As we’ve seen in the previous episodes, the Japanese Empire had decided on war with the West
since the embargo enacted by the US in July, 1941. The plans to simultaneously execute invasions on
the Dutch East Indies, the Philippines and Malaya, as well as a preemptive attack on
Pearl Harbor to destroy the American Pacific Fleet, had all been drafted back in September,
with preparations carried out successfully by late November. By the way, don’t forget
to check out our podcast on the Pacific War – it has all the episodes in a longform format with
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The United States, meanwhile, was also well aware that war was imminent, engaging in negotiations
with Japan to delay this conflict as long as possible for their forces to adequately prepare.
But on November 26, the main Japanese strike force under Vice-Admiral Nagumo Chuichi had already left
its base heading to the Hawaiian Islands; thus, time was running out for the United States.
In Hawaii, the principal objective of the attack was Pearl Harbor,
the main naval base for the Pacific Fleet of the US because of its geographical advantages,
making it perfect for accommodating large warships and aircraft carriers. The Japanese planned
to bombard these ships using dive-bombers, high-altitude bombing and torpedo attacks,
hoping that the destruction of these vessels would be enough to render the Pacific Fleet inoperative;
that’s why they didn’t target the submarine base or the oil yard that were also present in Pearl
Harbor. This attack was so important to get an early win in the war that the planners had gone
to the extent of preparing mock ups and models on which the pilots could practice maneuvers, so
much so that thousands of hours of air time were spent in charting out the perfect plan of attack
while the Type 91 torpedoes of the era were modified with wooden fins
to be effective in shallow waters. Yet the plan of Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku
also had some flaws; one is that Pearl Harbor was a naval base, so rescue services could be
quickly mobilized and many sailors would be on shore leave, thus reducing the amount of possible
American casualties. Another drawback was that the American ships were moored in shallow waters,
so most of the destroyed vessels could be salvaged and repaired with comparative ease.
But the most important disadvantage was that the three aircraft carriers of the Pacific Fleet were
absent from Pearl Harbor on the day of the attack. This was something that the Japanese command knew,
as many spies had already acquired detailed reports of all vessels and schedules at Pearl
Harbor, but they decided to attack anyways, even though these carriers were one of the most
important objectives of the operation. Meanwhile, in the American base, Major-General Walter Short
and Admiral Husband Kimmel were concerned about a possible attack on Pearl Harbor,
believing that they could be subjected to a naval invasion or a sabotage operation.
In that regard, all army aircraft was bunched together for more protection at Wheeler Field,
although this also made it an easier target for an air attack; munitions were secured;
coastal artillery was put on alert; carriers started to rotate in and out of harbor;
and ships and naval aircraft started to patrol in search of submarine threats to shipping.
As their preparations show, they were definitely not expecting an air attack.
On December 2, while cruising onwards, Nagumo received orders to start the
final preparations for the attack on Pearl Harbor, scheduled to commence five days later.
Although the Japanese commander was worried that they might encounter American ships on their way,
none came, and by December 7, the Japanese task force had finally reached its destination.
At predawn , the operation began with Japanese midget submarines starting to stalk some American
minesweepers that were on patrol, attempting to shadow their prey into the safety of the harbor
while the anti-submarine net was open. Meanwhile, Nagumo ordered the first wave
of aircraft to prepare for take-off at 06:15. Commanded by Fuchida Mitsuo, the first 183 planes
then steadily took off from their six aircraft carriers some 250 miles north of Oahu. At 06:30,
they adopted V-formation and headed southwest towards Pearl Harbor. A couple minutes later,
some Japanese submarines were discovered and one was sunk by the destroyer Ward in what would be
the first shots of the Pacific War. Around 07:00, the radar post on Opana Ridge identified a group
of more than 50 aircraft 132 miles north of Oahu and then notified headquarters,
which didn’t receive the message because the personnel had left for breakfast. At the same
time, Nagumo ordered the 168 aircraft of the second wave to take off, commanded by Shimazaki
Shigekazu. Commander Fuchida then sighted the northern shore of Oahu at 07:40, relieved to
see no enemy aircraft in front, and subsequently ordered his pilots to deploy into attack formation
at 7:49. Because of a misunderstanding of his orders, both the dive-bombers and the torpedo
planes simultaneously commenced their operations. Wheeler Field, one of the main objectives due
to the concentration of most of the American aircraft, was first systematically bombarded
by the dive-bombers and then repeatedly shredded with gunfire by A6M Zeros.
Most of the planes were completely destroyed as a result, but twelve pilots managed to
get into their fighters to lift off and engage the Japanese in dogfights.
Meanwhile, torpedo forces split into two strings, with 16 planes closing on their targets northwest
of Ford Island and with 24 planes going south to Hickam Field and Battleship Row intending to
attack enemy battleships and aircraft. Some eleven fighters also turned east to attack Kaneohe,
arriving at 07:53 and completely neutralizing the American aircraft there.
At the same time, the Ewa Marine Air Corps Station came under attack by eight Zeros,
leaving behind Wildcats blazing, scout-bombers burning and utility aircraft destroyed.
Pearl Harbor itself was finally attacked at 07:55, six minutes after the assault commenced,
and the Pacific Fleet would be caught unaware with a rude and violent awakening. As dive-bombers
started their bombardment over Hickam Field, torpedo planes nosed down on Pearl Harbor,
leveling and dropping their deadly loads into the water. Northwest of Ford Island, the ex-battleship
Utah and the cruiser Raleigh reeled under torpedo explosions, while to the south of the island, the
TenTen Pier experienced a slashing attack in which the cruiser Helena was hit. On Battleship Row,
the battleship Oklahoma was the first one to get hit by torpedoes at 07:57. At this point,
alarms had been sounded and men started to pour from below decks to man the anti-aircraft guns .
