March 18 1942 - Wednesday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien:

O'Brien has been stationed at Pearl Harbor, and is doing patrol and escort duty from there.

Pearl Harbor, in the Spring of 1942, though not the paradise it had been before the war, was still functioning well and servicing the fleet, including the carrier task forces.  Here is a YouTube video, with some accompanying march music, showing scenes from Hawaii at this time:

 Pearl Harbor Spring 1942

In the footage of the city, there are many Japanese-Americans moving about.  Even though by this time the internment on the mainland had begun, very few Japanese-Americans were interned in Hawaii, partly because of their key role in the local economy. See also: Internment_of_Japanese_Americans.  

Three of the battleships sunk on December 7th (Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Maryland) had already been patched and sent to the west coast for permanent repairs. Nevada, beached during the attack, had been re-floated and was undergoing repairs. California was re-floated on March 25th, and West Virginia on May 17th. 

Arizona and Utah remained sunk in place, as they do to this day. 

Oklahoma, sunk and capsized, was being righted at this time in mid-March.  Here is a picture of the operation in progress:

 An aerial view of salvage operations on 19 March 1943, looking toward Ford Island, with the ship halfway righted.  Department of the Navy. Fourteenth Naval District. Naval Air Station, Pearl Harbor (Hawaii). (ca. 1940 - 09/1947), Photographer (NARA record: 1130789) - U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.)   Public Domain. 

 

U. S. Navy Task Forces:

• Task Force 17 (Yorktown) remained in the South Pacific area to continue raids and offensive operations.
• Task Force 11 (Lexington) had left the South Pacific and was en route to Pearl Harbor.
• Task Force 16 (Enterprise) was at Pearl Harbor.

Other Events: 

• Another command re-organization was finalized on the 18th.  General MacArthur, having left the Philippines, was given overall command of the Southwest Pacific area (currently Australia and New Guinea).  This would put him on track for a return to the Philippines, as he had expressed his commitment to do.  The Navy command under Nimitz would cover the rest of the Pacific (later leading to the island-hopping campaign into the central Pacific.  King for a time did retain direct control of the ANZUS area, basically the Coral Sea, but this was not efficient.
  

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 167-169.
  
•  The First South Pacific Campaign, John B. Lundstrom, pp. 39-58.

NEXT POST: MARCH 22ND