Spectacular Photos of Pearl Harbor Attack Unearthed
December 7th 2008 05:00
On Sunday the 7th of December, 1941, the Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack against US forces stationed at Pearl Harbor, which killed a total of 2,403 people and injured another 1,178.The United States was not at war with Japan.
The Japanese attack force consisted of six aircraft carriers and 423 aircraft, commanded by Admiral Nagumo. At a range of 230 miles north of Oahu, he launched the first wave of a two-wave attack.
Beginning at 0600 hours the first wave of 184 aircraft was launched. It consisted of 40 Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" torpedo bombers, 51 Aichi D3A1 "Val" dive bombers, 50 high altitude bombers and 43 Zeros. The second wave was launched at 0715 hours and included a further 167 aircraft.
At 0753 hours the first wave of 184 attack aircraft struck at the fleet in Pearl Harbor and the airfields in Hickam, Kaneohe and Ewa. By a stroke of fortune that altered the course of the war, all of the US Aircraft Carriers and one of the Battleships were not in port. The USS Enterprise was returning from Wake Island, where it had just delivered some aircraft. The USS Lexington was ferrying aircraft to Midway, and the USS Saratoga and USS Colorado were undergoing repairs in the United States.
As a result the Japanese were forced to aim for secondary targets, wreaking havoc amongst the battleships and cruisers, and destroying the airfields. The second wave of 167 Japanese aircraft arrived within the hour and continued the attack on the same targets.
The battleship USS Arizona was destroyed with great loss of life when a bomb hit her magazine. The battleship USS Oklahoma was a total loss after capsizing and sinking in the harbor.
The battleships USS California and USS West Virginia were both sunk at their berths, but were later raised and repaired. The USS Utah was sunk, the USS Nevada was beached to prevent sinking and three other battleships received light damage.
The cruiser USS Raleigh was heavily damaged and the cruiser USS New Orleans, USS San Francisco, USS Detroit, USS Helena and USS Honolulu all suffered light damage.
At the end of the day, casualties included 68 civilians killed and 35 injured. The US Army lost 218 men KIA and 364 WIA and the USMC lost 109 KIA and 69 WIA.
The US Navy suffered the greatest death toll, 2,008 KIA and 710 WIA. Many of these men belonged to the 1,177 strong crew of the USS Arizona when it blew up and sank with all but 337 survivors aboard. The USS Arizona remains where it sank to this day as a permanent memorial to the 840 men entombed in her.
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