The Shaw exploded aboard floating Navy drydock YFD-2. The drydock was built in 1901 in Maryland, then towed to a forty-year career repairing ships at the New Orleans Naval Station. In 1940, the Navy towed YF2-2 down the Mississippi River, through the Panama Canal, and across the Pacific to Pearl Harbor. YFD-2 was quickly restored to service after the Dec. 7th attack, and it refloated Shaw for installation of its temporary bow. It also serviced many other ships damaged in the attack. The Navy sold YFD-2 in 1948. YFD-2: An unsung hero that did its work for fifty years.
That sure is interesting, the dry-dock survived the explosion and was repaired, that is both lucky and shows the resolve of repair determination. Quite a good story, nice to read little extra's and learn about the fallout after the attack. cheers
If you want to look another destroyer that defied death I would implore you to look at DD 417, USS Morris. A 15 Battle Star Sims class destroyer who's ending was as remarkable as its career. It is a piece of Navel history worth remembering and one that too has been sorely neglected in the telling of WWII.
US Destroyers distinguished themselves so many times, many of their achievements have been forgotten. It is unfortunate, because these were incredibly brave men who did amazing things, often against unbelievable odds.
@@jamesdunn9609 I agree. I think destroyers kind of get taken for granted and probably deserve an entire series of programs. I wouldn't want to have been bobbing up in down in the middle of the pacific on a tin can with large caliber naval guns, subs and typhoons constantly trying to put me down.
I remember seeing the photo of Shaw's explosion whenever I read the article about World War Two in my old encyclopedia. To think that Shaw was repaired and returned to service after such a violent detonation... American destroyers definitely don't die easily.
Comparison to Cassin and Downes her damage was still "normal". Cassin and Downes were basically built as new ships around the salvagable machinery of the wrecks of Pearl Harbor. I think it was a political decision to return every ship possible damaged in that attack to service, not an economic one.
It was. Any other nation wouldn't have wasted time rebuilding the old WW1-era battleships as they were useless for anything other than shore bombardment. But the US Navy was determined to see every single ship salvaged if possible, regardless of time or cost. Even the USS Oklahoma was being salvaged with the intent of rebuilding her, until it eventually became so late in the war that they finally decided the war would be over by the time she was put back to sea.
@DK-gy7ll At the time of salvage that had not been determined, and it was faster to rebuild the ships than to build completely new. Some of the ships were quickly restored to service, while others required more. At the time, the effort was to restore as many ships to service as fast as possible! While the restored Battleships were no longer front line units, they provided a heavy hitting reserve that backed up the front line units and proved useful in more than shore bombardment at Leyte Gulf.
Drachinifel recently made video about HMS Eskimo who lost her bow not once but twice during WW2. He made a joke about her third bow being fitted with a quick release, just in case.😉
Try HMS 'Zubian' of WW1 fame. Sister ships HMS Zulu and HMS Nubian each lost half their length due to mines or torpedoes. Despite being sisters there was a three and a half inch difference in their beams but they were eventually joined and served under the Zubian name: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Zubian She took part in the sinking of U-boat UC-50. She was sold and scrapped in 1919. Warspite
The Quality and Prodidguous Output on this Channel is, frankly, Astonishing, a "Like" always Guaranteed. As A Transatlantic Contributer, the Lack of National Bias is Refreshing. I HAD always been led to believe Shaw"s Explosion was related to Arizona, so thanks for correcting That! If a Ship ever deserved to become a Museum for the Pearl HarboUr Attrocity, Shaw missed out, with so many repairs she was vitually "Brand New"! Didn"t realise Monty Python served Aboard!!!!!
The museum at Pearl Harbor has (or had) a .45 pistol that was found inside the dry dock. It had fire damage and the trigger guard was bent but it was still in decent condition otherwise.
