Attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
Admiral Harold R. Stark, Chief of Naval Operations (U.S.)
Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, Naval Commander at Pearl Harbor (U.S.)
Major General Walter Short, Army Commander at Pearl Harbor (starting April 1941, U.S.)
Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander of the Combined Fleet
Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, Commander of Pearl Harbor Attack Group
Commander Minoru Genda, Japanese Air Commander, Pearl Harbor Strike Force
Japan is densely populated and very resource poor!
**Japan s Military Plan for Attacking Pearl Harbor Attack Pearl Harbor to destroy the U.S. Pacific Navy Fleet This would give Japan at least 6 months to conquer land in SE Asia that would give her the oil {from conquering the Dutch East Indies} she needed to run her military. Then Japan would have enough power to defeat the U.S.
USS Langley, the first American aircraft carrier, commissioned 1922 (notice the open flight deck)
USS Lexington, commissioned 1927
USS Saratoga, commissioned 1927
F4 F Wildcat, most common in first two years of the war.
F4F Wildcats on the deck of the USS Wasp in 1942
Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
European Colonies in Southeast Asia / Pre-WWII
Article = The Surprise Attack: Pearl Harbor Read paragraph # 4 on page 4 and answer question # 1 below. 1. How did the Japanese modify their torpedoes and for what purpose? Read paragraph # 1 on page 5 and answer question # 2 below. 2. The battleship Arizona had the single greatest loss of life of any ship in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Explain why. 3. What is the meaning of the word, magazine, as used in the article? 4. Draw one battery of deck guns on a battleship and the magazine beneath it. Read paragraph # 5 (top right column) on page 5 and answer the question below. 5. Explain why the planes at Hickam and Wheeler Airfields were so heavily damaged by the attack. Read the last page of the article, entitled The Nimble Nemesis of Allied Fighters, and answer the two questions below. 6. What was the main advantage of the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero airplane? 7-9. Explain three things that gave the Zero this advantage.
Pearl Harbor had shallow waters. {40 to 45 deep}
Aerial photo of Pearl Harbor, 2001
Japan had been fighting the S.U. in this area until Neutrality Act of April 1941 July 1941 Japan took control of Indochina, formerly a French colony
In response to the Japanese takeover of French Indochina, Pres. Roosevelt froze Japanese assets in the U.S. and joined with the Netherlands & England to place an oil embargo on Japan! Japan relied on these nations for 88% of her oil supply!! Pres. Roosevelt wanted to stop the Japanese military advance, but not provoke her. Didn t work. Put Japan against the wall! {oil storage field in Port Arthur, Texas}
The Japanese Plan Was to Simultaneously Attack: Pearl Harbor Wake Island Guam British Malaya British Hong Kong Philippines Dutch East Indies British Burma
The Japanese Strike Force Consisted of: Pearl Harbor Strike Force = left from Kurile Islands. Led by Chuichi Nagumo. Built around 6 aircraft carriers Japanese Advance Expeditionary Force = Left from Marshall Islands. 27 large subs. 5 carrying midget subs. Each midget had 2 torpedoes. Subs remain off coast Oahu after attack to ambush any Amer. ships not sunk.
Pearl Strike Force Leaves from here on Nov. 26, 1941 {Chuichi Nagumo} Japanese Strike Force launced from 220 miles NW of Oahu Jap Adv Exped. Force Leaves from here
Japanese 2 man midget submarine like those in Japanese Adv. Exped. Force
Japanese Midget Submarine
Battleships NOT protected by torpedo nets (thought would impair mobility) Anti-aircraft munitions stored in locked boxes (sabotage mode) No barrage balloons over harbor No equipment for smoke screens over ships General Short had ordered Army planes lined up in sabotage mode (wings folded) due to high Japanese population in Hawaii
Anti-torpedo Net
Buoys at the top of anti-sub net
Carrier USS Lexington passing through a smoke screen
USS Cony Lays a Smoke Screen
The Attack on Pearl Harbor 7 Dec. 1941 3:42 am - - Minesweeper USS Condor spotted periscope of a midget sub at harbor entrance and called Destroyer Ward which searched for 2 hours and found nothing After 6:00 am - - PB4 Flying Boat (plane) sighted and marked a midget sub trying to sneak into Pearl Harbor behind the repair ship Antares
Minesweeper USS Condor
Destroyer USS Ward
PB 4 Catalina Flying Boat
The Attack on Pearl Harbor 7 Dec. 1941 6:45 am - - Destroyer Ward attacked the Japanese midget sub 6:45 am - - Army mobile radar station at Opana Point (northern shore of Oahu) detected a small blip north of Oahu (Japanese cruiser float planes sent as scouts)
Radar station at Opana Point on the NW corner of Oahu
The Attack on Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941 6:54 - - Destroyer Ward notified Naval Commander that it sunk a Japanese submarine. The anti-sub net at the entrance to Pearl Harbor had been opened at 5:00 am and was still open!! 7:15 am - - Army mobile radar picked up large radar blips approx. 132 miles north of Oahu. Both radar sitings were reported to the young fill-in officer at headquarters. He told radar operators not to worry they were an incoming fleet of B-17s from CA.
