This short 1947 U.S. Navy training film (MN-5348D) shows the intelligence that is gathered through Navy photography missions and gives viewers a look at the men who take the photographs, develop the photographs, and interpret the images. The film opens with a plane flying through the sky, followed by a shot of a Navy task force at sea. Viewers see ships’ guns moving into position and planes taking off from carriers (01:10). Men review the mission in a chart room. A man photographs enemy targets from an airplane. Highly trained officers called Photographic Interpreters, or PIs, look through magnifying glasses at reconnaissance photographs to identify enemy targets (01:59). Men carry cameras to a Consolidated B-24 Liberator (02:42); Liberators are shown flying through the air. A plane drops camera film via parachute to a camp where men develop the photographs. A reconnaissance photograph shows an enemy air field (03:42). Two men load a flash bomb onto a plane (04:47). A cameraman fires a flash bomb during a night flight. A reconnaissance photograph shows an enemy harbor and their shipping operations (06:44). There is footage of a ship as seen through a submarine periscope (07:17). Another photograph shows enemy industrial plants. Bombs are dropped from B-24s (08:28). The Navy task force prepares for its mission (09:15); viewers see landing craft loaded with soldiers waiting for orders to move to shore. In the CIC (combat information center), men monitor radars and maps as they assist gunners with firing on enemy targets (09:58). A pilot looks at an air spot mosaic developed from earlier reconnaissance photos. A beachmaster coordinates a supply dump on a beach (11:10). Paratroopers are briefed with a large map. Officers examine a 3D model of a map derived from mosaic photographs assessed by the PIs (12:00). Men work on developing reconnaissance photographs and interpreting them. Jeeps drive up a dirt road (14:13) on what appears to be a South Pacific island; an MP directs traffic. Officers study a large map of previously unsurveyed areas. Men work on creating a large mosaic map (15:14). Viewers see some of the photography instruments inside a plane. An airborne magnetometer is lowered from a B-25. In Antarctica, a plane taxis on a runway. A photographer shoots film from a plane. The film concludes with aerial footage of the Statue of Liberty and the New York City skyline.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com