Skip to content

This Damn Navy

The Diary of a Naval Aviator
  • Home
  • About James Claire Nolan

Author: 1271941

July 22, 1942 (Wednesday)

July 22, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Scouted around the Navy Yard this afternoon for dope on the South Sea Islands and succeeded in having…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: July, 1942

July 21, 1942 (Tuesday)

July 21, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor After a morning swim, I went into town about noon, and did a little browsing in bookstores and…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: July, 1942

July 20, 1942 (Monday)

July 20, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Patrol southwest – nothing, not even a fish.

Continue Reading →

Posted in: July, 1942

July 19, 1942 (Sunday)

July 19, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Worked around squadron. Ran into Chuck Allen of VP 72 — first time I’ve seen him in almost…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: July, 1942

July 18, 1942 (Saturday)

July 18, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Day off. Went into town and looked up Marion Robinson – the girl whom Noje’s roommate at Roswell…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: July, 1942

July 17, 1942 (Friday)

July 17, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Spent the morning collecting data on combat tactics. Gunnery hop this afternoon. Met “Phil” Phillips and John Franklin…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: July, 1942

July 16, 1942 (Thursday)

July 16, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Up most of the night. Slept all of forenoon. Yesterday’s task force returned this afternoon — only a…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: July, 1942

July 15, 1942 (Wednesday)

July 15, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Have the duty today and tonight. A task force pulled out from here this morning bound for —…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: July, 1942

July 14, 1942 (Tuesday)

July 14, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Patrol southwest – nothing. A PBY from Kaneohe disappeared in a southwest sector yesterday. Three from here and…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: July, 1942

July 13, 1942 (Monday)

July 13, 2017 1271941

Pearl Harbor Ambled into squadron at 10:30 – only two hours late! Scheduled for a gunnery hop in the afternoon.…

Continue Reading →

Posted in: July, 1942

Posts navigation

← Older posts
Newer posts →

A secret for 75 years

Kailua resident James Claire Nolan kept a secret most of his life. A Navy pilot during World War II, he kept a detailed diary and drew pictures throughout the conflict, a practice frowned upon by security-minded authorities. When he died in the early 1990s, he entrusted the pages to his friend and military historian Burl Burlingame of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Burlingame is now Historian at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum.

Trained as a navy bomber pilot, Nolan was rushed to the Dutch East Indies as war broke out and returned to Pearl Harbor, where he was pressed into service flying PBY “Catalina” flying boats on patrol.

Later, Nolan served with distinction at the battle of Midway, on Guadalcanal and became the personal pilot for Vice Adm. Aubrey Fitch. Nolan said his proudest moment came when in the summer of ’43 he discovered the slowly sinking bow of USS Helena, sheared off by a Japanese torpedo several days before and covered with desperate survivors. He stuck with the ship until help arrived.

After the war, Nolan joined the US Air Force and continued to fly. In civilian life, he was a historian at Hickam Air Force Base.

We are publishing these diary entries exactly 75 years to the day after these pages were written. Except for very minor spelling and grammatical updates, they are as written — including observations that may seem not “politically correct” these days. It is a look into the mindset of a young man fighting a war across a vast ocean.

This site will remain active for five years. It is sponsored by historical-interpretation company Pacific Monograph.

Categories

  • April, 1942
  • April, 1943
  • August, 1942
  • August, 1943
  • December, 1941
  • December, 1942
  • December, 1943
  • February, 1942
  • February, 1943
  • February, 1944
  • January, 1942
  • January, 1943
  • January, 1944
  • July, 1942
  • July, 1943
  • June, 1942
  • June, 1943
  • March, 1942
  • March, 1943
  • March, 1944
  • May, 1942
  • May, 1943
  • November, 1941
  • November, 1942
  • November, 1943
  • October, 1942
  • October, 1943
  • September, 1942
  • September, 1943
Copyright © 2025 This Damn Navy — Primer theme by GoDaddy