Pearl Harbor: The Hunt For The Lost USS Arizona | Into The Arizona | Timeline

my name's dan snow and i want to tell you about history hit tv it's like the netflix for history hundreds of exclusive documentaries and interviews with the world's best historians we've got an exclusive offer available to fans of timeline if you go to history hit tv you can either follow the information below this video or just google history hit tv and use the code timeline you get a special introductory offer go and check it out in the meantime enjoy this video [Music] it's an expedition like no other before that's our entry point we're going to drop down in there dave will feed the rob they're among the world's foremost underwater explorers it's an exploration of america's most sacred war memorial the wreckage of the battleship uss arizona we want people to understand that this was a living breathing ship that's the door the ship is a war grave 1177 men died it was devastating it was unbelievable the attack on pearl harbor an assault no one saw coming we thought we were invincible they were coming right over us and then we caught the big bomb a blow that would sink the arizona and change the course of history december 7th 1941 a date which will live in infamy now 75 years later these explorers are setting out to bring the arizona back to life and for one survivor it's like a homecoming kind of interesting to see what all the time in the sea has done with our old home [Music] december 7th 1941 they seem to come from nowhere unidentified planes appear in the sky over pearl harbor then i saw one of the planes with the rising sun on and i said my god those are japanese planes flying low enough where you could see the pilot's faces an assault nobody saw coming united states fleet was caught napping our planes were parked in nice neat rows on the ground they were destroyed very easily from a tactical perspective the the surprise element worked perfectly [Music] it was devastating it was unbelievable you know that this was happening to us we thought we were invincible obviously he had great united states navy so we felt very secure but on december 7 1941 this was not enough undetected by u.s intelligence the japanese empire has sent a fleet of warships carriers battleships and submarines towards american soil and at about 6 30 we got word directly to our base that the uss ward was dropping depth charges on unidentified submarines but japanese submarine sightings are a common occurrence at this time so nobody thinks an attack is imminent it's not the only missed warning sign on this morning then they had a warning of all the planes coming in from the north a new radar station located in oahu picks up the signals they didn't pay much time for that either the radar operator reports the biggest sighting he had ever seen i said well that's a b-17 is coming from the states don't worry about it but the attackers face intelligence lapses too we learned before we took off that there wasn't a single aircraft carrier in port this was a big problem the reconnaissance aircraft were supposed to look for them but they returned before they had found the carriers well it couldn't be held all crew members thought so preparations for the attack continue by japan for the japanese commanders the u.s battleships are an important target a decision with dire consequences despite the fact it knocked out of action eight american battleships in many ways the japanese attack on pearl harbor was a failure it failed to knock out a single united states aircraft carrier by the time of the pearl harbor attack the aircraft carrier not the battleship was the main weapon for projecting naval power but for now the attack looks like a success the sky was just black with smoke the battleships were engulfed in flames the oklahoma had been torpedoed then she killed over on the side and then a japanese bomber zeroes in on the uss arizona over a million pounds of ammunition 180 000 gallons of aviation gasoline blue the explosion tears the battleship arizona apart within minutes the battleship sinks to the bottom of the harbor it shocked the american people it angered the american people and it made united states willing to suffer and fight for a very long time to defeat the japanese 75 years after the attack pearl harbor oahu hawaii the site of the sunken battleship uss arizona while much of the ship's exterior can be seen most of the arizona's interior remains a mystery but state-of-the-art imaging technology is set to change that all right brett's good researchers and divers of the u.s national park service prepare for a high-stakes expedition [Music] they are about to look deep inside the ship like never before [Music] the sunken battleship uss arizona a mere shadow of her former self [Music] here we are on the guns the number one guns these three gun barrels extend out into the gloom of pearl harp for some 57 feet these encrusted weapons were once capable of heaving a 500 pound projectile miles into the air [Music] the physical remains of the ship are still here and along with those remains are artifacts on the decks all around us marine growth mixed with the arizona's corrosion covers the ship like a blanket [Music] and we have this water picture that's been here since the attack on december 7th a fork a breakfast bowl a coke bottle [Music] and even a sailor's shoe traces of life on board before the attack they stay on the decks and they're preserved as a touchstone to the history and the events that happened here on december 7th [Music] a moment in time that changed the world [Music] the ship is a war grave 1177 men died and many of them died right at the location that you're diving at and that you're looking at knowing that and seeing it up close underwater is really a moving experience [Music] we get goosebumps all of our divers do little is known about the condition of the arizona's interior the ship is now a naval cemetery and no diver is allowed inside we've got this opportunity to do it with scientific instrumentation in a very controlled manner that allows us to inspect what's there what's going on what's changed [Music] to gauge the current state of the arizona the team scans the wreckage using a radio-controlled sonar device that's good stay on that azimuth right there laser scanners survey the arizona and help scientists develop an in-depth analysis of the wreck as it sits today the data will be used to create a 3d computer model of the ship's exterior at the heart of the interior exploration will be a custom-built rov the team has named 11th hour capable of exploring areas of the ship nobody has seen since the day of the attack we can swim around the ship all we want but until we really have an understanding of what's going on inside we really don't know how long