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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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