Pearl Harbor: Into The Arizona Page #2

- Cool.

- They created this really cool solution,

which is essentially a big spool

that pays out the cable as you go in,

and then picks the cable

back up as you go out,

and the advantage there

is you're not always

pulling on the cable to get

it further into the vessel.

- Oh, I'm sorry, dude.

- [Narrator] The new self-spooling tether

is designed to prevent the ROV

from getting snagged inside the ship,

a problem that has plagued

previous Arizona expeditions.

- You'll handle the ROV.

- Okay.

- I'm going to do some in-water filming.

- [Narrator] The team

hopes the new tether system

will allow them to look deeper

inside the ship than ever before.

- We're going to go slow,

first dive, first day.

We're going to go in an area where we know

we can get it out, should

we have any problems,

it's pretty accessible.

So we're going to take it slow.

We're going to head in

there and see what we get.

So, yeah, I'm psyched, we're ready to go.

- The mission does rest

on the ability of the ROV

and the tether system to work.

When we go in there, we

need to be effective,

and we need to be successful,

because we may not get another chance

for another 15 years.

(indistinct talking over radio)

- We are going to feed tether.

- [Narrator] The self-spooling

tether works flawlessly.

But, there are problems

with the thrusters,

and issues with the electronics

cause the video feed to go down.

- One set of motors went down.

- Copy.

- Let the vehicle sit for 10 minutes.

We're opening up the controller now.

Let's just get more right there.

- [Narrator] The source of the

problems are proving elusive.

The team is forced to cut

the test short for the day.

Despite the technical glitches,

the team hopes they can

still keep to their schedule.

- We all want this to succeed,

and, you know, for numerous reasons.

For the guys that lost their lives here,

for the guys that survived this.

The USS Arizona is ground zero

for the American

involvement in World War II.

- [Narrator] It was a war

America didn't want any part of.

In 1941, the world is

consumed by aggression.

Adolf Hitler's armies had

already marched across Europe.

In the Pacific, Japan is

fighting a brutal war in China,

and trying to expand its

own empire further south.

- [Newscaster] The

Japanese believe in making

an invasion pay for itself.

- [Narrator] Pearl Harbor survivors recall

what life was like at this time.

- We saw the newsreels about that,

but that didn't mean much to us.

That's 4,000 miles away.

- [Narrator] With the

world on fire, serving on

the remote islands of

Hawaii seemed a good choice.

- They said well, Cale,

you have your choice

of worldwide assignment.

Said hell, sent me to Pearl Harbor.

- It was idyllic.

There was always a lot of music

and a lot of dancing and things like that.

- It was just beautiful.

- [Narrator] Ensign Weedan

also enjoys life on the island.

He writes his sister.

- [Carl Voiceover] I've

been taking a few movies.

I've been doing the usual

things in port this time,

going swimming, sunbathing,

and sightseeing around the island.

- We enjoyed it very much,

til the rude awakening, of course.

- [Narrator] The U.S. Navy prepares itself

for a possible war with Japan.

Ensign Weedan writes home.

- [Carl Voiceover] We

were out for nine days.

The quicker we realize

that we are no longer

a peacetime navy, the better we will be.

Better off for everything.

All we do from now on is train,

train, and more training.

- [Narrator] Standing

in the way of Japan's

ambitions in the Pacific,

America's naval fleet

in Pearl Harbor, ready

to disrupt any invasion.

(speaking in Japanese)

- [Translator] We started torpedo training

in shallow water in September.

It was quite hard.

All we were told was that there would be

targets in shallow water.

- [Narrator] Secretly, the Japanese empire

gathers the Pearl Harbor attack fleet.

- [Translator] The fleet

was heading for Hawaii

for an attack, we were told.

But there were still peace

negotiations with America,

and if the negotiations worked out,

then the attack would be cancelled,

so we could turn around at any time.

But if the negotiations didn't work out,

we would declare war.

- [Narrator] December 7th.

In Oahu, the crew of the USS Arizona

is waking from their slumber.

- Well, we got up and around 5:30.

On a Sunday morning we

just cleaned, sweeped down,

we didn't holy stone or

we didn't scrub down,

or we didn't do any painting.

- [Narrator] 230 miles north of Oahu,

the Japanese carriers are in position

to launch their attack.

But weather conditions are not good.

(speaking in Japanese)

- [Translator] The sea

was extremely agitated.

The northern Pacific is often called

the Devilish Pacific, but it was actually

a three-headed devil Pacific.

There were waves, big as mountains.

- [Narrator] On board the

carriers, 342 airplanes,

Zero fighters, high-altitude bombers,

and torpedo planes are being readied.

It is 6:
20 a.m. when the first wave

of the strike force takes off.

- [Translator] There didn't seem to be

a reason to be worried,

because it looked like

we would make a surprise attack.

- [Narrator] At Pearl Harbor,

it's time for morning Colors.

Across from Battleship

Row at Hickam Airfield,

Seaman Rodrigues has just ended his watch.

- At 7:
45, I got relieved from my watch,

and went to have breakfast.

I had just set my tray down when we heard

a lot of rumblings, and

we thought nothing of it.

Well, I never had breakfast that morning.

(planes flying past)

(bombs exploding)

- [Narrator] The first

casualties on this morning,

35 servicemen who were having breakfast

in the Hickam Airfield's dining hall.

Onboard the Arizona,

Don Stratton steps onto

the main deck, when suddenly he hears

his fellow sailors shouting.

- [Narrator] The Japanese

first attack the air bases

with dive bombers, and

then set their sights on

the primary target, the battleships

anchored around Ford Island.

(speaking in Japanese)

- [Translator] We went down quickly,

then when we were only 10 meters up

we could aim for the target.

- [Narrator] Battleship Row proves

an easy target for Japan's pilots.

- [Narrator] Back at the site

where he fought for his life,

Don is curious to see

what's left of his ship.

The team presents Don with the new

sonar scans of the wreckage.

They reveal a complete

image of the sunken vessel

in incredible detail.

- Now we can rotate it in 3-D to kind of

give anyone who sees it that context.

So from the sonar data, we have tools

that can create a solid model, like this.

(contemplative music)

- It's a really emotional

place down there, true.

- Don, is this the area that

you were, the number six?

- Yes.

I was in one deck above the bridge

and the port antiaircraft director.

- [Narrator] Don can hardly

believe what he sees.

- When we saw this data

for the first time,

it sort of put the entire ship in context.

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