the ship is going to last to build and operate this rov the national park service works with a team of world-renowned underwater explorers we get to go to places where we're frequently the first people to ever see something and i want to i want to share that in the past they have explored wrecks like the titanic or the german battleship bismarck and now they are key in bringing the arizona back to life so now for the first time we have the ability to remove the water away from the ship and just look at the ship people have the ability to see what the ship looks like and what's still left in the harbor 75 years later [Music] she was called the pride of the fleet the flagship of the navy's first battleship division home to more than 1 500 men one of them ensign carl bud whedon reporting for duty in the summer of 1940 for 75 years his family has kept his memory alive and held on to the treasure trove ensign whedon left behind [Music] this is my uncle's eight millimeter movie film from the 40s these are the letters that he wrote home then we also we also have a few photos here he is real casual on a sailboat he really enjoyed his life then he got him to annapolis and spent about four years there and graduated in 1940. he was very proud a passionate photographer whedon documented life on board the arizona with his eight-millimeter film camera he loved that movie camera you know those are just really priceless that he did that so that we have those memories of him some of ensign whedon's color films have never been aired on television before this says battleship changing of the captains there's a changing of the captains and then they went down and did the filming in the state room also signing up for service on board the vessel that year seaman don stratton you know country boy like me like you see the arizona sitting there tied up to daca to advance how can 35 000 ton of steel float you know when launched in june of 1915 she was the us navy's biggest battleship a so-called super dreadnought a class of its own constructed over six decks the arizona was a labyrinth of compartments crew quarters storage rooms [Music] boiler powder magazines and dozens of fuel compartments [Music] with a displacement of over 35 000 tons she would be able to reach a top speed of 20 knots and have a range of 8 500 miles i didn't really know what to expect but nobody can imagine how big a ship is out of water like that with the war looming the battleship was overhauled in the winter of 1940. they put it in dry dock and we went over the side and scraped aside and scraped it bottomed and painted it and that was quite an experience out there [Music] stratton's battle station the sky control platform one deck above the bridge that was for any aircraft guns i was a sight setter and the director for the portside [Music] the final resting place of the uss arizona today close to two million americans and foreign visitors come to see the site of the sunken vessel every year [Music] don stratton was one of the few survivors of the arizona attack at this moment i would like to let everybody know to be aware of the fact that we do have mr donald stratton with us he is an arizona survivor 75 years later don stratton returns to see his ship once more [Music] [Music] kind of interesting to see what all the time in the sea has done with our old home [Music] it'd be like a homecoming i guess maybe after all these years to this day the survivors of the japanese attack are heroes for the american people which is why don has come to be a part of the underwater exploration [Music] you know to have dawn back here and be able to participate in our project in our research it really means a lot having him be able to experience the ship again like he's never experienced it since he was there you know 75 years ago as one of the few arizona sailors still alive to this day he wonders why he was spared [Applause] some of the personnel did survive and i was one of them it's been a long time [Music] i think about it every day how many people didn't make it that day why the good lord james westman who knows [Music] in 1941 the world is consumed by aggression [Music] adolf hitler's armies have already marched across europe in the pacific japan is fighting a brutal war in china trying to expand its own empire further south and exploiting the riches of the region the japanese believe in making an invasion pay for itself the world at the time was very much at war britain was fighting for its life trying to fight convoy battles to keep the sea lanes open air battles to protect the air space over london and key targets [Music] the nazi army had invaded the soviet union june of 1941 operation barbarossa in many ways it looked as if the access powers were going to win together with nazi germany and mussolini's italy the japanese empire has formed the so-called pact of steel each of these nations had aggressive foreign policies each of these nations relied on nationalist narratives to sell aggressive foreign policies to their people it looked as if democracies the western allies were going to be out of the game but for the u.s war seems distant most americans are weary of being drawn into foreign conflicts many people in the united states saw world war one as a mistake and did not want to repeat it with another war in europe or asia they didn't want to fight for something they didn't understand they saw the business of america as being free and peace loving and staying home and being out and with the world on fire serving in the remote islands of hawaii seemed a good choice [Music] they said well kale you have your choice of worldwide assignment said hell send me to pearl harbor it was idyllic there was always a lot of music and a lot of dancing and things like that it was just beautiful ensign whedon also enjoys life on the island he writes his sister i've been taking a few movies i've been doing the usual things in port this time going swimming sunbathing and sightseeing around the island we enjoyed it very much until the rude awakening of course [Music] pearl harbor's tune changes in the summer of 1941. 