Not original, Red. The title reads “Newly colorized images have brought home the full horror of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on the 76th anniversary of the assault (pictured, the USS West Virginia, which was hit by seven torpedoes)”
The photographs are the work of Cardiff-based British electrician, Royston Leonard, 55, who painstakingly added color to the images: ‘The photos show what was an island at peace hit by the horror of war. I have that picture in front of me. It's in a book " The Universal History of the World; WW II and The Aftermath, Volume 15, on page 1255"; author Edna Ritchie published through the Golden Press, New York, 1966.
Unless Roy painstakingly painted the picture between 1 and 4 years of age, he didn't paint it. ...It's in its original color.
That's absolutely amazing, Red, and an absolutely brilliant catch. I googled him and there are massive numbers of websites showing his work. Pushing for an explanation, it might be that his colorization of an old b/w image is very like a color version of the same shot. It could be that before computers he colorized by the traditional water color methods. And it could be that he's not being honorable. What a terrible shame, if the latter.
Facebook of his picturesAnother possibility to give him an out. If the book in which he originally found the picture only showed it in b/w, he might have colorized that and never known a full color version existed. There. I feel much better for him now that he’s got a sensible excuse.