USS West Virginia (BB-48) Shoots Down a Japanese Kamikaze Plane

Image size: 1600 x 1024 pixel. 375 KB
Date: Tuesday, 27 March 1945
Place: Okinawa, East China Sea, Japan
Photographer: Unknown

Joining Task Force 64 for the invasion of the Okinawa Gunto area on March 25, 1945, USS West Virginia (BB-48) was assigned to fire support section one. West Virginia spent the ensuing days softening up Okinawa for the forthcoming American landings. At 1029 Hours on March 26, lookouts reported a gun flash from shore, followed by a splash in the water some 6,000 yards off the port bow. Firing her first salvoes of the operation, West Virginia let fly 28 rounds of 16- inch gunfire against the pugnacious Japanese batteries. The following day, the "Wee Vee," as her crew called her, fought against enemy air opposition, taking a Yokosuka P1Y Ginga (Galaxy) "Frances" bomber under fire at 0520. The twin-engined bomber crashed off the battleship's port quarter, the victim of West Virginia's anti-aircraft guns. Over the days that followed, enemy suicide attacks by Japanese planes continued. From the American landing on April 1 to May 25, seven major kamikaze attacks had been attempted, involving more than 1,500 planes. Almost a score of American ships were sunk, and twenty-five others damaged. The total strength of the Allied fleet at Okinawa was 1300 ships, including 40 carriers, 18 battleships, and 200 destroyers. The U.S. Navy sustained greater casualties in this operation than in any other battle of the war!

Source:

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii1110

Nakajima B5N2 Type 97 Attack Bomber Shot Down at Hospital Point, Pearl Harbor

Image size: 1600 x 1214 pixel. 0.98 MB
Date: Sunday, 7 December 1941
Place: Naval Hospital, United States Navy, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, United States
Photographer: Unknown

Wing of a Japanese Navy Type 97 Nakajima B5N2 carrier attack aircraft that crashed at the Naval Hospital, Pearl Harbor, during the attack. This plane came from the aircraft carrier IJN Kaga and had the tail code AII-35?. Its "Rising Sun" insignia was later largely cut away by souvenir hunters. AII-35? was piloted by Airman First Class Syuzo Kitahara with Observer Petty Officer Second Class Yoshio Shimizu and Gunner/Radio Operator Petty Officer Second Class Haruo Onishi. The third B5N2 to attack USS West Virginia in Kaga's first wave, Kitahara's plane was hit multiple times by incendiaries that severed his fuel lines. He broke off his attack as his plane caught fire; Onishi jumped without a parachute, landing near USS New Orleans (CA-32) and USS San Francisco (CA-38). He was recovered from the water alive but soon died of his injuries. Kitahara, struggling with his burning plane, avoided the Navy Yard's large Hammerhead crane and flew down the length of 1010 Dock. Observers noted the burning plane's hydraulics failed and the landing gear began to lower. Kitahara, probably unable to control the plane any more, headed for the Naval Hospital. Captain Reynolds Hayden (September 30, 1883 - February 5, 1952) Commanding Officer of the Naval Hospital, later wrote Kitahara seemed to head "directly towards the front of the main hospital building." Kitahara stood up and let go of the controls just as the plane veered to the left and crashed between the laboratory building and the Chief Petty Officer's quarters. Hayden noted the two Japanese officers were dead, their dismembered bodies strewn across the crash site. An angry Marine began screaming he would kill the Japanese, while holding the dead man's leg. He realized what he was doing and took the man's boot as a souvenir! Private First Class Marion M. Milbrandt, summoned to the Naval Hospital grounds with his 1,000-gallon water pumper, fought the resulting fire. The fire, fed by the crashed plane's gasoline, threatened the facility, but Milbrandt and his crew controlled the blaze. The Hospital laboratory was severely damaged and some research animals were destroyed. The Japanese lost five B5N2 bombers from Kaga during the first wave. Special thanks to David Aiken for his research on the crew of AII-35?. 

Source:
NARA (National Archives)
http://research.archives.gov/search?refinegrp_format=Image%20%28GIF%29&expression=pearl+harbor+attack+mime-type-label%3A%22Image+%28GIF%29%22+OR+mime-type-label%3A%22Image+%28JPG%29%22&pg_src=brief&data-source=archival-descriptions-with-digital-objects

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii1013