140 000 japanese troops pour into the french colony they meet little resistance within a few days at the cost of hardly a man the japanese were in possession of all of indochina up to the border of thailand [Music] this was essential for the japanese war effort because indochina had supplies of rice and rubber which were critical to the expanding japanese war effort japan in many ways did not set out for this but once they started playing the game of colonialization started playing the game of having a large modern military and using it they realized they couldn't stop [Music] to stop japan from further expanding its reach in the pacific region president roosevelt imposes an oil embargo against the commodity poor country [Music] paradoxically this move to try to avoid war by cutting off japanese supplies and using diplomacy as a way to stop these aggressive actions actually emboldened hardliners japanese leaders calculated that they only had about a year of oil reserves left in their country this presented the japanese with two choices stop their war in china or expand their war to include the united states the japanese empire decides to stay in the fight their plan to conquer oil wells in the dutch indies and the american controlled philippine islands [Music] but standing in the way of japan's ambitions in the pacific america's naval fleet in pearl harbor ready to disrupt any invasion the japanese saw the u.s pacific fleet at pearl harbor as a threat to their plans they saw this as a force that was forward deployed that could attack the japanese mainland directly they could interdict supplies as they came to the island nation of japan or could directly clash with their fleet but for the u.s the idea of an attack on pearl harbor is a remote thought virtually no one in the united states chain of command at the time believed pearl harbor would be the target it is this false sense of security that makes attacking the harbor particularly appealing to the japanese commanders the general assumption was that pearl harbor was an ideal naval base it had a narrow entryway into its port it had a very shallow depth of water only between 40 and 45 feet this was believed to make torpedo attacks or submarine infiltration into the central harbor impossible or very difficult at least the japanese however realized this early on and came up with an ingenious workaround to be an effective weapon the torpedoes would need to enter the water at a shallow angle so japanese engineers simply added wooden fins that would break away on entry this allowed a well-trained pilot flying a very precise low speed approach to drop the torpedo for it not to sink too deep into the harbor and actually strike the sides of the american ships then a japanese cake bomber targets the uss arizona one of the aviators chosen to take part in the attack haruo joshi kikudiroshi it was quite hard all we were told was that there would be targets in shallow water in pearl harbor a japanese attack still seems improbable to most but commanders still prepare their soldiers for war one month before they the war started we started having air raid drills which was very unusual you know what do we have an air raid drill for you know what which means they expecting something and the crew of the battleships are out at sea practicing for an encounter with the japanese fleet but no amount of training would help the united states in this surprise i don't think anybody had any inkling that that was coming but when they're out see doing some practicing and some shooting some off some of the broadside guns and big guns and aircraft guns i figured they're training us for this for some reason [Music] one month before the attack ensign whedon writes to his sister bernadine i'm terribly sorry to say but think you all will have to forget anything about me coming home for christmas japan seems to be getting on her high horse again i can't even predict what might happen here in the pacific for any day japan might think she can whip us and then all hell will tear loose out here just don't you people worry about it what is to be will be [Music] meanwhile in great secrecy the japanese empire gathers the pearl harbor attack fleet in the waters of the coral islands on november 26 1941 the largest naval strike force ever assembled set sail an armada of more than 60 vessels aircraft carriers battleships cruisers destroyers oilers and submarines onboard the carriers the pilots are being told what their target is the fleet was heading for hawaii for an attack we were told but there were still peace negotiations with america and if the negotiations worked out then the attack would be cancelled so we could turn around at any time but if the negotiations didn't work out we would declare war oahu hawaii december 7th it's a sunday well we got up around at 5 30. on the sunday morning we just cleaned sweep down we didn't holy stone or we didn't scrub down or we didn't do any painting [Music] sunday is an off day for most on board the arizona [Music] down and chalk hall sounded and we went to jail 230 miles north of oahu the japanese carriers are in position to launch their attack but weather conditions are not good the sea was extremely the agitated pacific is often called the devilish pacific but it was actually a three-headed devil pacific they were waves biggest mountains [Music] the airmen are called on deck this is original footage from the morning of the attack [Music] an order came over the loudspeakers the appointed crew members must line up in front of the bridge [Music] on board the carriers 350 airplanes zero fighters high altitude bombers and torpedo planes are being readied the evening before the attack we the crew in the kaga were encouraged and everybody went to the shinto shrine on the ship and there were quite a few bottles of sake rice wine and we put them in the airplanes we all took it on airplanes every man got two bottles so the three plane crew members took six bottles you could drink the sake after the attack but we could also take it back home to japan as a souvenir it is 6 20 a.m when the first wave of the strike force there didn't seem to be a reason to worry because it looked like we would be making a surprise attack on the long wave radio the americans were broadcasting lively music this seemed to indicate that they hadn't noticed the approach of the japanese forces yet in honolulu station kgmb has been on the air all night not to entertain but to help incoming planes from the us mainland to find their way [Music] unbeknownst to the operators on the ground the japanese attack force tunes to the same radio beam to guide their navigation [Music] when we left the weather was really not too good when we took off from the boat there were thick clouds and the sea wasn't calm however the more we approached the island of oahu at pearl harbor it's time for morning colors a sunday morning on the phanteo we have church services here right after colors an aerial photograph a japanese camera has captured just moments before the deadly attack clearly visible on the stern of the arizona the canvas awning for the worship service that would never take place and right behind it on the main deck of the repair ship vestal moored next to the arizona a movie screen still in place from the viewing the night before [Music] glimpses of a normal life just moments before the war begins [Music] across from battleship row at hickam airfield seaman rodriguez has just ended his