U. S. NAVY VESSELS IN TOKYO BAY, 1945

Destroyers at Tokyo Bay - 1945      I found this picture in Walter's collection for the years 1940 to 1945. It had no identification on it and I have no idea as to its source. I hope that either you will enjoy seeing it as much as I did, that it may bring back some memories for you, as it did for me, or that you may simply find it interesting and beautiful.

 

USS New Mexico (BB 40) - August 1945 via email from Charles Greenlaw, 1-21-06 Dear Mr. Cooper,      Browsing with great interest the Pioneer Pilot Walter Lees website last night, I came to two photos in Gallery 11 (WW 2 years), each having captions that reveal uncertainty in what is shown, that I wish to comment on.      There is a photo at sea, captioned, "Ships, Unidentified, 1945?" The setting very much resembles that in this striking August 1945 photo of USS New Mexico (BB 40) with Mt Fuji in the background, which may be viewed online here: USS New Mexico      Also, this same Gallery 11 photo, "Ships, Unidentified, 1945?" has just been published in the Feb 2006 issue of Naval History magazine, by U.S. Naval Institute, on page 35, in an article on surrender events at Tokyo Bay by David W. McComb, titled "Destroyers at Tokyo Bay". This photo's caption reads, "Ships of the Allied Third Fleet rest at anchor in Sagami Wan beneath Mt. Fuji on the evening of 27 August." (the article is online, but only to subscribers.) A map in the article identifies Sagami Wan as a large open bay to seaward (south) of Tokyo Bay, and east of Mt Fuji.      So your existing caption is essentially correct, and the question mark could be deleted.

Gallery 11