Pearl Harbor.
A military base on the Hawaiian island of Oahu on the southern coast. Home base to some 18,000 military men, and based to a number of battleships, sub and aircraft carriers. Ford Island which sits in the middle of the harbor is an airfield.
During World War II, it was the farthest place one could get from the fighting.
But the Americans had little idea that it was all about to change.
The only threat in the Pacific was Japan, and when their oil supply was cut off. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto has proposed a dangerous and risky plan, going into war, he decided a massive sudden on the Pacific Fleet - Pearl Harbor.
Yamamoto himself has respect on America, and knew that Japan couldn't win a long war against the American. He believed a sudden strike would devastate the Americans of not going into war.
At dawn of December 7, 1941, the Japanese fleet of 6 carriers hauling 353 planes were 230 miles north of Oahu. And the first wave launched with 183 planes, and their attack was devastating. Many planes and ships were destroyed, including the USS Arizona as it's explosion took 1,177 lives. Some of them were brothers. And the second wave was to finish the job as the Americans were ready this time, and only 29 Japanese planes were shot down throughout the entire attack.
Yet, brave moments rose up during the nearly 2 hours of attack.
Doris Miller a resident from Texas who was a cook on the West Virginia got to an A.A. gun fired at the passing planes. That act of courage and bravery earned him of becoming the first black American to earn the Navy Cross. And 2 friends, George Welch and Kenneth Taylor who were also pilots, managed to get to Haleiwa airfield which wasn't hit yet have managed to climb into P-40 Warhawk fighters and took off and managed to shoot down 7 Japanese Zeros. A fourth of the Japanese planes shot down. It was one of the few things that were cheered.
When the attack was finally over, the damage was already done.
2,403 lives were lost, over half from the Arizona alone.
The attack on Pearl Harbor has proven to be one of the most tragic days in American history.
03:42 Ensign R.C. McCloy, aboard the minesweeper Condor, spots a periscope in the darkness.
03:57 The Condor to the destroyer Ward: "Sighted sub-merged submarine on westly course, speed 9 knots."
06:00 The first wave of the Japanese attack takes off for Hawaii from ships anchored north of the islands.
06:45 The Ward fires depth charges and sinks the Japanese sub.
07:02 Private Joseph Lockard and George Elliott pick up blips on radar. They are told by a superior that what they have spotted is an incoming flight of American Planes.
07:49 Commander Fuchida Mitsuo issues the attack signal as his plane passes just off Lahilahi Point. 4 minutes later he calls out, "Tora! Tora! Tora!"-code words confirming that the Japanese have surprised their enemy.
07:55 The raid begins at Pearl Harbor as the Raleigh, Helena, Utah and Oklahoma are struck.
07:56 There are 2 explosions on the Arizona.
07:58 As bombs explode on Ford Island, Lt. Comdr. Logan Ramsey sends the message, "Air raid, Pearl Harbor. This is not a drill!"
08:02 25 bombers dive toward Wheeler Field.
08:03 Machine and antiaircraft guns aboard the Cummings, California, Swan and the submarine Cachalot open fire.
08:06 A 1,763-pound missile fired by PO Kanai Noboru hits the Arizona. It demolishes the forward magazine, setting off shock waves that are felt by planes 10,000 above. In that instant, some 1,000 men perish. The Arizona, engulfed in flames and smoke in the late morning, would burn for 2 days. The explosion caused the front upper portion of the ship to collapse into the hull; thus the forward superstructure tilted 45 degrees and forward guns hovered just above the waterline.
08:08 2 bombs strike the West Virginia, whose captain, Mervyn Bennion, is mortally wounded by a piece of shrapnel that flys from the Tennessee.
08:10 (13:40 E.S.T.) In Washington, President Roosevelt in informed by Navy Secretary Frank Knox that there has been a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor.
08:12 The Utah capsizes.
