Raising the Fleet: Pearl Harbor Salvage Operations - Episode 523

The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War

Captain William Toti, USN

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

4.9 • 872 Ratings

🗓️ 7 October 2025

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week Seth Paridon and Jon Parshall take a deep dive (ha) into the world of post Pearl Harbor salvage operations. The effort to get the Navy's battleships off the harbor bottom and back into the war was truly monumental. A gargantuan effort that began on December 7, 1941 and didn't end until months later. The guys go into the stories of rescue and survival aboard USS Oklahoma and then get into the salvage efforts of each of the battleships in the harbor, ending with the titanic effort to salvage USS West Virginia. Unsung heroes, both civilian and military, factor into this story, so make sure you check this one out! #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 #fdr #president #roosevelt #doolittle #doolittleraid #pearlharborattack

Transcript

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0:00.0	The
0:07.0	The The
0:23.6	The Hello and welcome to episode 523 of the unauthorized history of the Pacific War podcast.
0:47.4	My name is Seth Periden, historian and deputy director of the Mississippi on Forces Museum.
0:50.8	And with me as always is my author and co-host and good friend and whatever the
0:55.1	hell i just screwed that up john partial how are you john i am just peachy keen yourself
1:02.7	i know how you are let's not put that on the air we're both we're great so we're just fine
1:09.9	wear the smile're the smile.
1:11.6	Where the smile.
1:12.7	Yes.
1:13.0	All right.
1:13.4	So if you have been watching for several weeks, you know what we're talking about for the last several weeks.
1:20.2	We've been talking about Pearl Harbor and everything that led up to it and everything that happened during the attacks.
1:25.4	And the things that happened after the attacks, the last two weeks, of course, we closed out with Rich Frank talking about Pearl Harbor in the United States and what things happened there.
1:34.2	So this is going to be not the last Pearl Harbor episode, but the last one for a bit, and we'll explain why when we get to the end.
1:42.2	So here we go.
1:43.5	Before the smoke cleared, efforts began to save and
1:46.6	salvage the ships that have been devastated by the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor. As the attacks
1:51.0	were ongoing, crews counterflooded, fought fires, and dragged their wounded shipmates to safety
1:55.2	from Nevada, beached at hospital point to the overturned Oklahoma along battleship row.
2:00.4	Salvage operations were an ongoing effort throughout the harbor.
2:04.0	In the days and weeks after the attack, the decision had to be made
	...

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