Pearl Harbor

PEARL HARBOR

On December 7, 1941 while the Secretary of State was meeting with two

Japanese diplomats in Washington, DC, a surprise attack was being launched

on the United States by Japanese military forces at Pearl Harbor. This was

the beginning of WW II. The attack killed 2388 people and wounded

approximately 2000. Twenty one American ships and more than 300 planes

were damaged or destroyed. Only 29 aircraft out the 353 that were used in the

attack by the Japanese were lost.

On December 8 President Roosevelt addressed the Congress and called

December 7 “a date which will live in infamy”. Congress then declared war on

Japan.

The following is a time line of events which took place on that memorable

Day, the beginning of WW II:

3:42 am - Personnel of the minesweeper Condor spot a periscope in the

water while patrolling off the entrance to Pearl Harbor. They send a message

to the destroyer Ward by blinking light.

6:10 am - The first wave of Japanese planes leave their aircraft carrier.

6:45 am - The destroyer Ward fires first shot at the sub, misses, fires second

shot and hits. The submarine appears to be slowly sinking so the captain of the

destroyer orders depth charges to be dropped. This was the first shot of WW II.

6:53 am - Message sent from destroyer Ward to Pearl Harbor Naval Station,

“We have attacked, fired upon and dropped depth charges upon a submarine

operating in a defensive sea area.”

7:02 am - Oahu radar station operator sights 50 or more aircraft bearing down

on Oahu.

7:20 am - An Army lieutenant who is in training at Fort Schafer gets the

Opana radar station report which reads “the biggest sightings” the radar

operator had ever seen. He believes that the radar has picked up a flight

of U.S. bombers flying from California to Hawaii. Because of security reasons

He could not tell this to the radio operators so he just tells them not to worry

about it. The planes now are only 70 miles away.

7:33 am - President Roosevelt and General Marshall learn from a decoded

Japanese message that the two negotiators have been told to break off the

talks. Believing this may mean war, they notify the commander of the U.S.

Army forces in Hawaii.

7:49 am - The attack begins. Japanese destroy 27 of the 33 U.S. bombers.

A 55 pound bomb is dropped on barracks killing 35 men while they are eating

breakfast. Another bomb completely wiped out the base chapel. They

destroyed 42 Warhawk pursuit planes. The U.S.S. Oklahoma is sunk. The

U.S.S. West Virginia, hit by several torpedoes, settles on the harbor bottom,

her decks above water but in flames. Torpedoes hit the U.S.S. Arizona while

in dry dock. The U.S.S. Nevada is hit by a torpedo and bombed but still

manages to shoot down the Japanese torpedo plane. The U.S.S. Utah is

mistaken for a carrier and is struck by two torpedoes, cap sizes and kills