08:14 Americans set up machine guns at Wheeler Field and fire at Japanese planes, bringing down 1 Zero.
08:15 Rescue workers pull men out of the burning water, where oil was incinerating.
08:25 At Schofield Barracks, Lt. Stephen Saltzman and Sgt. Lowell Klatt fire rifles at a Zero as it strafes them. The men keep shooting until the plane crashes. Japanese planes attack Hawaiian firemen at Hickam Field, killing 3.
08:30 Sailors on the Downes open fire on attack planes.
08:35 A number of U.S. planes returning from a scouting mission, unable to land on Ford Island, head instead for Ewa Field to the west, where the Japanese have damaged or destroyed all 47 Marine planes. When one of the planes touches the ground, a Marine runs out and shouts, "For God's sake, get into the or they'll strafe you too!" The plane manages to take off again. The first wave of the attack ends. "Amputees. They started coming on, and they had arms and legs shot off - a terrible mass of tissues, bones, blood," recalls 2d Lt. Elizabeth Murphy, a nurse at Tripler General Hospital.
08:47 The destroyer Blue gets under way, with Ens. Nathan at the helm. When 2 planes dive toward the ship, sailors respond with .500caliber machine guns, downing a Japanese plane.
08:50 The battleship Nevada heads out, in part because wounded Ensign Joseph K. Taussig Jr. has managed to start the second boiler. The Japanese shot the ship leaving the harbor and determine to sink her, hoping to block the channel. (14:20 E.S.T.) In Washington, Secretary of State Cordell Hull, well aware of what is transpiring in Hawaii, erupts when given a note from the Japanese breaking off peace talks: "I have never seen a document that was more crowded with infamous falsehoods and distortions - on a scale so huge that I never imagined until today that any government on this planet was capable of uttering them."
08:54 The second wave of the Japanese attack, under the command of Lt. Comdr. Shimazaki Shigekazu, swarms over Pearl. 54 high-level bombers and 78 dive-dive spread out to hit ships, airfields and barracks throughout Oahu, while 36 fighters maintain air control.
09:00 A formation of Zeros strikes Bellows Field, blowing up a gasoline truck and hitting a plane from the 44th squadron as it tries to take off.
09:05 At Wheeler Field, 27 Japanese planes attack aircraft that are parked on the ground. The Japanese also strike barracks, service buildings and a baseball field.
09:06 A bomb hits the Downes while she sits in dry dock. Another strikes Adm. Husband E. Kimmel's flagship, the Pennsylvania, detonating guns and ammunition.
09:08 Dive-bombers attack the Raleigh; one bomb misses the ship's aviation tanks by mere feet.
09:10 In order not to block the channel that leads out of the harbor, Lt. Comdr. J.F. Thomas beaches the wounded Nevada at Hospital Point.
09:15 Captain J.W. Bunkley, who has spent the night ashore, return to the California. The ship has been hit numerous times and is in flames. Within an hours, Bunkley is forced to abandon his ship.
09:20 A bomb passes through the dock alongside the cruiser Honolulu. It explodes underwater, flooding part of the ship and damaging her oil tanks.
09:28 Gunners aboard the Mugford shoot down a Japanese bomber after it pulls out of its dive alongside the ship's port bow.
09:37 A large explosion on the battleship Cassin causes her to roll over onto the Downes.
09:40 The flames on the West Virginia reach as high as the foretop. The wounded are removed from the ship.
09:43 Sailors aboard the Tern pull survivors out of the water. They will rescue 47 in all.
09:50 The Blue picks up the signal of a submarine. She maneuvers to attack and drops 6 depth charges. An oil slick and air bubbles rise to the surface. The ship then detects another signal from a submarine that appears to be bearing down on the St. Louis. That sub, too, is sunk by a depth charge.
10:00 The Japanese first wave returns, victorious and exultant, to its aircraft carriers north of Hawaii. Robert Shivers, head of the FBI's Honolulu bureau, places a guard at the Japanese consulate. Elsewhere, the wounded are being attended to; the dead are being found and identified by their dog tags.