watch [Music] at 7 45 i got relief from my watch and when i have breakfast i just sat my trade on when we heard a lot of rumblings and we thought nothing offered [Music] well i never had breakfast that morning [Music] i was at home and when the noise woke us up we thought it was the army it wasn't the first casualties on this morning 35 servicemen who are having breakfast in the hickam airfield dining hall on board the arizona don stratton steps onto the main deck when he suddenly hears his fellow sailors shouting look up forward and there was a lot of line of sailors up there pointing and hollering and waving over at rhode island then one of the planes took a turn and i could see the rising sand and i thought that's the japs the bombers were bombing the hangars and the other planes were strafing the areas the planes on the runways they were coming right over us they were flying low enough where you could see the pilot's faces radio operators sent out an emergency broadcast on all frequencies it is now 7 58 a.m in oahu the uncoded message is the first official word of the attack that reaches washington within minutes president roosevelt will learn of the raid fdr is actually in the white house relaxing he's with his stamp collection when the phone rings and secretary of the navy knocks calls him up and gives him the first word that pearl harbor has been attacked um the details are uncertain fdr asks for clarification and at this point it's uncertain exactly what's happened president roosevelt anticipated that there would eventually be war with the japanese and even the night before he had talked with his advisor harry hopkins about the japanese diplomacy and the likelihood of war but when the message finally came i think even president roosevelt who could see in the future far more clearly than most americans was still surprised the japanese first attacked the air bases with dive bombers and then set their sights on the primary target the battleships anchored around ford island japanese footage of the attack when we arrived there other planes of the akagi were already launching torpedoes we went down quickly tied up next to each other the battleships are easy prey for the japanese pilots moored around ford island are the california maryland oklahoma tennessee west virginia nevada and the uss arizona [Music] as the oklahoma had a three pillar mess was the easiest to hit so i hit it with a torpedo was last time and i could hear this sign of guns firing when i crossed when i thought about it i came to the conclusion this was not good i could be shy so i flew up and down to avoid the shooting [Music] but there is not much the crews on the battleships can do to fight off the enemy we couldn't shoot at submarine base or idea landing party and we couldn't train our guns toward ford island because we could hit part of our superstructure on our own ship so we were shooting at the high altitude bombers and we could see all the bursts of ourselves way short the tragic memories have never left don stratton back at the site where he fought for his life don is curious to see what's left of his ship the team presents don with the new sonar scans of the wreckage they reveal a complete image of the sunken vessel [Music] and then we can rotate it in 3d to kind of give anyone who sees it that context the uss arizona as it rests on the bottom of the harbor today [Music] from the sonar data we have tools that can create a solid model like this an image in astounding detail [Music] it's incredible it's a really emotional place down there too [Music] it's emotional for me right here [Music] don can hardly believe what he sees when we saw this data for the first time it sort of put the entire ship in context right because when you're in the water you can only see a little part at a time but now we sort of have this overall look it's just kind of really super so you can see all those open superhero the damage sustained in the attack is not what don has thought it to be for the past 75 years it's very surprising that the starter side is more blown away like this side because that's where the explosion was moments before the explosion an army doctor on board a nearby hospital ship captures these images of the harbor the uss nevada tries to escape the attackers [Music] speeding away from battleship row [Music] suddenly a bomb bursts in the water more planes overhead american fighter jets trying to chase the attackers then the army doctor points his camera at the uss arizona the plume from a bomb that just missed the battleship [Music] the bomb bounced off the number three turret into the water went through one right through the fan tail end of the water and then we caught the big bum 10 000 feet above the harbor a japanese kate barmer has stratton's ship in the crosshairs [Music] at 8 10 a.m the japanese commander releases the deadly freight a 1 700 pound bomb constructed for just this purpose japanese military planners realized that their aerial bombs were not of a large enough size to do the damage they really wanted to inflict on american battleships their solution was simultaneously primitive but also ingenious they took 15 and 16-inch battleship shells large caliber naval projectiles from their battleships and added fins to them and casing around them to make them more aerodynamic [Music] dropped from 10 000 feet the shell has a devastating effect [Music] fireball probably went about a thousand feet in the air close to a million pounds of gunpowder detonates tearing the ship apart it was just so devastating in picture so i've been too many men over a thousand right 1177. yes [Music] the sonar image of the wreckage reveals the extent of the destruction [Music] here's a great look at that steel and how it just flowered out just like paper people don't realize how it just tore that metal out [Music] now the entire world can see what don lived through on that morning [Music] it was a bad day a terrible day [Music] the arizona didn't stand a chance the ship just sank it was self-preservation then [Music] but how did don survive such a horrible [Music] event hair was gone and the skin on my arms just was hanging down like a sock and how will he react to seeing the inside of his ship areas he hasn't seen for nearly 75 years if we can give him the gift of being able to see in his old ship one last time in real time that that's that's meaningful for everybody will the expedition bring don ship back to life that's our entry point we are going to feed teddy [Music] nice we're in watch as world history comes to the surface coming up next it's an expedition like no other before that's our entry point we're going to drop down in there dave will feed the rov context they're among the world's foremost underwater explorers it's an exploration of