Soon after 08:00, the Oklahoma received three more torpedo hits that left her capsizing,
while the battleship Arizona was attacked with armor-piercing bombs that penetrated the deck and
caused small fires. The repair ship Vestal nearby was also hit by these bombs, but it continued to
fire against the Japanese planes even while engulfed in flames. And behind the Oklahoma,
the battleship West Virginia was hit by two bombs that caused serious fires and by a total
of seven torpedoes that opened two large holes and caused extreme damage; while on the other side,
the battleship California was attacked by torpedo bombers that managed to hit her around 08:05,
tearing two huge holes that started a flooding. As the Oklahoma capsized,
Arizona was hit for a fourth time at 08:06, piercing her forward magazine and causing
such a powerful explosion that a fireball erupted from the ship, tearing her in half.
Vestal’s fires were suddenly extinguished due to the concussion, but oil from ruptured tanks of the
Arizona reignited the repair ship a couple minutes later, forcing Commander Cassin Young to ground
the Vestal . The West Virginia was also set on fire by fuel leaking from the destroyed Arizona,
and she would end up sinking due to the damage. 429 men died that day in the Oklahoma,
while the Arizona suffered 1177 losses including its two leading commanders . This was more than
half the total number of casualties the US would receive in this attack.
At the same time, a recon squadron of SBDs, coming from the aircraft carrier Enterprise
some 200 miles west of Oahu, arrived at the battle and was quickly engaged by the Japanese,
but its efforts couldn’t prevent their enemy from destroying half the aircraft at Hickam Field.
Around 08:10, one of the torpedo bombers managed to hit the battleship Nevada , causing a small
flooding, but at the same time getting shot down by the American gunners. Ten minutes later,
after some relentless bombardment and surrounded by the fires of the Arizona , the battleship
Tennessee was hit by two bombs that luckily didn’t cause serious damage, although fragments of the
bombs were sent flying and ended up killing Captain Mervyn Bennion of the West Virginia.
Around 08:30, Japanese aircraft identified the remaining battleship, Pennsylvania, undergoing
a refit at Dry Dock No. 1, and then started to bombard it for the next fifteen minutes.
Although one of the bombs caused large fires on the destroyers Cassin and Downes nearby,
the Pennsylvania only got hit once and suffered no serious damage for it. At the same time,
Shimazaki’s second wave reached the east coast of Oahu, but waited for the given command to attack,
and at 08:45, the California was struck by a bomb that started serious fires
and caused considerable damage, although she continued to resist for the next few hours.
While the Japanese planes made their last sorties with less intensity, the Nevada managed to control
her flooding and then started to get away from the row . Around 08:50, a momentary
pause in the battering occured as the second wave was ordered to commence its operations.
Thus, over the Koolau Mountains, 78 dive-bombers advanced directly towards Pearl Harbor,
intending to continue the bombardment over the American vessels. Meanwhile,
18 bombers and 17 fighters attacked Kaneohe and 27 bombers and some fighters took a wide sweep
around the south of the mountains to attack Hickam Field. By 09:00, the rain of death had resumed,
but this time the US forces were determined to offer more resistance. On Kaneohe, the bombers
made strikes on the hangars and managed to explode one of them, while the Zeros continued farther
south to Bellows Field, shredding with machine-gun fire the enemy aircraft there. On Hickam,
the Japanese resumed their bombardment over the field, but were met with considerable opposition,
so they continued towards Ewa and Wheeler. The main attack also resumed over Battleship Row,
hitting the battleship Maryland at 09:08 and causing a small flooding, although she
would continue to fight for another day. Around 09:20, Pennsylvania’s drydock was also hit again,
finally exploding the destroyers there and causing severe damage on the battleship . But the
strong American resistance forced the Japanese aircraft to target whatever ship they could,
starting more attacks over cruisers and destroyers and not over their real objectives, so in the end,
the second wave would be much less successful than the first one because of this fierce opposition.
Around 09:50 however, the Nevada would be struck by five bombs as she steamed past the TenTen Pier,
thus suffering severe damage, although she would manage to safely return to shallow waters . The
California would also succumb to its damage around 10:00, so her crew would have to abandon her and
she would finally sink over the next three days. Commander Fuchida would be the last aircraft to
remain in Hawaii while he conducted his recon and assessment flight over Oahu,
finally returning around 11:00. When he reached the aircraft [carrier?] Akagi at 13:00,
his report dissuaded Nagumo from ordering a third wave directed against American infrastructure,
like the submarine base or the oil yard. He decided this because they were running low on fuel
and because they had lost the element of surprise, but this would prove to be a very bad decision in
the future. The operation, however, was considered a huge success in Japan, damaging or sinking all
eight battleships , among other vessels , damaging or destroying 219 American aircraft
and causing 3497 casualties on the US with only minimal losses . Consequently, the Japanese had
acquired naval superiority in the Pacific and could then continue with their plans of expansion.
But before the smoke had drifted away in Hawaii, the American sleeping giant had awakened ashamed
and angered, and it wanted revenge. The Japanese war declaration had been scheduled to reach
Washington before the attack on Pearl Harbor, but delays in the decodification and transcription of
the message caused it to arrive one hour after the attack had commenced. The following day, FDR would
then give his famous Infamy Speech, taking on the role of the innocent victim and targeting Japanese
treachery to urge Congress to declare war on the Empire of Japan. Thus, the Pacific War had begun.
This week we will cover the Japanese offensive directed against the resource-rich British
colonies , so make sure you are subscribed and have pressed the bell button to see it.
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