Pearl Harbor
The Battle of Saipan
By Al HemingwayPeering through his binoculars, Vice Adm. Chuichi Nagumo was in awe of the nearly 800 ships from Vice Adm. Read more
Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor and other U.S. military installations on the island of Oahu, territory of Hawaii, Sunday, December 7, 1941, plunged the United States into World War II. The Pearl Harbor anchorage of the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet was attacked by two waves of Japanese planes flying from aircraft carriers more than 200 miles north of Hawaii. Eight battleships of the Pacific Fleet, as well as numerous other ships, were sunk or damaged, and 2,403 American lives were lost. Pearl Harbor has become an enduring symbol of American resolve in the wake of the surprise air raid. President Franklin Roosevelt called the date of the Pearl Harbor attack one that would “live in infamy.”
Pearl Harbor
U.S. Marine legend Lewis ‘Chesty’ Puller
By Michael D. HullCrouched in their foxholes along Edson’s Ridge on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, the Marines formed a critical but thin defense line between strategic Henderson Field and seasoned Japanese infantry lurking in the jungle. Read more
Pearl Harbor
The HMS Illustrious & Other Armored British Carriers Left Their Mark
By Sam McGowanWhen one thinks of carrier warfare in World War II, the Japanese and U.S. navies usually come to mind. Read more
Pearl Harbor
Winston Churchill And Franklin Roosevelt’s Arcadia Conference
By Michael D. HullStill stunned by the sneak Japanese onslaught on the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, American families tried to summon up their Christmas spirit in December 1941. Read more
Pearl Harbor
George Kenney’s Air Force During The Pacific War
By Sam McGowanAlthough the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was the event that served to galvanize America to fight World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and his military advisers had pervasively decided that defeating the Japanese would be secondary to destroying the Nazi war machine in Europe. Read more
Pearl Harbor
Sculpin and Squalus: Fated Sister Subs During The Pacific War
By Eric NiderostOn September 14, 1938, fleet submarine USS Squalus (SS-192) was launched at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. Read more
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor Aftermath: the Salvage Effort to Keep the Navy Fighting
By Mike McLaughlinThe Pearl Harbor aftermath presented the U.S. Navy with a sobering question: how to recover? More than 2,000 men had died. Read more
Pearl Harbor
The USS Oklahoma Rescue Mission After Attack On Pearl Harbor
by Mike McLaughlinDuring the Pearl Harbor attack, both Utah and Oklahoma capsized after suffering multiple torpedo hits. Utah had been converted to a training ship, and to the Japanese pilots, her modified deck resembled that of an aircraft carrier. Read more
Pearl Harbor
What Made the Lockheed P-38 Lightning So Special?
By Sam McGowanDue largely to their use in the postwar U.S. Army Air Forces and present proliferation among the air show community, the North American P-51 Mustang is thought of by many as the most important American fighter of World War II. Read more
Pearl Harbor
Operation Torch: The Allied Invasion of North Africa
By Roy Morris Jr.The Allied decision to invade North Africa, codenamed Operation Torch, was reached in the summer of 1942 after lengthy—and sometimes bitter—arguments between interested parties. Read more
Pearl Harbor
What To See at Battlefield O’ahu & the USS Arizona Memorial
by William E. WelshThe Japanese torpedo bombers came in dangerously low to launch their torpedoes at the battleships on the east side of Ford Island at 8 AM on the morning of December 7, 1941. Read more
Pearl Harbor
Famous Navy Ships: The USS Phoenix & ARA General Belgrano
By Brad ReynoldsThe USS Phoenix fought under two flags during her 44-year career. She gained initial prominence as a United States ship during World War II and concluded her career as an Argentinian combat casualty in the Falklands War of 1982. Read more
Pearl Harbor
Important Women in World War 2: Women’s Auxiliary Units
by Patricia McBrideUntil the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, America had maintained a popular non-interventionist position with World War 2. Read more
Pearl Harbor
Books as G.I. Gear: The Story of ‘Armed Services Editions’
The American forces serving in World War II were composed primarily of citizen soldiers—people who had no notion of going to war until Pearl Harbor was attacked. Read more
Pearl Harbor
Military Book Reviews: December 2014
By Christopher MiskimonOne morning in early January 1882, Japan took its first unknowing step toward eventual world war. On that day Mutsuhito, the emperor of Japan, handed a document known as the Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors to Army Minister, Oyama Iwao. Read more
Pearl Harbor
The USS West Virginia & The Attack on Pearl Harbor
by Chris MiskimonDuring the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 the primary target was Battleship Row. These capital ships had to suffice since the American carriers were away. Read more
Pearl Harbor
Protecting & Repatriating American Remains at the Battle of Saipan
By Mike HaskewMany vestiges of World War II in the Pacific linger, denying the ravages of time.
The battleship USS Missouri, where the war ended nearly 70 years ago, remains as a floating monument and museum at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Read more
Pearl Harbor
Life in the Navy: From the First Spanish Armada to Pearl Harbor
By Keith MiltonThe age of the sailing warships lasted less than three hundred years, beginning roughly with the battle of the Spanish armada against the English fleet under Howard and Drake in 1588, and ending at the Battle of Navarrino in 1827, the last major naval engagement fought completely under canvas. Read more