10:04 A Japanese midget sub shoots 2 torpedoes at the St. Louis, which has made its way clear of the channel. Captain George Rood has the ship change course; the torpedoes strike near the harbor's entrance. Sailors fire at the sub when it surfaces.
10:05 Hawaii's Governor Joseph Poindexter calls local newspapers to announce a state of emergency for the entire territory.
10:10 As a sense that the air attack has ended spreads throughout Oahu, ships report and mobilize - even as sailors keep watch for a third wave of planes. The Reid reports that it has suffered no damage or casualties, and gets under way.
10:20 Rumors abound. A U.S. attack group of 15 VSB scout bombing planes, each carrying half-ton bombs, is sent to scout 30 miles south of Pearl, as there have been reports of enemy carriers and possible landing forces.
10:30 To the west, at Japanese Imperial headquarters in Tokyo, it is announced that Japan is now at war with the United States of America.
10:36 The Wasmuth drops a depth charge, and a spread of oil and bubbles indicates it hit a sub.
11:27 4 A-20 light bombers join the search for enemy vessels reported to the south. The feared third wave of attack never appears.
11:35 The Breese picks up the sound of a submarine and drops 2 depth charges. Soon after, an oil slick appears, followed by debris. The Breese continues the attack by dropping 4 depth charges. Destroyers in the area hurry to the scene to make certain that the sub has been destroyed.
11:42 Believing that the Japanese have used - and perhaps are still using - radio signals to home in on the area, the U.S. Army orders all local stations off the air except for special announcements.
11:46 Japanese troops are again reported to be landing on Oahu - another of many false sightings.
12:10 Pilots led by Lt. Comdr. Halstead Hopping set out for an area 200 miles north of Hawaii, searching for the Japanese.
12:21 It it reported that there are 9 unidentified aircraft over Guam. The Japanese do, in fact, attack that island on December 7.
12:30 Honolulu police raid the Japanese embassy. They find consulate members burning coded books in a washtub. The police seize a large envelope filled with undestroyed papers. All is in confusion; there is no telling what might be invaluable or incriminating.
13:00 Commander Fuchida lands aboard the Akagi. His is the last plane to return to the Japanese carriers.
13:12 The U.S. Army reports that 4 enemy transports are off Barbers Point to the southwest of Pearl Harbor, thus continuing the day's stream of erroneous intelligence.
13:30 Hawaii's territorial director of civil defense orders nighttime blackouts. Many miles to the north, signal flags are waved aboard the Japanese aircraft carriers Akagi, setting in motion the fleet's withdrawal from the region.
15:00 Officers aboard the Tennessee pick up a report that Wake Island has been attacked by as many as 30 Japanese bombers.
16:25 Governor Piondexter institutes martial law on all Hawaiian islands.
16:28 As search and rescue efforts continue throughout the harbor, the fire on the West Virginia is reported to be finally under control.
21:00 U.S. bombers arriving at Oahu from the aircraft carrier Enterprise, which has been on maneuvers away from Pearl Harbor, are mistaken by American ground troops for enemy planes and fired upon.
05:15 (DECEMBER 8, MORNING) Hawaiian police erroneously report enemy parachute troops landing in Kaliki Valley.
05:17 Submarines are sighted off Diamond Head.
06:45 Police radio reports that all schools are closed and urges citizens to stay home. Cleanup begins. Many bodies are in pieces, beyond identification. They are fingerprinted and placed in pine boxes for burial.
Author's Note:
I can only imagine what it must've been truly like that day, but 1 word to use would terrifying. This story is mainly based on the attack shown in 2001 film, Pearl Harbor. And added a little from the attack in Midway, 2019. I know that the 2001 film had a few inaccuracies here and there, but it's enough to get the job done.
The main chapter is now the longest chapter. +19,240.