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This remarkable series of photographs depicts the Japanese attack on the United States at Pearl Harbour in 1941. The photos, and the accompanying description, circulate via email and are also regularly posted to blogs and online forums. According to the description, the photos were found in a Kodak Box brownie camera left in a foot locker. The message claims that pictures were taken by an unnamed sailor serving on the USS QUAPAW ATF-11O.
The photographs are genuine and certainly do show the Pearl Harbor attack. However, the claims in the email's description are false. They were not found in one old box brownie camera as stated in the message, nor were they taken by a sailor on the USS QUAPAW. In fact, the images are US Naval archive photographs taken by different people at various locations around Pearl Harbour at the time of the attack. The photographs form part of the historical image collection available on the Naval Historical Center website.
To take all of these photographs, the brownie-wielding sailor would have needed to possess the uncanny ability to take pictures from several vantage points around the harbor at almost the same time. Some earlier versions of the email included high aerial shots of the harbour as well. The aerial shots are omitted in this version, possibly because their inclusion too clearly "gives the game away". The sailor could hardly have been in an aircraft as well as in several locations around the attack zone during one narrow window of time.
Moreover, the USS QUAPAW was not at Pearl Harbour in 1941. In fact, the vessel was not even launched until 1943. Her keel was laid on 28 December 1942, more than a year after the Pearl Harbor attack.
These photographs are indeed spectacular and they form an important part of the historical record. They speak for themselves and there is absolutely no need to falsely embellish them with foolish and fictional stories about their origin.
Sorry Bri