What a difference 7 months makes

This throwback picture from 77 years ago today shows Pearl Harbor on a war footing just over a half-year after its Day That Will Live In Infamy.

It is of the fabled fleet carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), taken 12 July 1942 off Ford Island. She would leave Pearl just three days after this image was taken to join TF 61 to support the amphibious landings in the Solomon Islands.

NH 83990

Note Grumman F4F Wildcat on barge aft alongside, also extensive anti-torpedo nets and well-camouflaged buildings on Ford Island. The slick shown in the water is likely from the battleships sunk on Dec. 7, 1941, which were being salvaged at the time.

For reference, planes from Enterprise had just a month before at the Battle of Midway attacked and disabled the Japanese carriers, Kaga and Akagi, leaving them ablaze, then followed up by doing the same to the…