MY dad was on the USS Case DD 370 a sister ship of the Shaw and he told me that if it hadn't been for a minor Collision On Maneuvers the week before that it was his ship that should have been in dry-dock and everytime I see the iconic picture of the Shaw I think of what could have been. My father also participated the crossroads a bikini atoll you'd never know it never spoke about any of it a very humble man
That was my first thought, but that was during wartime, sailing into waters without accurate charts and under time restraints. Since there was only a "rumor" of a third grounding my bet that skipper had friends higher up to cover his back. The other two captains would need really great reasons for under water damage because as you noted that's a career ending mistake most of the time. Best outcome is commanding a desk and no naval office wants that kind of career.
Am I the only one who think it's a little nitpicking when your bow gets blown off to save the keel still there! So now your destroyer looks like it's mounting 19 century torpedo on a boom!
The USA had the facilities to turn around the repairs for this ship even before the war started. How would we do that today and how long would it take to get a ship back in service?
Not too long ago we lost a ship that burned at the dock. Firefighters didn't help much, they were too timid. Now if the same thing happened during WW2 it wouldn't have been wasted like this one was. And returned to service.
@@DarrellCook-vl6lm Thank you for reminding me of this. The failure, at all levels, was breathtaking for someone who served in the Navy ('78-'82), on Spruance Class cans - if that would have happened underway for them, how many sailors would have died? We used to train a lot, regularly, for different scenarios for firefighting.
Does anyone know what the casualty toll was from that explosion? I would guess over half the ships company died, anyone forward of the engine room area at least. With the ship being in repair, I can only hope it was not fully crewed and most were ashore that morning except the duty watch. I never heard the story of the repairs, its continued fight afterwards, quite an amazing story.
Doing "merely" escort duty- protecting fleet transports and fleet logistics- is what DD's did as their primary duty in WWII. Shore bombardment is important to the marines and soldiers those bombardments protect. The USS Shaw did her primary jobs with distinction. Not every warship can be a Sammy B Roberts. I submit the USS Shaw was a vital part of winning WWII. Not every Captain can fight at places like Samar or be an Earnest Evans.
I have heard her story I found it funny how she arrived back to mainland American Edit : we saw i picture of her in dryDock back in year 7 in history class And we looked at her and said well she's battered, my mate said "she's blocking this dry Dock and it doesn't look like they have a lot of them." i said "i bet they made it watertight and put it out the way." Our teacher heard us and told us a briefly told us her story (half the lesson)
I think if she suffered that type of damage later into the war, she would have been decommissioned and scrapped. The Americans at that time of course not knowing what kind of war they got forced into. So they needed every ship going. DDs were being pumped out after a few years.
It was a matter of pride for the Americans, the Japanese bomb your s**t, use it to attack their s**t also it would be more cost effective and quicker to repair a ship then to build a new one so you have no clue what you are on about
At the beginning of a new, unexpected, war every ship was needed asap. The fact Shaw was back in service in less than 9 months, much less time than would be required for a new build, shows the correctness of the decision to repair.
Maui was clearing out The natives so the leftists could build a "15 minute city" and aquire the land dirt cheap. Because no government could be that incompetent by chance.
Fire fighting on US Navy ships at the beginning of ww2 needed improvement. The invention of the fog nozzle to fight shipboard fires helped greatly. That nozzle smothered the fire. When I signed up late 1960s, all of us got some fire fighting training. Nozzles, hoses, etc. Didn't matter what our later specialty would be.
The islands in the western Pacific are notorious for lousy navigation charts, even to the present day. That's not a knock on the mapmakers. Indonesia alone has some 18,000+ islands if you include tidal islands that only appear at low tide, but that's 18,000+ things to run into if you're on a ship. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
"Tis but a scratch."
"A scratch? Your bow's off!"
"No, it isn't."
"Well, what's that then?"
"I've had worse."
You lie! 😂
Leaving ammunition on ships in dry dock seems a gamble. The Gneisenau was destroyed by a similar practice.
That's why ships are now de-ammunition before entering dry dock.
The actual effort of removing and equipping ammunition on every maintenance op may actually be greater than a few losses.
I'm amazed how much this boat loved dry ground so much.
