THE SHIPS OF TORA! TORA! TORA!

THE SHIPS OF TORA! TORA! TORA!

The ship models used in the movie were very large, some 30 feet long or more, and were highly accurate. And the Arizona was a full-scale replica so that live actors could be filmed on the "ship".

The models were sold at auction after the movie was completed and some sold for as little as 10% of their cost to make the model. 

A contact of mine purchased two of these models and sent me photos of them. One was an American tugboat and the other was a Japanese destroyer, which barely fit in his swimming pool. Unfortunately, I have lost the photos - that happens when you move three times!

In 1984 I was with an aunt and her grandkids at an amusement park in upstate New York  (the park no longer exists). At one point it started to pour so we ducked inside one of their exhibit buildings. Inside there were two halls and we walked down one of them which was lined with old automobiles. As I turned to go into the other side, I stopped short. I was literally shocked to see several of the model ships from the movie.  One of them was an aircraft carrier, possibly the Akagi, with the various Japanese aircraft on the flight deck. The Akagi model was about 30 feet long (!). I am 6'4' tall and I could barely see the top of the flight deck the model was so huge. 

Sadly, I didn't have a camera that day and I never got a chance to go back. 

And check out this Blog post on the making of the movie:

TORA, TORA, TORA: Oscar winning expertise recreates day of infamy at Pearl Harbour 

How to cross a street under fire (video)

How to cross a street under fire. Imperial War Museum video clip from WWII instructional film. 

February 1945: The Battle of Manila

February 1945: The Battle of Manila 

by Jenny Ashcraft

Beginning on February 3, 1945, U.S. forces fighting alongside Filipino troops began a month-long battle to reclaim the city of Manila from the Japanese. The battle was the scene of intense urban fighting and resulted in the deaths of more than 100,000 civilians. The city of Manila was destroyed, along with cultural treasures like the centuries-old Intramuros, an ancient walled portion of the city, which was flattened. ...  

[This is an article on Fold3.]

Air Power Album 2: Italy

Reggiane Re.2000.

 

Reggiane Re.2000 Falco.

 

Reggiane Re.2000 Falco I.

 

Reggiane Re.2000 Falco II.

 

Reggiane advertisement.

 

Reggiane Re.2001 Delta.

 

Reggiane Re.2001 Falco II.

 

Reggiane Re 2001.

 

IMAM Ro.41.

 

IMAM Ro 44.

 

The first Ro.57 prototype, MM-407.

 

Ro.57bis. The dive bombing variant, designated Ro 57bis, was fitted with dive brakes, two 20-mm. cannon in addition to the 12.7-mm. guns, and a crutch for bombs up to 1100 lb. under the fuselage.

 

Ro.57bis.

 

IMAM Ro.58.

 

Fiat CMASA RS.14 Regia Aeronautica.

 

The beam gun positions of a Fiat RS.14.

 

Fiat RS.14b Regia Aeronautica.

 

Fiat RS.14a Regia Aeronautica.

 

Fiat RS.14, an Italian long-range maritime strategic reconnaissance floatplane.

 

 

Air Power Album 1: Japan

Japanese airmen pose with natives in front of a Mitsubishi F1M2 floatplane on Rebata Bay, 1942.

 

Mitsubishi F1M "Pete" with seaplane tender Kamikawa Maru’s 'ZII' tail code, c. 1940-41.

 

Mitsubishi F1M "Pete" with seaplane tender Kamikawa Maru’s 'ZII' tail code, c. 1940-41.

 

Mitsubishi F1M2 "Pete" reconnaissance floatplane on the Kamikawa Maru seaplane tender, c. 1942.

 

"Petes" and "Rufes" on the beach somewhere in the South Pacific. The foreground F1M2 has the tail code "L2" of the seaplane tender Kunikawa Maru.

 

Another view of the "Petes" and "Rufes" on the beach somewhere in the South Pacific.

 

Mitsubishi F1M2 floatplane (Allied code name “Pete”) on ship’s catapult.

 

Mitsubishi F1M2 “Pete” being hoisted by the crane of the seaplane tender Kimikawa Maru, 1943.