america's most sacred war memorial [Music] the wreckage of the battleship uss arizona we want people to understand that this was a living breathing ship the door the ship is a war grave 1177 men died it was devastating it was unbelievable the attack on pearl harbor an assault no one saw coming we thought we were invincible they were coming right over us and then we caught the big bomb a blow that would sink the arizona and change the course of history december 7th 1941 a date which will live in infamy now 75 years later these explorers are setting out to bring the arizona back to life and for one survivor it's like a homecoming kind of interesting to see what all the time in the sea has done with our old home the remains of the sunken battleship uss arizona it's still a behemoth traces of life from the morning of the attack still visible today they remain they stay on the decks and they're preserved as a touchstone to the history and the events that happen here on december 7th they seemed to come from nowhere on december 7th 1941 unidentified planes appear in the sky over pearl harbor then i saw one of the planes with the rising sun on and i said my god those are japanese planes they were flying low enough where you could see the pilot's faces an assault no one saw coming united states fleet was caught napping our planes were parked in nice neat rows on the on the ground they were destroyed very easily then the japanese pilots turned to the vessels moored in port in the harbor their biggest prize the battleship uss arizona ten thousand feet above the harbor a japanese cape bomber has stratton ship in the crosshairs the fireball probably went about 1000 feet in the air what's left of the arizona is engulfed in flames we didn't really wasn't very successful we got all of us got pretty well fried up there the last part of my ear my hair was gone and the skinned on my arms just was hanging down like a sock and i just pulled it off and threw it down because it was in the way the blazing fire reaches stratton high up in the gun director burning 70 percent of his body [Music] he is one of the few survivors topside [Music] another fire controller he and i and we're the only two survivors from that platform one of the gentlemen on the opposite side of my director where i was adding something hit his head and busted him open [Music] blow deck people were fighting the water in the fires the water just come in and they couldn't stop and just some ship just sank [Music] on board the arizona the few survivors tried to get off the ship [Music] we went out on deck and got the attention of a semen aboard the vessel [Music] a sailor on the repair ship vestal moored next to the arizona throws stratton and the other survivors a rope started up in arizona and started to go hand over hand across the line below them oil flames and red-hot metal from the burning ship that was probably 70 80 feet across that line to the vessel the world still doesn't know about pearl harbor but this is about to change it is football sunday and across the country people listen to the games [Music] a local radio station in new york city is the first one to break the news we interrupt this broadcast to bring you this important bulletin from the united press flash washington the white house announces japanese attack on pearl harbor at the same time in washington the japanese envoys pay a visit to the state department they deliver a note from their government it's a brief meeting japanese diplomats in washington were receiving instructions from tokyo in a coded message that said the relations with the united states would be broken off in effect meaning war was inevitable in the white house president roosevelt receives the first comprehensive report of the attack on pearl harbor at this moment fdr has become a wartime president and his role is very different and he i believe in his own thoughts had to think about the massive responsibility that had been placed upon his shoulders and how he was going to lead the american people in the war that was to follow but in reality the situation is far worse washington has yet to learn that the japanese have sent a second wave of 170 planes the battle rages for another hour the horrific memories of that day have never left the survivors [Music] all that firing going on 18 vessels including battleships destroyed or damaged [Music] all in one hour and 15 minutes [Music] i remember us looking down there and crying grown men cry servicemen rushed to the docks to rescue any survivors i ran down the dock about 50 feet and caught an officer's barge i spent the next four hours out there swimming under water most of the time because the diesel had leaked out of the ships and caught fire four hours i picked up only 46 people some of them were dead already some were badly wounded some badly burned some were just tired because they got blown off the ship or jumped off and had to be dead ashore seeing the desolation in the carnage bodies the water floating [Music] i was swimming for four hours out there in the water on december 7th i get sick every time i go in the water i would have nightmares but after that you know i just shoved it off now 75 years later the expedition team has a chance to see inside the ship like never before after weeks of preparation the expedition team sets its sights on exploring the ship's interior for don stratton this exploration is an opportunity to see inside his ship again something he has been eager to do since the day of the attack [Music] if we can give him the gift of being able to see in his old ship one last time in real time that that's that's meaningful for everybody [Music] the first step of the interior exploration to scout the arizona's second deck with two small rovs later the team will use more advanced equipment to explore deeper inside the ship areas that haven't been seen since the attack so the idea is to really get into the second deck to start navigate down a couple of passageways we know we have access to and then find new entry points to get below down into the third decks and beyond that we feel like we can reach with this rov technology although the exploration team doesn't know the exact state of the wreckage they are certain they won't observe any human remains [Music] working inside the arizona is obviously a very sensitive issue with the loss of life there and people always ask about human remains and the people that lost their lives in the arizona sediment accumulation over 75 years and natural decay has most likely erased any traces of the deceased [Music] we want to pan and fly left yeah keep going left we're going to put the wall right in front of us as these rovs drag their tethers behind their reach is limited you can't travel all that far into the vessel because you need to