An Artistic Interpretation
In the distance, storm clouds drop their torrent upon the sea as the ship breaks through heavy seas. The number on her bow — 85 — disappears and reappears with each crest of the waves. Suddenly above the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, as if it had traveled through a time portal, screams a Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat — a World War II fighter. Painted on her fuselage are the words "Minsi III" and 34 Japanese flags. An episode from "The Twilight Zone" perhaps? No, simply the latest pencil drawing by naval architect and artist Peter K. Hsu. A marine engineer and self-taught artist, Hsu recently presented a copy of his architectural portrait of Pre Commissioning Unit (PCU) McCampbell (DDG 85) to Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig.
A New View
For years, forensic historians relied on survivor and eyewitness testimonies and, if available, material testing or intelligence reports to help gather evidence to piece together an event. In the early 1990's, seduced by computer technology, photo imagery analysis gained a tremendous uplift enabling imagery scientists to use special algorithms to enhance and sharpen images; changing the way we view the world today. History recorded that five midget submarines deployed as advance forces to attack capital ships in Pearl Harbor had failed to inflict any damage. By the use of digital photo imagery combined with forensic engineering analysis technology, the results of an analysis on a single photograph taken during the 1941 attack will change that view.
