April 11, 1945 Kamikaze Attack

This picture of a Japanese "Zero" about to hit the USS Missouri (BB-63) on April 11, 1945 is one of the most famous photographs of the U.S. Navy in World War II. The attack served as a testament to the toughness of American battleships as the plane did little to no damage to the ship. The attack itself was unusual as kamikaze pilots typically targeted less armored ships such as aircraft carriers and smaller surface combatants such as destroyers.



USS Wisconsin (BB-64) was steaming alongside Missouri when the attack happened. Watches aboard Wisconsin spotted this "Zero" as it made its run at the American task force. Wisconsin's gunners fired at the plane as it approach their battleship forcing the pilot to abort his attack and circle around again to find another target (which eventually was Missouri). A Wisconsin officer recorded the event with a crude diagram (shown above) for the official after action report.

Naval Station Norfolk Fire Alarm Box

This is a picture of one of many fire alarm boxes found throughout Naval Station Norfolk. This particular box we believe dates back to the pre-Naval Station Norfolk days of the 1907 Jamestown Exposition. It is still in use by Naval Station Norfolk's fire department today.

The box might not be a 1907 product, however, as there is a question of who actually manufactured it. The logo and writing are from the Gamewell Company of Massachusetts (now known as Gamewell-FCI, Inc.), one of the early pioneers of large scale, urban fire alarm systems. The text on the box is not modern. However, according the Jamestown Exposition Company's official history of the fair, the company's Division of Works claimed to have signed a contract with Western Electric Manufacturing, one of Gamewell's business rivals. It is possible that Gamewell installed this particular box when the Navy took over the property in 1917.

Regardless if workers installed the box in 1907 or 1917, its concept remains fundamentally the same today as back then (though the technology inside the box has been upgraded). When the alarm is set off, the box sends a series of telegraph signals by an underground wire to the emergency dispatch operator, who then dispatches fire and rescue services.

1908 Sicilian Earthquake and American Assistance

Recently, a major earthquake struck central Italy. A little over 100 years ago, one of the worst tragedies to hit modern Europe occured when a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck Messina, Italy. The tremors and the tsunami that followed killed upwards of 200,000 people. American ships of the Great White Fleet were making preparations to visit several ports in the Mediterranean before heading home to Norfolk. Instead, they made best possible speed from Egypt upon hearing about the event and participated in disaster relief operations in conjunction with Russian, British, and Dutch sailors.

HMS Illustrious at Norfolk Naval Shipyard 1941

This is the 23,000-ton British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious (R87) at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in January 1941. While at the time officially neutral in World War II, the United States gave the British significant material support in their fight against Axis powers. Great Britain had brought the aircraft carrier to Hampton Roads to have battle damage repaired in a safe port. On January 10, 1941, Italian SM.79 and German Stuka dive bombers hit the carrier with eight bombs causing significant damage. The Yard returned her to full duty in May 1942.