January through March 1942 in Pearl Harbor Archival footage Dissection-Episode 508

The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War

Captain William Toti, USN

Halsey, Station Hypo, World War Ii, Macarthur, Seth Paridon, Pacific War, History, Stavridis, Cactus Air Force, Fargo, William Toti, Aircraft Carriers, Nimitz, Mush Morton, Wahoo, Imperial Japan, Cruisers, Wake Island, Battleships, Spruance, Courses, Submarines, Midway, Cincpac, Guadalcanal, Documentary, Naval History And Heritage Command, Society & Culture, Admiral King, Imperial Japanese Navy, New Guinea, Cincpoa, Cryptology, Navy, Sam Cox, Pearl Harbor, Education, Bill Toti, December 7, Us Navy, Bombers, Fighters

4.8 • 654 Ratings

🗓️ 24 June 2025

⏱️ 85 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week Seth Paridon and Jon Parshall take a look at some really, really cool National Archives archival footage. The guys dig into the records of Hollywood director John Ford's Field Photographic Unit that operated on Oahu, mainly at Kaneohe and Pearl Harbor from February-May 1942. In a startling, but super cool, discovery, the guys find footage of VB6's SBD B-15 in flight, one of two SBDs still in Yorktown's hangar to this day. A major portion of this episode focuses on footage that Ford shot of the resurrection, repair, and refloating of the US Navy's battleships at Pearl Harbor. USS California (BB-44), USS West Virginia (BB-48) and USS Nevada (BB-35) are all shown in various stages of having water pumped out, refloated, repaired and put in dry dock. The shots of West Virginia's torpedo damage is stark to say the least. Views of USS Arizona (BB-39), as well as the Big E, USS Enterprise (CV-6) in all her glory are also seen. Give this one a view--you won't be disappointed. National Archives Reel Numbers: 428npc47614, 47615, 47616, and 47617 428npc47620, 47621 428npc47623 428npc47625, 47626, 47627, 47628, and 47629 428npc47631 428npc47634, 47635, 47636 All NARA footage shown is public domain. #wwiihistory #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #essex #halsey #taskforce38 #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #mastersoftheair #8thairforce #mightyeighth #100thbombgroup #bloodyhundredth #b17 #boeing #airforce wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #oldbreed #1stMarineDivision #thepacific #Peleliu #army #marines #marinecorps #worldwar2 #worldwar #worldwarii #leytegulf #battleofleytegulf #rodserling #twilightzone #liberation #blacksheep #power #prisoner #prisonerofwar #typhoon #hurricane #weather #iwojima#bullhalsey #ace #p47 #p38 #fighter #fighterpilot #b29 #strategicstudying #tokyo #boeing #incendiary #usa #franklin #okinawa #yamato #kamikaze #Q&A #questions #questionsandanswers #history #jaws #atomicbomb #nuclear #nationalarchives #nara #johnford #hollywood

Transcript

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0:00.0	The
0:07.0	The The
0:23.6	The Hello, and welcome to episode 508 of the unauthorized history of the Pacific War podcast.
0:46.8	My name is Seth Pared and historian and deputy director of the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum.
0:50.4	And with me, as always, is my co-host, historian and author, and I just forgot what the hell I was going to say.
0:59.0	I love it.
1:00.0	Yeah, well, leave it.
1:01.0	Leave it.
1:02.0	Let's leave it in.
1:03.0	Leaving it in.
1:04.0	Good buddy.
1:05.0	Historian and author.
1:07.0	John Parshal, how are you, John?
1:09.0	I am well.
1:10.0	Thank you.
1:11.2	You know, I thought since we're going to be talking about Pearl Harbor today that I would
1:15.4	rock, you know, a little festive rising sun red, but in a floral Hawaiian kind of pattern.
1:21.9	So, you know, I've got both angles covered.
1:24.7	I do like me a good Hawaiian shirt.
1:26.4	I know everybody makes comments about the shirts, but I do, as Bill would say, an Aloha
1:30.7	shirt.
1:31.7	I do like an Aloha shirt.
	...

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