 

Mitsubishi F1M2 “Pete” of the Kimikawa Maru, Horomushiro channel, Chishima, 1943.

 

Tail of Mitsubishi F1M2 “Pete” on a catapult aboard the Kimikawa Maru.

 

Mitsubishi F1M2s “Pete” await disposition by the occupation forces, Sasebo, September 1945.

 

Mitsubishi F1M2s “Pete” await disposition by the occupation forces, Sasebo, September 1945.

 

Kawasaki Ki-102b “Randy,” undergoing operational evaluation with the JAAF. Three versions were planned: the Ki-102a day fighter, Ki-102b ground attack and Ki-102c night fighter.

 

Ki-102b, Kiyosu Airfield, near Nagoya, May 1945.

 

Ki-102b. It was kept out of front line service because it was hoped that it would be the carrier of the Igo-1-B air-to-ground guided missile when the Allied invasion of Japan occurred.

 

Ki-102b.

 

Ki-102b.

 

Ki-102a.

 

Kawasaki Ki-102b “Randy.”

 

Kawasaki Ki-102b and Ki-102c “Randy” (left to right).

 

Kawasaki Ki-102b “Randy.”

 

Kawasaki Ki-102b “Randy.”

 

Kawasaki Ki-102b “Randy” cockpit.

 

Kawasaki Ki-102b “Randy.”

 

Kawasaki Ki-102b “Randy” nose-mounted cannon.

 

Kawasaki Ki-102a “Randy.”

 

Kawasaki Ki-102c “Randy.”

 

Kawasaki Ki-102c “Randy.”

 

Kawasaki Ki-64 (Allied code name “Rob”). One prototype built, first flew in December 1943. The Ki-64 was developed for the Japanese Army Air Force and was one of the most innovative Japanese designs of the war.

 

Ki-64 prototype under construction.

 

Originally conceived in 1939, the Ki-64 had a contra-rotating propeller coupled to tandem mounted engines and equipped with an evaporative cooling system. While originally proposed in 1939, development did not begin until October 1940 with the prototype being completed in December 1943.

 

The prototype Ki-64 was damaged during testing which delayed further development. Problems also arose with the contra-rotating propeller which were never really overcome. Priorities later in the war caused the project to be shelved.

 

Ki-64.

 

Ki-64.

 

 

Ki-64.

 

Ki-64 taking off on its initial flight, December 1943.

 

An Imperial Japanese Army Air Service Mitsubishi Ki-21 Type 97 twin-engined bomber drops its payload of bombs on industrial facilities in Chongqing on 16th June 1940 on the Yuzhong Peninsula in China.

 

Mitsubishi A7M Reppu (Hurricane), Allied code name “Sam.”

 

Japanese paratroopers loading into a Kawasaki Ki.56 “Thalia.”

 

Japanese paratroopers inside their Ki.56 transport ready for a jump.

 

Japanese paratrooper exits the Ki.56 transport during a jump. Most likely the photo was taken while the plane was still on the ground as this would be a nearly impossible shot to get in the air.

 

Ki.44-Ic, 85th Sentai, Jogai Airfield, Nanking, China, July 1943.

 

Ki.44-Ic, 47th Fighter School.

 

Nakajima Ki.44 Shoki, “Tojo.”

 

Kawasaki Ki-61-I-Ko Hien (Flying Swallow) (Allied code name “Tony”) of the Akeno Hikoshidan Hikotai (Instructional Air Unit), Japanese Army Air Service, 1945.

 

Captured Japanese A6M5 Zeros on board USS Copahee on their way to the US from Saipan, July 1944.

 

Mitsubishi A6M Zero.

 

Zero fighters escorted the Japanese bombers on their missions to Guadalcanal from the great Japanese bases at Rabaul, New Britain. This created a fuel problem for the fighter pilots, who had little time for fighting in the Solomons; if they lingered, not enough fuel remained for the return to Rabaul.

 

Zero fighter production line.

 

A “Zero” fighter caught by the gun camera of an American fighter as it begins smoking and begins its plunge into the ocean below.