be able to turn around and come back out you might get snagged as you go around a corner you know all sorts of different things can happen once you're in the ship okay so go forward here [Music] go down now go that way you want me to the right no go right straight [Music] yeah let's go we want to go left [Music] the rov enters the area where the officers lived [Music] the officer's wardroom on the starboard side of the vessel [Music] [Applause] the wall cabinet with soap dishes that's pretty cool the soap dish looks white so it must be a porcelain in the past we've seen cups things that are porcelain in nature don't collect marine growth they stay white everything the way it was left on the morning of december 7th [Applause] [Music] and you can see in this particular cabin the sink looks like it's on the floor because of the high sediment mode so this is another way to allow the survivors to remember what it was like to see what their shipmates endured and to strengthen that bond it sure brings back a lot of memories don will miss the exploration of the deeper decks [Music] but for him just this first look inside has brought his old home back to life [Music] the phone was there on the desk and the light bulb was in a socket and it's just kind of eerie i would never think that you'd see something like that 75 years later [Music] by the end of the japanese attack on pearl harbor 21 u.s ships have been sunk or damaged 2 403 people are killed [Music] 1177 on the arizona alone [Music] the fires on the ship rage for more than two days we were in blackout conditions and nowadays nobody could have any lights on their houses or anything the only light you could see on the whole island was the burning of the arizona [Music] after the fire subsides seaman sterling kale is assigned to lead a group of 10 sailors to recover bodies from the wreckage [Music] i think about the first thing we saw in the area with a bunch of ashes blowing off of this ship [Music] so it just sort of sank down on my surgeon said a few tears [Music] we saw a bunch of helmet liners lying across the ship [Music] nobody around close to them many of the men were in ashes behind the big guns on the ship a lot of the men had burned right down to the deck we also found a bunch in the ass fire control tower that got caught by the flames they had been reduced to charcoal after the recovery of more than 200 bodies [Music] the navy is forced to stop the retrieval effort because of increasingly dangerous conditions salvage of the ship's superstructure above the water line continues for another year [Music] the decision is made to leave the arizona where it lays creating a lasting memorial to the fallen that remain entombed in the ship now 75 years later the expedition team has a chance to see inside the ship like never before using a custom-built rov specifically designed for the ship's deeper sections the team hopes to access the arizona's lower decks there's a certain amount of anxiety when we have this narrow timeline that we need to hit in time for the anniversary [Applause] [Music] so there's a fair amount of pressure to make sure that the rov works that's our entry point we're gonna drop down in there dave will feed the rov and we'll stay in the second deck make sure everything works that you guys have control cameras all that cool [Music] they created this really cool solution which is essentially a big spool that pays out the cable as you go in and then picks the cable back up as you go out and the advantage there is you're not always pulling on on the cable to get it further into the vessel the new self-spooling tether is designed to prevent the rov from getting snagged inside the ship a problem that has plagued previous arizona expeditions the stakes are high the team has prepared months for this day and funding is limited these types of expeditions hate energy money time and people to accomplish the mission does rest on the ability of the rov and the tether system to work [Music] when we go in there we need to be effective and we need to be successful because we may not get another chance for another 15 years [Music] we are going to feed tether it appears that their new rov and its self-spooling tether is finally operating as expected [Music] it works it's just a question of whether or not it'll it'll work flawlessly you know the first time going in the rack [Music] so basically what we'll do is we'll drop the rov down and we'll investigate the second deck and find access points or stairwells or hatches that go down and drop the rov down in the third deck below the second deck onto the third deck we get into an area that we don't really know what's there [Music] the divers approach a hatch at the stern of the deck carefully lowering the rov down to the second deck to the right [Music] down [Music] that was awesome we're in [Music] slowly the rov moves mid ship 10 feet 10 feet give us 10 feet of feather please 10 feet this area known as officer's country was not impacted by the blast could go forward and left okay here much of the ship's structure has remained intact [Music] it's the world ensign whedon documented with his home movies just a few months before the attack [Music] yeah the crew carefully maneuvers the rov towards the cabins on the left side give me 10 more feet can we get 10 feet of tether 10 feet give us 10 feet please entering the ship's ladies room for the guests of the ranking officers that is amazing wow the mirror still intact let's go to the left pile it out and then make a hard turn [Music] the admiral's cabin the splendor still visible we're just flying over that table that we see from that open porthole right with the light fixture and we're moving towards the aft of the ship towards this cabinet back here in august of 1941 ensign whedon writes to his sister things have been really great for we ate dinner with the admiral and showed the girls the ship the girl i escorted is the cutest so burn dean everything is turning out swell now don't you worry for i am on one of the safest ships afloat [Music] so we'll go up and see if there's any furniture along this one yeah [Music] there's that portal that cracked porthole the crew discovers something they have not seen before oh wow what is [Music] if there's it ton of sediment but it's it's something one would not expect to find on a battleship those are bricks yeah it is [Music] wait it has a it has a vent on it it looks like a fireplace there's no there's no record of a fireplace in the admiral's cabin on the on the as builds they did customize these ships [Music] that's crazy that's fabulous the team continues their search for traces of the life on board before the attack with fresh oxygen-rich seawater constantly flowing through all but the most durable traces of life on board have