Seventy years ago today, on the first anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Delta Shipbuilding Co. in New Orleans launched the Liberty Ship SS Alexander White.
See previous posts on Delta Shipbuilding Co. and their wartime launches.
Post by Curator Kimberly Guise.
On December 5, 1942, Glenn Miller & His Orchestra’s ‘Juke Box Saturday Night’ broke into the Billboard Top Ten, debuting at #9 on the charts. A lively retelling of a wild party at a soda and ice cream fountain, ‘Juke Box Saturday Night’ celebrates revelry with lyrics that playfully reference the other artists that composed the party’s soundtrack including entire solos and choruses lifted directly from Harry James and the Ink Spots. While successful, enjoyable and sufficiently light-hearted, ‘Juke Box Saturday Night’ is more notable as the last Top Ten hit issued by Glenn Miller as a civilian performer.
Near the peak of his worldwide popularity in 1942 and at 38 years old, Miller decided to hang up hit-making and enlist in the war effort in September of 1942. After being transferred from the Army to the Army Air Corps, the newly-minted Captain Glenn Miller was assigned to Maxwell Field in Montgomery, Alabama in early December. There Capt. Miller began to audition recruits from across the United States for a modernized military band to deliver ‘real, live American music’ to troops serving overseas. The germ of this idea was to quickly epxand into the Army Air Force Band which, during the 14 months of its existence, played in 11 countries overseas, performed over 500 radio broadcasts, traveled to over 300 personal appearances and took part in over 900 morale-boosting drives for soldiers in garrison areas and combat zones.
Said Miller on the importance of musical expression: ‘America means freedom and there’s no expression of freedom quite so sincere as music.’
Click below to hear the original 1942 hit recording of Glenn Miller’s ‘Juke Box Saturday Night’
Post by Collin Makamson, Red Ball Express Coordinator at The National WWII Museum
Sunday, December 2, 2012, marked the 70th anniversary of the first controlled nuclear chain reaction. In his laboratory on a beneath the football stadium at the University of Chicago, Enrico Fermi and a team of 48 scientists gathered on a converted squash court to witness the turning point in the pursuit of nuclear power.
In a nuclear chain reaction a speeding neutron causes fission or splits the atom’s nucleus, releasing energy and emitting two neutrons. The resulting neutrons can split other nuclei, generating more neutrons, and thereby causing a self-sustaining reaction which can continue on its own. Fermi controlled the fission by inserting cadmium-plated control rods into uranium-235 to absorb neutrons. By then removing the rods one at a time, he allowed the reaction to increase slowly until it was self-sustaining with the number of emitted neutrons increasing exponentially.
Enrico Fermi’s nuclear chain reaction allowed physicists to harness the immense power of the nucleus, a critical step in the ability of the Manhattan Project to produce the first atomic bomb. At 3:53 p.m. on December 2, 1942, the coded message, “The Italian navigator has just landed in the new world,” delighted President Roosevelt and the nuclear age was born.
Post by Annie Tête, STEM Education Coordinator
Follow us on Twitter @wwiitoday for regular updates on 70th anniversaries in America’s WWII story featuring images, oral histories and artifacts from the Museum’s collection.
On December 1, 1942, mandatory gas rationing went into effect.
America’s military needed millions of tires for jeeps, trucks and other vehicles. Tires required rubber. Rubber was also used to produce tanks and planes. But when Japan invaded Southeast Asia, the United States was cut off from one of its chief sources of this critical raw product.
American overcame the rubber shortage in several ways. Speed limits and gas rationing forced people to limit their driving. This reduced wear on tires. A synthetic rubber industry was created. The public also carpooled and continued rubber scrap for recycling.
All automobiles received gas ration “grade.” “A” meant nonessential. “B” indicated work use (for instance, a car used by a traveling salesman). “C” stood for essential use (for example, doctors, clergy and civil defense workers). “T” was for long-distance trucks. Most cars were graded “A,” which meant the owner received stamps for three gallons of gas per week.
Tonight marks the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Tassafaronga, one of the last naval battles in the Guadalcanal Campaign. As with many of the battles in the Solomons, Tassafaronga involved an American attempt to derail the nightly Japanese resupply missions known as the Tokyo Express. And, like most of Guadalcanal’s naval battles, Tassafaronga was an American victory won at great cost.
The battle was set in motion on the 29th when US naval cryptographers intercepted a message informing the Japanese 17th Army on Guadalcanal of a resupply mission on the 30th. A force of five cruisers and eight destroyers under Rear Admiral Carleton Wright was ordered to intercept the eight Japanese destroyers steaming for Guadalcanal. On paper, the four American heavy cruisers and one light cruiser should have made short work of the Japanese force. However, as was often the case in the early years of the Pacific War, the Combined Fleet’s skill at night fighting and the excellent Long Lance torpedo turned the odds in Japan’s favor.
The two forces made contact just after 11:00 pm, as the Japanese destroyers were about to dump the supplies they brought for the 17th Army. The leading American destroyers fired 25 torpedoes, all of which missed their targets. The US cruisers then opened fire on the Japanese force, quickly disabling the IJN Takanami. As the Japanese force tried to disengage, they fired 44 torpedoes to cover their escape. The next few moments were some of the worst in US naval history.
First hit was Wright’s flagship, USS Minneapolis. Two torpedoes slammed into her, knocking out her power and wrecking her bow, which was nearly ripped off. Moments later a torpedo hit USS New Orleans, setting off her forward magazine. Everything forward of Turret 2, over 125 feet of the ship’s length, disappeared in a flash. The USS Pensacola then took a torpedo hit as she attempted to avoid the crippled cruisers ahead of her. Last to be hit was the USS Northampton, which took two torpedoes in quick succession. Three of her four engines were knocked out and raging fires broke out throughout the ship. The Northampton was abandoned 45 minutes after being hit. The USS Honolulu was the only American cruiser to escape the battle without damage.
