1945 U.S. NAVY RESTRICTED COMBAT REPORT 18&11 USS ENTERPRISE & USS NEVADA ATTACKED 81374

These two silent films (18 & 11) from U.S. Navy Combat Report No. 10 present footage of the separate attacks on the USS Enterprise and USS Nevada during World War II. In the first film, “Jap Attack On . Enterprise, 19 March 1945,” a Japanese bomb damages the Enterprise while the ship participates in raids on Japanese targets. The Enterprise is at sea with explosions going off all around the ship. Black smoke billows from the carrier. Men aboard the ship try to put out the blaze with firehoses (01:28). A man sprays a flame retardant on the propeller of a plane (02:16). Wounded or dead soldiers are carried off on stretchers. The film shows the destruction to the ship’s deck, with guns destroyed and other structures badly damaged. Men clean anti-aircraft guns (04:06). A damaged plane sits with a broken wing (04:27); other planes suffered greater damage and sit destroyed on the deck. A crew scrapes off ash and other burnt debris from the ship. In the second film, “JBA On . Nevada, 27 March 1945,” viewers see the aftermath of the ship taking a direct hit from a Japanese kamikaze plane. Footage shows Navy guns firing at targets in the air, likely a group of kamikazes (06:08). A part of the Nevada is hit and a fire burns on deck. A U.S. soldier holds a burnt Japanese flag aboard the ship (06:48), likely from the plane that crashed into the carrier. Men work to clean the deck, which is covered with debris and corpses. An injured solider is carried down a ladder (07:39). Several men push a damaged plane overboard. Men throw more scraps of metal and pieces of the wreckage overboard. Sailors use axes to rip up part of the floor of the deck (08:28). The film shows one of the ship’s guns badly damaged (likely turret No. 3) by machine gun fire (09:02). The film concludes with a shot of wounded men being transported to a rescue ship (09:30). USS Enterprise (CV-6) was the seventh U.S. Navy vessel to bear the name. Colloquially called “The Big E“, she was the sixth aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. A Yorktown-class carrier, she was launched in 1936 and was one of only three American carriers commissioned before World War II to survive the war (the others being Saratoga and Ranger). She participated in more major actions of the war against Japan than any other United States ship. These actions included the Attack on Pearl Harbor (18 dive bombers of VS-6 were over the harbor; 6 were shot down with a loss of 11 men—she was the only American aircraft carrier with men at Pearl Harbor during the attack and the first to sustain casualties during the Pacific War), the Battle of Midway, the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, various other air-sea engagements during the Guadalcanal Campaign, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Enterprise earned 20 battle stars, the most for any U.S. warship in World War II, and was the most decorated U.S. ship of World War II. She is also the first American ship to sink an enemy warship during the Pacific War when she sank Japanese submarine I-70 on 10 December 1941. USS Nevada (BB-36), the second United States Navy ship to be named after the 36th state, was the lead ship of the two Nevada-class battleships. Launched in 1914, Nevada was a leap forward in dreadnought technology; four of her new features would be included on almost every subsequent US battleship: triple gun turrets, oil in place of coal for fuel, geared steam turbines for greater range, and the “all or nothing“ armor principle. These features made Nevada, alongside its sister ship Oklahoma, the first US Navy “standard-type“ battleships. Nevada served in both World Wars. During the last few months of World War I, Nevada was based in Bantry Bay, Ireland, to protect supply convoys that were sailing to and from Great Britain. In World War II, it was one of the battleships trapped when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Nevada was the only battleship to get underway during the attack, making the ship “the only bright spot in an otherwise dismal and depressing morning“ for the United States. Still, it was hit by one torpedo and at least six bombs while steaming away from Battleship Row, forcing the crew to beach the stricken ship on a coral ledge. Nevada was subsequently salvaged and modernized at Puget Sound Navy Yard, allowing it to serve as a convoy escort in the Atlantic and as a fire-support ship in five amphibious assaults (the invasions of Attu, Normandy, Southern France, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa). This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit
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