Antisubmarine net
Buoys at the top of anti-sub net
The Attack on Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941 7:25 am - - Admiral Kimmel was notified of the attack on a Japanese sub. **Kimmel failed to issue a general alert to Pearl! He thought it was not serious!
The Japanese Strike Force Attacked with a total of 353 Planes: 1. Launch zone was 220 miles NW of Oahu 2. 50 planes carried **armor-piercing shells converted to bombs for attacking battleships (wooden fins & 5 second delay fuse attached) 3. 40 planes carried torpedoes with 450 lb. warheads and wooden fins to keep them shallow in 40 deep Pearl Harbor 3 Waves of Attack were Planned 7:53 1 st wave hit with 183 planes 8:50 2 nd wave hit with 170 planes ** 3 rd wave was cancelled!!
Pearl Strike Force Leaves from here on Nov. 26, 1941 {Chuichi Nagumo} Japanese Strike Force launced from 220 miles NW of Oahu Jap Adv Exped. Force Leaves from here
Mitsubishi Zero Fighter Plane
**Armor Piercing Gun Shells The Japanese used **armor piercing gun shells so they could penetrate through the top two decks of a ship and explode in the **magazine of the battleship. This would set off all the gun shells and gunpowder bags that were stored in the magazine to create a MASSIVE explosion. Shells were fitted with a 5 second delay fuse. This gave the shell time to get into the magazine before it exploded.
Pearl Harbor had shallow waters. {40 to 45 deep} Yamamoto ordered **wooden fins to be placed on the back of torpedoes so they would stay shallow in the water.
USS Arizona gun magazine explodes!
USS Arizona Burns!
USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii (sunken ship under white memorial with glass floor)
Japanese Sen Toku Submarine with Portable Planes
Sen Toku Portable Aircraft
Japanese Kaiten Type I Torpedo Sub
Mark 7, 50 cal guns on USS Iowa
Mark 7 16 guns firing on the USS Iowa
**Magazine = the rooms, beneath a large gun, that hold the supply of gun shells & gunpowder bags that go in the gun.
Hoisting 1900 lb. shell to firing tray USS Iowa
Firing Mark 7, 16 guns on the USS Iowa!
Powder bags placed behind shell in Mark 7 gun
Powder bags ready for ramming!
Shell coming up hoist to breach of gun
Key Japanese Mistakes at Pearl Harbor: 1, Admiral Chuichi Nagumo cancelled the third wave of air attacks that was supposed to take place. This wave was supposed to hit: a. Ship repair yards b. Machine shops c. Oil and fuel tank farms d. Submarine docks Since the 3 rd wave was called off, the ship repair yards were used to repair all damaged American ships but two (Arizona & Oklahoma). If the Japanese had destroyed the oil tank farms, it would have taken 6 months to restore them. 2, The Pearl Harbor Attack changed American public opinion. Now Americans wanted to go to war and get revenge!!
The Aftermath of Pearl Harbor: American Losses: 188 planes destroyed 159 planes damaged 18 warships sunk or seriously damaged. **All ships except two were repaired and fighting again within 6 months!!! 2403 men killed Japanese Losses: 29 planes destroyed 1 regular submarine destroyed 5 midget subs sunk 168 men killed
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt 1933 1945 {only President to serve 4 terms}
December 8 th, 12:30 PM Pres. Roosevelt declares war!
Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, Naval Commander at Pearl Harbor (U.S.)
Major General Walter Short, Army Commander at Pearl Harbor (starting April 1941, U.S.)