Shaw enough...
Sailors forget the closest land is under their ship...
5:52 Just amazing that something that looks that mangled and burnt....and engineers look at it and go 'Yeah, I can fix that'
"it's not that bad, boss. bit of cutting, some heat n beat, weldin an rivitin, plate it up, paint and we good."
The Shaw exploded aboard floating Navy drydock YFD-2. The drydock was built in 1901 in Maryland, then towed to a forty-year career repairing ships at the New Orleans Naval Station. In 1940, the Navy towed YF2-2 down the Mississippi River, through the Panama Canal, and across the Pacific to Pearl Harbor. YFD-2 was quickly restored to service after the Dec. 7th attack, and it refloated Shaw for installation of its temporary bow. It also serviced many other ships damaged in the attack. The Navy sold YFD-2 in 1948. YFD-2: An unsung hero that did its work for fifty years.
That sure is interesting, the dry-dock survived the explosion and was repaired, that is both lucky and shows the resolve of repair determination. Quite a good story, nice to read little extra's and learn about the fallout after the attack. cheers
Those small circles on the photographs are meant to tell Censors what to blank out...
If you want to look another destroyer that defied death I would implore you to look at DD 417, USS Morris. A 15 Battle Star Sims class destroyer who's ending was as remarkable as its career. It is a piece of Navel history worth remembering and one that too has been sorely neglected in the telling of WWII.
US Destroyers distinguished themselves so many times, many of their achievements have been forgotten. It is unfortunate, because these were incredibly brave men who did amazing things, often against unbelievable odds.
@@jamesdunn9609 I agree. I think destroyers kind of get taken for granted and probably deserve an entire series of programs. I wouldn't want to have been bobbing up in down in the middle of the pacific on a tin can with large caliber naval guns, subs and typhoons constantly trying to put me down.
Also USS Aaron Ward. Read “Brave Ship, Brave Men’.
@@Airpaycheck Will do!
That snowplow bow sure seemed to ship a lot of water at speed. It is amazing she could do 25 knots...
Tis' but a flesh wound!
I remember seeing the photo of Shaw's explosion whenever I read the article about World War Two in my old encyclopedia. To think that Shaw was repaired and returned to service after such a violent detonation... American destroyers definitely don't die easily.
USN cruisers and destroyers in WWII often seemed to have detachable bows.
Case and point: The US destroyer that wouldn't die, USS Laffey DD-724
@@stuartwald2395Front Fell Off Syndrome is a consequence of all or nothing armor schemes.
@@Yaivenov Also for Lego ships when you don't add the reinforcing stays on the bottom as well as on top.
Good old US Steel and grade A hot rivets and welding
And the ships moto became 'Is that all you've got'?...
Comparison to Cassin and Downes her damage was still "normal". Cassin and Downes were basically built as new ships around the salvagable machinery of the wrecks of Pearl Harbor. I think it was a political decision to return every ship possible damaged in that attack to service, not an economic one.
It was. Any other nation wouldn't have wasted time rebuilding the old WW1-era battleships as they were useless for anything other than shore bombardment. But the US Navy was determined to see every single ship salvaged if possible, regardless of time or cost. Even the USS Oklahoma was being salvaged with the intent of rebuilding her, until it eventually became so late in the war that they finally decided the war would be over by the time she was put back to sea.
@DK-gy7ll Also USS Oklahoma unfortunately sank while on tow.
@BHuang92
On the way to the breakers, after the war!
The decision to scrap her had been made by the time she was refloated.
@DK-gy7ll
At the time of salvage that had not been determined, and it was faster to rebuild the ships than to build completely new.
Some of the ships were quickly restored to service, while others required more. At the time, the effort was to restore as many ships to service as fast as possible!
While the restored Battleships were no longer front line units, they provided a heavy hitting reserve that backed up the front line units and proved useful in more than shore bombardment at Leyte Gulf.
My Grandfather was a Machinist on the Shaw. Fortunately he was not on her when the attack started.