Portside view of the USS Minneapolis, showing the hole caused by a Long Lance torpedo
USS New Orleans limps into port after losing her bow at Tassafaronga
The Battle of Tassafaronga lasted less than twenty minutes. In that time, one Japanese destroyer was sunk, but at the cost of one American heavy cruiser sunk and three others crippled. Tassafaronga gutted the US Navy’s cruiser force; after the battle there were only four active heavy cruisers left in the entire Pacific Fleet.
Despite the devastating losses, the Battle of Tassafaronga was a strategic victory for the US Navy. Wright’s force accomplished its mission of preventing the Japanese destroyers from resupplying the 17th Army on Guadalcanal. But it was a victory the US Navy could not afford to repeat.
Post by Curator Eric Rivet
Seventy years ago today, on 30 November 1942, President Roosevelt announced the First War Loan, an initiative to foster the sale of war bonds spearheaded by the US Treasury Department and Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau. Although war bonds had been sold since May 1942, aggressive bond drives with funding goals were established and the campaign initiated in November 1942 would be the first of seven such numbered drives. The First War Loan far surpassed its $9 billion goal and raised a total of $13 billion.
Post by Curator Kimberly Guise.
Young Marines enjoy fresh coffee after successfully taking Engebi Island of Eniwetok Atoll in February 1944. Gift of Mary Noble, 2010.130.081
Beginning on 29 November 1942, coffee was rationed for citizens on the American Home Front. Doing more with less wasn’t completely new to Americans, who by this point had become accustomed to the rationing of rubber, gasoline, cheese, clothing and other goods since the beginning of that year. The consumption of milk and sugar, the butter to coffee’s bread, was also curtailed. In the wake of coffee rationing, Postum–a drink made of roasted grains meant to substitute for coffee–became exceedingly popular during the war years. Believe it or not, even acorns were used to create a java-like drink!
The rationing of coffee wasn’t due to a lack of the product–in fact it was readily available from South America–but more so due to the lack of means to ship large quantities of what was considered an unnecessary luxury in wartime, as well as the ever-present danger to US merchant ships from German U-boats. Under rationing conditions, families were allowed one pound of coffee every five weeks. However, coffee was rationed for less than a year, released from the list in July 1943.
Read all of our blog posts related to rationing.
This post by curator Meg Roussel
Seventy years ago, on 28 November 1942, the tragic fire at the Cocoanut Grove occurred, claiming 492 lives. Around 1,000 guests who packed the popular Boston club—a series of dining rooms and lounges—on Saturday night of Thanksgiving weekend found themselves trapped inside by a fast-moving, highly-gaseous fire, which lasted a total of around 15 minutes. Military police, Red Cross workers, and Civil Defense personnel rushed to participate in the rescue efforts.
Among those who perished in the fire were 51 servicemen and two WAVES, with an additional 26 servicemen hospitalized for injuries. Some of those killed had just returned from battles overseas. Cowboy film star Charles “Buck” Jones, who was on a war bond tour, was also one of the victims. The disaster spurred widespread change in building codes and in fire ordnances—requiring outward swinging doors, alternate exits to revolving doors, and emergency exit lighting. Lessons learned from the tragedy of the Cocoanut Grove are still used today to teach fire safety and emergency management.
Post by Curator Kimberly Guise.
Today marks the 70th anniversary of the scuttling of the French fleet based at Toulon under orders from French Admiral Jean de Laborde. These measures were taken in order to prohibit the use of the ships by Axis powers following the unraveling of French-German relations after French cooperation with the Allies in Operation Torch–the invasion of North Africa–and the subsequent entry of German forces into the previously unoccupied Vichy -controlled region of France. Several German divisions were sent to Toulon with the sole purpose of preventing the scuttling of the French fleet there, but failed miserably–the French ultimately rendered more than 70 of their own ships useless.
Images are a Gift of the USS Slater: Destroyer Escort Historical Museum, 2010.555
Post by Curator Meg Roussel
Seventy years ago, on Thanksgiving Day, 26 November 1942, one of the most popular films of all-time, Casablanca premiered at the Hollywood Theater in New York City. Initially scheduled for release in June 1943, the premiere was hastily moved up to capitalize on publicity gained by the Allied landings in North Africa and eventual capture of Casablanca in November. The nationwide release wouldn’t be until 23 January, during the Casablanca Conference. Demonstrating the popularity and power of the film, Roosevelt’s Headquarters during the conference was referred to in code as “Rick’s Place.”
The classic film, which features a number of exiled and refugee European actors and crew, is in essence an anti-fascist propaganda piece in which Casablanca is portrayed as a waiting room for the safe haven of American shores. Casablanca exemplifies themes of romance, intrigue, internationalism, and ambiguity of character. As the 1942 trailer declares, the film is the “saga of six desperate people, each in Casablanca to keep an appointment with destiny.”
Post by Curator Kimberly Guise.
The National WWII Museum tells the story of the American Experience in the war that changed the world - why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today - so that all generations will understand the price of freedom and be inspired by what they learn.
945 Magazine Street New Orleans, LA 70130, Entrance on Andrew Higgins Drive
PHONE: (504) 528-1944 - EMAIL: info@nationalww2museum.org | Directions
The National WWII Museum Blog is proudly powered by WordPress 4.1.40 Entries (RSS) Comments (RSS).