More of the Pearl Parking Problem

I’ve been following the “Parking at Pearl” correspondence since its inception and am offering one additional picture to answer the question: “If the Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers had been at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, where would they have been moored?”

Randy Becker believes that the carriers would have been at Berths F2 and F9. The most plausible answer is that USS Enterprise would have been at Berth F2 at the bottom of “Battleship Row.” The photo dated October 30, 1941, clearly shows

Enterprise in that berth, as does Randy’s analysis and other pictures in the December issue.

I did some research on the Internet and downloaded the attached photo of Ford Island that was taken on January 7, 1941, 11 months before the attack. Note that USS Lexington class carrier that is moored at Berth F9. The ship would have to be Lexington since her sister, USS Saratoga (CV-3), was undergoing a modernization at the Bremerton Navy Yard from January 6 through August 15, 1941.

I believe that on December 7, 1941, Enterprise would have been moored to F2 and Lexington would have been moored to F9. This is based on Randy’s analysis and the photo evidence that the ships occupied these berths from time to time in 1941. Thank God and the Navy that they were at sea on December 7.

I am an avid reader of FlightJournal and complement all of those who took part in this historical research.

Joseph W. Rachinsky, West Chester, Pennsylvania

We absolutely love it when readers’ research gives so much to the Flight Journal audience.—BD