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SCUBAPRO SUNDAY – WW2 Salvage Divers

Not enough can be said for the men and women who fought in WW2. Right after the attack on Pearl Harbor, salvage divers started to rescue as many people as they could and raise as many ships as they could, so they could be put back into the fight.  

19 ships were sunk or damaged on December 7, by the Japanese; the efforts of the greatest generation raised all but three (the Arizona, the Utah, and the Oklahoma).

Here are a couple of good articles about the salvage diver efforts.

warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/the-pearl-harbor-salvage-effort-keeping-navy-fighting

www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/wars-and-events/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor-raid/post-attack-ship-salvage

 

 

 

One Response to “SCUBAPRO SUNDAY – WW2 Salvage Divers”

  1. AbnMedOps says:

    Very interesting articles. What an incredible industrial capability – could we do that today, on no-notice?

    I once skimmed a book by one of the Navy salvage divers who were flown in from California (by Pan American Clipper flying boat) the day after the attack.

    The book had an anecdote about recovering the small arms from a sunken ship’s armory, which they reported as “combat loss”. They had someone polish the rust off the M-1911 .45’s, which they planned to keep as souvenirs. Unfortunately, one of the divers left “his” .45 with a girlfriend in Hawaii, whose drunken family member discharged the pistol, causing the local cops to respond. The serial number of the pistol led right back to the ship, and the divers who had salvaged her. This resulted in a visit by the FBI, and the salvage diver receiving a felony conviction for theft of government property (IIRC, the sentence was suspended as he his wartime service was essential).

    Special units have great people, imaginative people, who deserve great leadership, to help them avoid “special” fiascoes, then and today.