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U.S. Navy Two of eighteen battleships lost by U.S. at Pearl Harbor

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09547.13 Author/Creator: U.S. Navy Place Written: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Type: Photograph Date: 07 December 1941 [1942] Pagination: 1 photograph : b&w ; 21.5 x 17 cm. Order a Copy

Attached label reads: POSITIVELY NOT FOR RELEASE BFORE SUNDAY, DEC. 6th Must credit Official U.S. Navy Photo[...]Two of eighteen battleships lost by U.S. at Pearl Harbor[...]Release by the U.S. Navy to coincide with the first anniversary of the Jap sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, this photo shows the U.S.S. West Virginia (nearest ship) rest on the bottom of Pearl Harbor after it was battered by Aerial torpedoes and bomb hits by Jap planes. Fire followed the explosions as well as oil flames from the nearby sunken U.S.S. Arizona added to the damage. Note the wrecked scout plane topside of fun turret at right and the overturned plan in the right hand corner. The battleship U.S.S. Tennessee is in the background...[Label is cut off at bottom] Back of photograph has stamp that reads "International News Photo." Taken durng attack in 1941 and printed and released in 1942 for the one-year anniversary.
From Naval HIstory and Heritage Command's catalog: "The sunken battleship West Virginia (BB-48) after her fires were out, possibly on 8 December 1941. USS Tennessee (BB-48) is inboard. An OS2U floatplane (marked 4-O-3) is upside down on West Virginia's main deck. A second OS2U is partially burned out atop the Turret # 3 catapult. Note radar antenna atop West Virginia's foremast."

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