The Lake Norman Brief
World War II
World War II history from The Lake Norman Brief, beginning with the Battle of the Bulge collection.
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The Warnings That Did Not Land: the Ward, Opana and the Fourteen-Part Message
At 0645 on 7 December 1941 the destroyer Ward sank a midget submarine off Pearl Harbor, and at 0702 Opana radar found…
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The Kido Butai: Six Carriers and the Northern Route
On 26 November 1941 six Japanese carriers slipped out of Hitokappu Bay, crossed the North Pacific unseen, and on 7 December launched…
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A Date Which Will Live in Infamy: Hawaii, Washington and the Declarations of War
On 8 December 1941 Congress voted 82-0 and 388-1 for war with Japan. This chapter follows Hawaii under martial law, the Niihau…
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Battleship Row: The First Wave, 0755 to 0825
At about 0755 on 7 December 1941, Japanese torpedo planes and bombers struck Battleship Row; within half an hour Oklahoma had capsized…
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The Road to Pearl Harbor: Oil, Embargo and Yamamoto’s Gamble
On 26 July 1941 Roosevelt froze Japan’s assets, cutting off oil to a nation that imported 37 million barrels a year; how…
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The Second Wave: Nevada’s Run, the Shaw and the Navy Yard
At 0840 on 7 December 1941 the battleship Nevada got underway alone; within the hour the second wave wrecked three destroyers, and…
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Fifteen Medals of Honor: Courage, Rescue and the Men Inside the Oklahoma
On 7 December 1941 fifteen Navy men earned the Medal of Honor at Pearl Harbor, ten posthumously, while Navy Yard workers cut…
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The Airfields: Wheeler, Hickam, Kaneohe, Ewa, Bellows and Ford Island
On 7 December 1941 Japanese aircraft struck every military airfield on Oahu within minutes of 0755; the Joint Committee counted 188 American…
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Raising the Fleet and the Reckoning: Salvage, Investigations and Memory
Of the 21 ships sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, 18 returned to service, while nine investigations ended…
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The Airfields and the Center: The 3d Marine Division at Iwo Jima
From the capture of Airfield No. 1 on 20 February 1945 to the ruins of Motoyama on 28 February, the 21st and…