[Milsurplus] Japan's Pearl Harbor Blunders?

[Gene Smar]

Ray:

     If you ever get to the Baltimore or DC area, the National Electronics 
Museum outside BWI Airport has what it claims is THE Opana Point SCR-270 
RADAR unit out front.  The bedspring antenna array is the most prominent 
artifact at the entrance to the museum.  I don't recall if the display 
elements are also part of the exhibit - I was impressed with the antenna 
itself.  http://www.nationalelectronicsmuseum.org// .


73 de
Gene Smar  AD3F


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ray Fantini" <RAFANTINI at salisbury.edu>
To: "Joe Connor" <joeconnor53 at yahoo.com>; <milsurplus at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2013 4:00 PM
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] Japan's Pearl Harbor Blunders?


> According to the “Green Books” and other sources I have seen that SCR-270 
> was indeed at both locations. Remember reading about this years ago and 
> spent much time trying to find a SCR-270 to go see it for myself, always 
> wanted to see if it looked like the one in “Tora Tora Tora” knew it did 
> not look anything like the stupid PPI display they showed in that last 
> Pearl Harbor movie.
> RF
>
> From: Joe Connor [mailto:joeconnor53 at yahoo.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2013 12:14 PM
> To: Ray Fantini; Military Surplus Mail List (milsurplus at mailman.qth.net)
> Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] Japan's Pearl Harbor Blunders?
>
> Ray, your points are well taken, as are John's. Once we had decisive 
> battles like Coral Sea and Midway, where the capital ships never even saw 
> each other, even the older admirals realized the day of the battleship had 
> ended. Their main role would be using their big guns to support landings.
>
> If I remember correctly, there was a modern radar unit on Oahu (SCR-270?) 
> and it did pick up the incoming Japanese planes. However, it was 
> mistakenly believed that it was a flight of B-17s flying in from the west 
> coast. I'm not sure if that was a function of poor equipment, poor use of 
> the equipment, poor command use of the information the radar unit 
> produced, or a peacetime mentality that could not conceive of the Japanese 
> having the audacity to attack Pearl Harbor.
>
> If I remember correctly, there was at least one radar unit near Clark 
> Field in the Philippines. In the days immediately before the war, the 
> Japanese flew over Luzon at night. Our radar picked them up and fighters 
> (I guess they were called pursuits back then) scrambled to intercept them. 
> Our pursuits never found the intruders. The radar didn't detect the 
> attacks that obliterated Clark Field and the Cavite Naval Base in the 
> first few days of the war. Again, I'm not sure if the fault lies with the 
> equipment, the operators, the command or a peacetime mentality.
>
>                                      Joe Connor
>
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