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PEARL HARBOR
December 7th, 1941
On Sunday, December 7, 1941 the Japanese launched a surprise attack
against the U.S. Forces stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
By planning
his attack on a Sunday, the Japanese commander Admiral Nagumo, hoped to catch the entire fleet in port.
As luck would have it, the 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).
In spite of the latest intelligence reports about the missing aircraft carriers (his most important targets), Admiral Nagumo
decided
to continue the attack with his force of six carriers and
423 aircraft.
At
a range of 230 miles north of Oahu , he launched the
first wave of a
two-wave attack. Beginning at 0600 hours his first
wave consisted of 183 fighters and torpedo bombers which struck at
the fleet in Pearl
Harbor and the airfields
in Hickam, Kaneohe and
Ewa. The second strike, launched at 0715 hours,
consisted of 167
aircraft, which again struck at the same targets.
At 0753 hours the first wave consisting of 40 Nakajima B5N2 "Kate"
torpedo bombers, 51 Aichi D3A1 "Val" dive bombers, 50 high altitude
bombers and 43 Zeros struck airfields and Pearl Harbor .
Within the
next hour, the second wave arrived and continued the attack.
When it was over, the United States losses were:
United States Army: 218 Killed in action / 364
Wounded in action
United States Navy: 2,008 Killed in action / 710 Wounded
in action
United States Marine Corps: 109 Killed in action / 69 Wounded
in action
Civilians: 68 Killed in action / 35 Wounded
in action
Totals: 2,403 Killed in action / 1,178 Wounded
in action.
.
Battleships:
USS Arizona (BB-39):
Total loss when a bomb hit her magazine.
USS Oklahoma (BB-37):
Total loss when she capsized and sunk in the
harbor.
USS California (BB-44):
Sunk at her berth. Later raised and repaired.
USS West Virginia (BB-48):
Sunk at her berth. Later raised and
repaired.
USS Nevada (BB-36): Beached to prevent sinking. Later repaired.
USS Pennsylvania (BB-38):
Light damage.
USS Maryland (BB-46):
Light damage.
USS Tennessee (BB-43): Light damage.
USS Utah (AG-16):
(former battleship used as a target) - Sunk.
Cruisers:
USS New Orleans (CA-32):
Light Damage.
USS San Francisco (CA-38):
Light Damage.
USS Detroit (CL-8):
Light Damage.
USS Raleigh (CL-7):
Heavily damaged but repaired.
USS Helena (CL-50):
Light Damage.
USS Honolulu (CL-48):
Light Damage.
Destroyers:
USS Downes (DD-375):
Destroyed. Parts salvaged.
USS Cassin - (DD-372):
Destroyed. Parts salvaged.
USS Shaw (DD-373):
Very heavy damage.
USS Helm (DD-388):
Light Damage.
Minelayer:
USS Ogala (CM-4):
Sunk but later raised and repaired.
Seaplane Tender:
USS Curtiss (AV-4):
Severely damaged but later repaired.
Repair Ship:
USS Vestal (AR-4)
Severely damaged but later repaired.
Harbor Tug:
USS Sotoyomo (YT-9):
Sunk but later raised and repaired.
Aircraft:
188 Aircraft destroyed: 92 USN and 92 U.S. Army Air Corps.
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