The Siren Board

This is maybe a strange topic or question, but I just have to know....

Would Pearl Harbor (pre-Dec. 7th '41) have had air raid sirens? What kind? Or what would their warning devices be? Horns?

Mac wrote:This is maybe a strange topic or question, but I just have to know....

Would Pearl Harbor (pre-Dec. 7th '41) have had air raid sirens? What kind? Or what would their warning devices be? Horns?

If they did have Air Raid Sirens, the chances are, they would have been hand crank kinds. My guess is they were only sounding while they were under attacked but the men that operated them would've been killed by the enemy planes. In the movie "Pearl Harbor", there is a short scene of a Air Raid Siren sounding but it doesn't show what kind cause it was only an audio of a Air Raid Siren sounding. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Biersach & Niedermeyer Co. made their first siren in 1942 which is the Mobil Directo. The Big Bertha was another siren America made somewhere in the 1940's which was replaced by Chryslers in the 1950's.

I believe that there were sirens present during the attack on 12-7-41, but they were not activated in time. That famous photo of the men installing the cone-shaped mystery siren was at Pearl Harbor some time after the attack. On what few military bases I've been on, however, the older buildings seem to have Model 5's on them.

Yes, Pearl Harbor did have a network of air raid sirens prior to December 7, 1941. According to one of my father's friends who was an MP stationed in Pearl Harbor starting in June of 1941, they often conducted air raid drills, which increased in frequency through December of that year. Sadly, the network was not activated until after the attack began on Dec. 7th.

The siren system at Pearl Harbor consisted of a several Model 5s, which were dual-tone units. The sirens were activated from a central office that used landline activation to control each siren simultaneously. They were originally supposed to go overseas, but the U.S. Navy needed a system right away, so off they went to Hawaii.

Interestingly enough, I remember seeing an old black and white photo from 1939-1941 in Honolulu, of a Sterling M-5 or M-10 on a building in the background. In the foreground were a few firemen in dress uniforms standing next to a new fire engine. It has been ages since I saw that photo, but the Sterling siren really stood out in my mind.

Hickam Field, was also covered by the same air raid siren network prior to December 7th, 1941. There was a central office, which was responsible for setting off the sirens. However, I have no idea what kind of controls they used at that time.

Hm, Model 5's.... For some reason I was picturing something larger I guess.

I was actually just at Pearl Harbor last week and they now have those rare sirens (I have NO clue what they're called). I believe they have them in Washington DC...they're a tall array of mini speakers. Anyone know what they're called?

ACAP10 wrote:I was actually just at Pearl Harbor last week and they now have those rare sirens (I have NO clue what they're called). I believe they have them in Washington DC...they're a tall array of mini speakers. Anyone know what they're called?

Federal Signal DSA?

?

I think those were built by Hormann.

Mac wrote:Hm, Model 5's.... For some reason I was picturing something larger I guess.

In the 1940's, before the Chrysler sirens were marketed, there really wasn't anything larger than the Model 5. There were other brands but all were around the same size. The theory then was to use more sirens for greater coverage. Today it is to use fewer, but more powerful, sirens.