURING WARNINGS ABOUT WAR WITH IMPERIAL JAPAN throughout November 1941.

it's amazing that there was technology in the world that designed an ATOMIC BOMB and JET FIGHTERS and cruise missiles (V-2)

while at the same time in the USA it was hard to have a radio station get a report from London or even have a clear audio channel for domestic radio stations in Minneapolis!

Today, December 8 1941

President Roosevelt asks for a declaration of war against the Empire of Japan

Live Audio Feed Capitol Building 8 December 1941

Empire of the Sun was released in 1987 (I'm old enough to remember seeing it in the theaters)

depicts the Japanese landings in Hong Kong and Singapore December 1941

Very underrated Steven Spielberg movie.

My dad was a Sr in Mission High School. The night before they had completed their undefeated, untied, unscored on season for the Mission Eagles. Dad was All Valley along w/ the QB, one Tommy Landry.

Public school was only 11 years back then, so you graduated at 17. Dad had to wait until April 1943 to enlist, and served in the Pacific.

Dad died May 1995. During his year of fighting cancer, that football team and his service in WWII were the bellweathers of his life.