How about a videu on USS Atlanta, destroyed at Guadalcanal, mostly by USS San Francisco?
Would you be if he was?
Drachinifel recently made video about HMS Eskimo who lost her bow not once but twice during WW2. He made a joke about her third bow being fitted with a quick release, just in case.😉
I am Amazed that the USS Shaw was not made a Museum Ship because of the Famous Photo!!!
In the sixties I served with a warrant officer that was on the stern of the Shaw when that famous pic was taken. He didn't get a scratch.
A ship in drydock should never have fuel on board. When I was in the Navy and we were going in for yard work our fuel tanks were pumped dry.
Try HMS 'Zubian' of WW1 fame. Sister ships HMS Zulu and HMS Nubian each lost half their length due to mines or torpedoes.
Despite being sisters there was a three and a half inch difference in their beams but they were eventually joined and served under the Zubian name:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Zubian
She took part in the sinking of U-boat UC-50.
She was sold and scrapped in 1919.
Warspite
The Quality and Prodidguous Output on this Channel is, frankly, Astonishing, a "Like" always Guaranteed. As A Transatlantic Contributer, the Lack of National Bias is Refreshing. I HAD always been led to believe Shaw"s Explosion was related to Arizona, so thanks for correcting That! If a Ship ever deserved to become a Museum for the Pearl HarboUr Attrocity, Shaw missed out, with so many repairs she was vitually "Brand New"! Didn"t realise Monty Python served Aboard!!!!!
The Shaw is just a great story!
Some if the shells landed over a mile away. Nobody mentions the tugboat that was in there with it.
The tug in the dry dock with the Shaw was the small yard tug Sotoyomo. Believe the dry dock was also put back in service but don't know about the tug.
The museum at Pearl Harbor has (or had) a .45 pistol that was found inside the dry dock. It had fire damage and the trigger guard was bent but it was still in decent condition otherwise.
@@kennethhanks6712I believe I read somewhere that Sotoyomo was put back into service rather quickly like by the end of Feb 42
I have known about her my entire life because of F1C Albert J Bowlin being that I am related to him. Great video!
First time watching one of your videos…😎
Pretty descriptive and I just love history!😁
Keep up your great work!🇺🇸🇺🇸🔥
"Let's call it a draw...oh running away....!!!"
My grandfather was a u s s oklahoma survivor. The only time I ever saw him cry was when we went to a pearl harbor reunion in nineteen eighty one
In the Australian Navy you de ammunitioned every dry dock visit
MY dad was on the USS Case DD 370 a sister ship of the Shaw and he told me that if it hadn't been for a minor Collision On Maneuvers the week before that it was his ship that should have been in dry-dock and everytime I see the iconic picture of the Shaw I think of what could have been. My father also participated the crossroads a bikini atoll you'd never know it never spoke about any of it a very humble man
HMS Campania had a interesting story as well as HMS Engadine, they have interesting stories to tell
ships named shaw should expect to lose their front end... noted.
What did you get up to in the war?
Shaw: "I keep breaking my nails whenever I go anywhere so I spent most of my time at the Nail Salon"
Running aground gets the Captain and others in trouble.
That was my first thought, but that was during wartime, sailing into waters without accurate charts and under time restraints. Since there was only a "rumor" of a third grounding my bet that skipper had friends higher up to cover his back. The other two captains would need really great reasons for under water damage because as you noted that's a career ending mistake most of the time. Best outcome is commanding a desk and no naval office wants that kind of career.
Wow, very interesting ship
Am I the only one who think it's a little nitpicking when your bow gets blown off to save the keel still there! So now your destroyer looks like it's mounting 19 century torpedo on a boom!
you Shawld not pass !!!
That hurt 😂😂😂
Thanks i saw her blown up in photoe but always wonder what happen to shaw.
If you take a closer look at the 'famous picture' you can see the two aft turrets of NEVADA as it was trying to get out of Pearl.
Good posting thank you.
The USA had the facilities to turn around the repairs for this ship even before the war started. How would we do that today and how long would it take to get a ship back in service?