deteriorated on the second deck but deeper down in the ship conditions might be different really the push is to get below the second deck because we think the third deck holds the key to the environment of arizona information about the microbiological environment about the dissolved oxygen we think the third deck really holds the keys to a lot of those questions searching for a passage to the third deck the team steers the rov forward closer to the blast area where the wreckage is torn open i'd like to see if we can get forward a little bit and start to look at where the blast damage starts to occur the blast zone is a startling reminder of the power of the explosion that sunk the arizona the 1760 pound shell that hits the arizona doesn't explode on impact equipped with a delayed fuse it cuts through the armored main deck dropping down next to the ship's forward magazines an area filled with gunpowder bags as the charge goes off it sets off a flash igniting the gunpowder superheated gases form destroying everything in its way and breaking through the deck the force of the explosion lifts the forward structure of the arizona 30 feet into the air [Music] in many ways the bomb that was dropped from almost directly above the arizona was the perfect shot because it penetrated through the decks it detonated right next to or in the powder magazine and inflicted a crippling blow powder bags from the magazines are blown into the air and ignite like fireworks [Music] 75 years later with the decks collapsed it is difficult to maneuver the rov close to the blast zone can you give us 10 feet of feather 10 feet please as we get closer to the blast zone you can see the structural components are actually leaning down some of those may have fallen over or are in the process of falling over and and that's why we're in the ship is to visually inspect those types of things so let's see let's see if it goes down and we can penetrate down and you know and below decks yeah it looks like there's an opening there but there is but it looks like you know we could go look down there and see if it's an opening not go too far [Music] they can see the third deck but there is no safe passage to get there the team could very likely lose the rov if they go any further if an rov goes inside the arizona and gets hopelessly entangled then the rov will stay there forever we will never send divers in to go get them so there's that to consider in terms of how far you explore how far you push the edge of what you need to access after investigating the wreckage for more than three hours the team decides to pull the rov back out and to look for a better access point down to the third deck your first few dives in the arizona you're actually kind of struggling to figure out where you are it's a tangled disarray of metal and iron and steel [Music] it's basically the last one third of the ship that's still intact that we would consider plausible to to investigate with an rov the divers approach another opening in the hull of the vessel giving them access to a different section of the second deck there's a triangle that has deteriorated in one of the bulkheads that is large enough to fit an rov and that provides us a direct access point down a central hallway in the hallway they hope to have access to a hatch leading down to the third deck but if the rov gets stuck behind the wall opening it would be lost a risk they have to take now since their expedition is coming to a close i mean it's the uss arizona it deserves everything that we can do to try to understand what's happening to what's there so that we you know we can have it last for future generations if we move left we should run into the the hatch appears to be unobstructed so let's go in and take a look and see what we see here but steering the rov down to the lower deck is a challenge [Music] it's dark i mean there's no light inside the ship it's complete black so the only light that you have is light that's on the rov itself we're in awesome here on the third deck the environment looks much different they begin their search for evidence of the lives of those who once served here if we're navigating down a hallway and there's a door that becomes a judgment call is it is it large enough for the rov to fit through [Music] and if it fits through do we think we can turn around the rov on the other side of that door and fly it back out oh wow a cabin nobody has seen for 75 years is that like a foot locker there looks like it's some kind of square doesn't it completely undisturbed everything still in its place [Music] a bed as it was left on the morning of the attack [Music] they travel on [Music] deeper into the ship entering another cabin i kind of want to appear like you want to peer around the side of the monitor to get to get a better view [Applause] it's angled so it looks like we're worth the haul so come back up [Applause] [Music] what is that [Music] it's a button of some type it's a hat you're right it's like opening a time capsule that has to tell us you know about the anterior condition this this this must not have oxygen i mean it must be really low in oxygen low oxygen concentration slows the decomposition of organic matter [Music] [Music] that's like what is it it looks like it's cloth metal no no wow look at that it's a jacket kidding me [Music] oh my word a complete uniform look at that pants or something is amazing [Music] 75 years not just not hanging there perfect i mean it looks like it's pressed it's an unexpected find a reminder of the men who lived and died here and of the world ensign whedon documented with his camera in 1941 [Music] while there is still much left to be explored the crew ends the day with a feeling of success you're staring at somebody's suit it's been there for 75 years and it's i mean it's hanging on a hanger in in an officer's cabin i mean it's i mean it's it's hard to it's hard to be kind of objective about science when you're staring face to face on a uniform that's that's been there for 75 years in the uss arizona it's uh it's it's pretty it's pretty remarkable actually it's unbelievable [Music] 1511 crewmen served on board the uss arizona on the morning of december 7th 1941 only a few survived [Music] 1177 men died in the explosion and ensuing fires ensign whedon was one of them it was a sunday and my mother was setting the table and the doorbell rang and she went to answer the door and it was the neighbor [Music] and she just said bernadine turn on your radio hawaii is under attack that's how they found out he had big dreams his goal was to have his own ship he had a mission he knew what he wanted to do and his ultimate goal was to be admiral of the navy ensign whedon's body was never found but now at last his family has seen the world the young officer