Trivia: TORA! TORA! TORA! (1 Viewer)

[dragon53]

TRIVIA---since tomorrow is December 7, the 78th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, this is trivia from TORA! TORA! TORA!
In TORA! TORA! TORA!, on December 7, 1941, the destroyer USS Ward sank a Japanese midget submarine at the entrance to Pearl Harbor which led to the first US-caused casualties of World War II. On December 7, 1944, the third anniversary of the Ward's sinking the submarine, the Ward was struck by a Japanese kamikaze bomber. The crippled destroyer's crew abandoned ship, and the Ward was sunk by the destroyer USS O'Brien---which was commanded by Capt. William Outerbridge.

In TORA! TORA! TORA!, on December 7, 1941, the destroyer USS Ward was commanded by LCDR William Outerbridge, played by Jerry Fogel.

The Ward sank a Japanese midget submarine at the entrance to Pearl Harbor which led to the first US-caused casualties of World War II.

Ironically, on December 7, 1944, the third anniversary of the Ward's sinking the Japanese submarine, the Ward was fatally struck by a Japanese kamikaze bomber and was then sunk by the destroyer USS O'Brien commanded by Capt. William Outerbridge.

The USS Ward

 

[The Katzie Kid]

I need confirmation!!

 

[Arnhemjim]

On this occasion of the 78th Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor would like to offer two articles from my blog page which I think will be of significant interest to members of the Forum;http://arnhemjim.blogspot.com/2016/08/ens-nathan-f-asher-usn-unsung-hero-of.html
http://arnhemjim.blogspot.com/p/military-strategy.html


Arnhemjim
Arizona Territory

 

[Al Fisher]

The ship used to represent USS WARD was a DER (destroyer escort radar) . . . not sure which one. I served on USS HARVESON (DER-316) for 35 months . . . first in the North Atlantic out of Newport RI, then in the North Pacific out of Pearl. During the early Fifties, it was found that Russian bombers could fly arount the DEW (distant early warning) Line of radar stations based primarily in northern Canada. The DERs were the supposed answer; WW-2 vintage DEs converted to carry carrier-class RADAR, supplemented by WV-2 aircraft (Super Connies with large RADAR domes) aloft. They were stationed first on an inner barrier (considting of five ships at a time, each restricted to a 20nm diameter circle, about 200 miles off the US coast. Later, outer barriers were formed extending from Newfoundland to the Azores in the Atlanitic and Adak to Midway in the Pacific. Top heavy and with an open bridge, they were no fun off the Canadian Grand Banks or just south of the Aleutians. Summer patrols could be beautiful with clear skies and frequent marine life, but lonely as we rarely saw other ship traffic. Winters were brutal with near-freezing temps and gale-force winds causing green water over the bridge and heavy rolls (I once took a 55-degree roll as OOD). HARVESON was the original ship of the class and lessons learned from us were used to modify later designs (enclosed bridges and gun mounts among other things). Not much fun, but somebody had to do it and it was more sea duty than most of my OCS classmates experienced. Also led to a good career as a physical oceanographer supporting ASW. And that's how I got my handle . . .

Bosun Al

 

[dragon53]

AL FISHER:

It was the Destroyer Escort USS Finch.


LINK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Finch_(DE-328)

 

[bromhead]

Always amazing how those manual special effects were put together along with the story effort to make the film,,a Midway type effects film on pearl or any other battle would be a gem,,especislly the ww2 bombing campaighn,,Right ? HBO