December 07, 2020
79 Years Ago
One of the most frequently shared photos of the Pearl Harbor Attack is this one, which is sometimes idetified as the explosion of the battleship Arizona.


It is actually the destroyer Shaw (DD-373) suffering the explosion of her forward magazines.

Here is what she looked like after the raid.

Note that U.S.S. Shaw went on to be awarded 11 battle stars in the resulting war. She was decommissioned in October of 1945.
If you're interested in how that was possible, well, Drachinifel has three 30 min videos on the post-attack salvage operation.
If you're into naval history and not following Drachinifel, you are wrong.
UPDATE: It turns out that Wonderduck has already done an in-depth post on this ship that you should check out. As an added bonus, his had all its pictures correct from the start.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
11:53 AM
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1
Your "after" picture for USS Shaw is actually of USS Cassin and USS Downes, which were in drydock during the attack. A 250kg bomb went off between them causing severe damage and fires and eventually Downes fell off her keel blocks and leaned on Cassin.
The "Name That Mystery Ship" I did for the Shaw can be found here at this link. The attendant history writeup is at this link.
The "Name That Mystery Ship" I did for the Shaw can be found here at this link. The attendant history writeup is at this link.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Mon Dec 7 14:51:00 2020 (Bkp4m)
2
Thanks for pointing out the error. It's been corrected.
For those confused, this is the picture that was initially the second one down.

For those confused, this is the picture that was initially the second one down.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Mon Dec 7 15:09:11 2020 (5iiQK)
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