lived in [Music] the devastating attack united a nation in the explosions at pearl harbor that was forged the will for complete and absolute victory over the forces of evil the japanese admirals in attacking pearl harbor did something that fdr and democratic party could not do it unified the american people just as 911 brought out america's will to fight in iraq and afghanistan so did the attacks on pearl harbor push america to war in asia and europe with confidence in our armed forces with the unbounding determination of our people we will gain the inevitable triumph so help us god [Applause] [Music] one day after the attack the united states declares war against japan and subsequently against the empire's european allies too the japanese strategy was based on a flawed view of the united states the belief was that if you could attack the united states shock them and prove that it would be a very long hard-fought contest to defeat japan that you could force the united states to realize that this was going to be a long and costly war and come to the negotiation table on terms favorable to the japanese and the japanese also failed in their military goal to [ __ ] the u.s fleet and render it useless some say because they missed the fleet carriers at pearl harbor approximately six hours before the attack on pearl harbor the japanese strike group commander admiral nagumo got intelligence that the united states carriers were not in pearl harbor [Music] the decision was up to nagumo cancel the attack or proceed without the ability to knock out the american carrier's import preparations for the attack continued as planned for the japanese the us navy's battleships were a more valuable target anyway by missing these carriers focusing on the battleships the japanese admirals were living in the past and the war would come home to them in the very near future [Music] the japanese newsreels sell the attack as a decisive victory but the strike force ignored other important targets too like pearl harbor's ship repair yard [Music] it's a costly error [Music] within a matter of just months 18 of the 21 ships damaged in the attack are salvaged and operational again and an even greater tactical blunder by japan they didn't destroy the base's fuel storage had they attacked these oil reserves they could have possibly taken the ability of america to sort its pacific fleet and taken about a year of oil out of american hands this would have actually done far more to delay an american counter-attack than sinking outdated battleships only six months after the attack on pearl harbor the japanese fleet stages an invasion of the midway atoll and battles u.s forces stationed there [Music] but this time the u.s navy is prepared the battle of midway was an intelligence failure for japan they did not know their naval codes had been compromised and they actually telegraphed their plan to the united states [Music] four japanese carriers were sunk tide reverses and the united states and and the allies began winning battles and moving towards japan in february of 1945 the u.s forces reach the volcanic island of iwo jima an island that belongs to the japanese homeland [Music] using cannons salvaged from the arizona the uss nevada opens fire on the island and attacks the hideouts of japanese soldiers the shelling continues for three days then 30 000 marines storm the beaches [Music] a brutal fight ensues [Music] battle consisted of some of the nastiest most protracted fighting of world war ii uh fighting in close quarters fighting with flame throwers grenades japanese had dug into the coral reefs around iwo jima into the hills it was a fight to the death a bitter knock down drag out fight five days into the battle u.s troops reach mount suribachi raising the flag on japanese soil it might be the most famous war photograph ever captured the battle for iwo jima rages on for over a month it was a fight that ultimately cost the lives of 7 000 american soldiers and about 19 000 japanese soldiers one week later the u.s forces reached the island of okinawa the gateway to the japanese mainland [Music] is the last stop on americans island hopping campaign before the planned invasion of the japanese home islands the battle was savage it was fought on land and air and on the sea the japanese begin to employ kamikaze tactics and attack the american strike force at sea over 1 400 suicide pilots are sent to their death they damage or destroy at least 30 u.s warships killing 4 900 u.s servicemen [Music] and it was the first use on a large scale of japanese kamikaze tactics it had a profound effect on the united states and it hardened our resolve to end the war with japan as quickly as possible land the death toll is even higher it is the bloodiest battle of the pacific war 75 000 american and more than 100 000 japanese soldiers lose their lives [Music] it is the beginning of the end of the war in the pacific [Music] for many the battle of okinawa was a prelude of an invasion of the japanese home islands the long protracted fight the japanese shocking use of mass scale suicide attacks because of this savagery many people were relieved when the atomic bombs were dropped on hiroshima nagasaki [Music] all right brett's good [Music] while the impact of world war ii will never be forgotten its history reminds us about the perils of war [Music] and the importance of learning from our past [Music] in oahu hawaii 75 years after the attack on pearl harbor a japanese naval contingent pays their respect to the fallen soldiers former enemies are now friends and allies united by memories of a war that ended millions of lives there is no more living history around at some point with these events and the arizona offers us an opportunity to keep history alive we want people to understand that this was a living breathing ship this was manned by people who who lost their lives in in a blink for don stratton the remains of the arizona remind him to never take life for granted i'm glad they've been able to do that [Music] i don't want the united states to forget about this and that it could happen again people like myself to keep this country free [Music] but my shipmates that are still there and they're really the heroes it's been a long time god bless [Music] me [Music]

Channel: Timeline - World History Documentaries

Views: 123,738

Keywords: History, Full Documentary, Documentaries, Full length Documentaries, Documentary, TV Shows - Topic, Documentary Movies - Topic, 2017 documentary, BBC documentary, Channel 4 documentary, history documentary, documentary history, pearl harbor, war with japan, ww2, ww2 america, war in the pacific, america in ww2, uss arizona, pearl harbor attack

Id: vm-EeVSeOzU

Length: 97min 52sec (5872 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 05 2021