Photo By Justice Vannatta | Pictured in Dry Dock 1: USS CASSIN (DD-372) leaning against USS DOWNES (DD-375). Both...... read more read more
You might never have heard his name, but you may well have seen his historic work.
Tai Sing Loo (1886–1971) grew up in Honolulu with two brothers and three sisters in an area that is now Foster Botanical Garden. His photography career began in 1908 when he went to work for an art shop in Honolulu. In 1918, he took a job with the U.S. Navy, eventually becoming Pearl Harbor’s official photographer. There, he pioneered the practice of photographing ships so they appeared to be framed by palm trees.
Many of Loo’s well-known photographs include pre- and post-attack images of Pearl Harbor and of presidential and celebrity visits to Hawaii. He covered local sports events, including surfing photos of Hawaii’s famous Duke Kahanamoku. He captured magnificent images of Hawaii Island’s volcanoes, took photos for the Inter-Island Steamship Company, and was an accomplished landscape photographer.
According to the Pearl Harbor Banner (Aug. 4, 1945, p. 6), Loo also worked in the District Labor Office Identification Photo Laboratory, where he produced photographs for the identification badges of thousands of Pearl Harbor Navy Yard workers.
Loo is also credited with helping to break Japanese codes placed by local Japanese loyalists in bogus newspaper ads, detailing when the Japanese Imperial Navy’s attack on Pearl Harbor would occur and what the plane formations
At 8:30, Dec. 7, 1941, Loo had an appointment to take a group photo of the Marine guards in front of the base’s new “Pearl Harbor” concrete entrance for a Christmas card the Marines could send home to their families. Sunday morning, as he waited for his bus at the corner of Wilder Avenue and Metcalf Street, he saw the sky over Pearl Harbor filled with smoke. When he got off at Bishop and King Streets to get a cup of coffee, he witnessed fire engines rushing down Bishop Street, sirens blaring, and taxis full of Sailors and Marines dashing toward Pearl Harbor. Loo initially thought a Navy oil tank had caught on fire and was the source of the thick black smoke billowing above the naval base. At the main gate, he found Marines fully armed, machine guns at the ready.
As he looked for a ride to his on-base studio where he could grab his camera, Loo did his best to remain calm in the midst of war planes dropping bombs left and right on the Shipyard’s dry docks, Ford Island and Hickam Field, terrific explosions shaking the ground, and multiple fires breaking out. Finally, he reached the studio and got his camera, but then realized that, without his well-known trademark helmet, he might be mistaken for a Japanese and shot by the base defenders. He quickly visited the Supply Department to pick up a steel helmet – one in his small size, green with a white stripe.
Loo then made his way to Dry Dock 1 where Marines of the Navy Yard Fire Department were manning fire hoses to soak live depth charges on the stern of USS Pennsylvania (between USS Cassin and USS Downes) so they wouldn’t explode. More volunteers soon arrived to help suppress the fire, persisting in their efforts even after explosions knocked them to the ground. Loo helped coordinate the volunteers and find more.
As the attacks persisted, Loo climbed up on staging and took the iconic photo (shown to the left.) Later in the day, Loo drove around the Yard on his famous bright red “put-put” delivering sandwiches and juice to famished and thirsty Leathernecks. Many of the other images you may have seen in historical accounts are additional examples of Tai Sing
Loo’s determined efforts to document the events of that infamous day. Loo retired in 1947 and was honored by the Navy in 1984 for his gallant efforts on “the day that would live in infamy.” He passed away in 1971 – but his photos live on.
| Date Taken: | 12.01.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 12.08.2021 15:30 |
| Story ID: | 410745 |
| Location: | PEARL HARBOR, HI, US |
| Hometown: | PEARL HARBOR, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 312 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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