Not too long ago we lost a ship that burned at the dock. Firefighters didn't help much, they were too timid. Now if the same thing happened during WW2 it wouldn't have been wasted like this one was. And returned to service.
@@DarrellCook-vl6lm Thank you for reminding me of this. The failure, at all levels, was breathtaking for someone who served in the Navy ('78-'82), on Spruance Class cans - if that would have happened underway for them, how many sailors would have died? We used to train a lot, regularly, for different scenarios for firefighting.
10:48 The USS Shaw: "Why won't you let me die? The whales told me how."
Always amuses me how many USN WW2 ships got their bows blown off. KMS ships tended to lose their sterns, a lot.
" 'tis but a scratch! "
37KTS? She is one fast surface combatant.
Ammunition left on a ship while in dry dock is not a normal practice at all. Even if the Fleet is at a higher period of alert normally.
Does anyone know what the casualty toll was from that explosion? I would guess over half the ships company died, anyone forward of the engine room area at least. With the ship being in repair, I can only hope it was not fully crewed and most were ashore that morning except the duty watch. I never heard the story of the repairs, its continued fight afterwards, quite an amazing story.
With the temporary structure and no weapons so effectively a destroyer super lite I wonder what her top speed would have been?
Doing "merely" escort duty- protecting fleet transports and fleet logistics- is what DD's did as their primary duty in WWII. Shore bombardment is important to the marines and soldiers those bombardments protect. The USS Shaw did her primary jobs with distinction. Not every warship can be a Sammy B Roberts. I submit the USS Shaw was a vital part of winning WWII. Not every Captain can fight at places like Samar or be an Earnest Evans.
I have heard her story
I found it funny how she arrived back to mainland American
Edit : we saw i picture of her in dryDock back in year 7 in history class
And we looked at her and said well she's battered, my mate said "she's blocking this dry Dock and it doesn't look like they have a lot of them."
i said "i bet they made it watertight and put it out the way."
Our teacher heard us and told us a briefly told us her story
(half the lesson)
True grit.
Excellent!
37 knots, she could fly!
That little pep squeak of a ship could really haul its fantail!
I enjoyed this video!
Lower yer voice a lil more baritone and keep some drachifinel level facts and you’re the next new naval channel. Cheers mate.
Does Shaw hold the record of drydock time for miles travelled?
I think if she suffered that type of damage later into the war, she would have been decommissioned and scrapped. The Americans at that time of course not knowing what kind of war they got forced into. So they needed every ship going. DDs were being pumped out after a few years.
The Front Fell off
It's just a flesh wound.
Go look up HMCS Eskimo.
Was it outside the environment?
Sure she was an unlucky name for a warship. Take a bow each olde girls
The amount of repair & rebuilds by wars end it was practically a new ship! Colossal waste of money
It was a matter of pride for the Americans, the Japanese bomb your s**t, use it to attack their s**t also it would be more cost effective and quicker to repair a ship then to build a new one so you have no clue what you are on about
At the beginning of a new, unexpected, war every ship was needed asap. The fact Shaw was back in service in less than 9 months, much less time than would be required for a new build, shows the correctness of the decision to repair.
If only so much fire fighting effort had gone into hawaii these days
Maui was clearing out The natives so the leftists could build a "15 minute city" and aquire the land dirt cheap. Because no government could be that incompetent by chance.
Fire fighting on US Navy ships at the beginning of ww2 needed improvement. The invention of the fog nozzle to fight shipboard fires helped greatly. That nozzle smothered the fire.
When I signed up late 1960s, all of us got some fire fighting training. Nozzles, hoses, etc. Didn't matter what our later specialty would be.
Uss shaw the white.
Ah've ah'd worse…
The islands in the western Pacific are notorious for lousy navigation charts, even to the present day. That's not a knock on the mapmakers. Indonesia alone has some 18,000+ islands if you include tidal islands that only appear at low tide, but that's 18,000+ things to run into if you're on a ship. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