USS Shaw (DD-373) Explodes at Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941

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This photo was taken at the exact moment that the destroyer USS Shaw exploded. During the second Japanese strike wave on Pearl Harbor on the morning of Sunday, 7 December 1941 the Shaw was hit by three bombs from several planes attacking the nearby USS Nevada. Fires were uncontrollable and about one-half hour after the hits her forward ammunition magazines exploded, the explosion seen in this photo. The blast annihilated the Shaw's bow section and sank two nearby vessels.

Today in WW II: 8 Feb 1940 Germans establish the first large Jewish ghetto in Poland in the city of Lodz. More ↓

8 Feb 1941 US House of Representatives passes the Lend-Lease Act [265 to 165].
8 Feb 1942 Battle of Sarimbun Beach begins, the first stage of the Japanese assault on Singapore.
8 Feb 1942 Japanese Offensive in Burma begins [8 Feb-2 May].
8 Feb 1945 Battle of the Reichswald: British and Canadian forces under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery begin Operation Veritable [8 Feb-11 Mar].
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