Desired Poison's blog: "Pearl Harbor 66th Aniversary"

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a preventive attack on the United States Pacific Fleet base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii by the Empire of Japan's Imperial Japanese Navy, on the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941 that made the United States enter World War II. Two aerial attack waves, totalling 350 aircraft, were launched from six aircraft carriers with the intent to destroy the United States Pacific Fleet. The attack wrecked two U.S. Navy battleships, one minelayer, and two destroyers beyond repair, and destroyed 188 aircraft; personnel losses were 2,388 killed and 1,178 wounded. Damaged warships included three cruisers, a destroyer, and six battleships (one deliberately grounded, later refloated and repaired; two sunk at their berths, later raised, repaired, and restored to Fleet service late in the war). Vital fuel storage, shipyards, and submarine facilities were not hit. Japanese losses were minimal, at 29 aircraft and five midget submarines, with 65 servicemen killed or wounded. The intent of the strike was to protect Imperial Japan's advance into Malaya and the Dutch East Indies – for their natural resources such as oil and rubber – by neutralizing the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Both the U.S. and Japan had long-standing contingency plans for war in the Pacific, continuously updated as tension between the two countries steadily increased during the 1930s. Japan's expansion into Manchuria and French Indochina were greeted with steadily increasing levels of embargoes and sanctions by the United States and others. In 1940, under the Export Control Act, the U.S. halted shipments of airplanes, parts, machine tools, and aviation gas, which Japan saw as an unfriendly act.[4] Nevertheless, the U.S. continued to export oil to Japan, in part because it was understood in Washington cutting off oil exports would be an extreme step, given Japanese dependence on U.S. oil exports,[5][6] likely to be taken as a provocation by Japan. In the summer of 1941, after Japanese expansion into French Indochina, the U.S. ceased oil exports to Japan, in part because American restrictions on internal oil use were beginning.[7] President Franklin D. Roosevelt had earlier moved the Pacific Fleet to Hawaii and ordered a buildup in the Philippines, hoping to deter Japanese aggression in the Far East. The Japanese high command was (mistakenly) certain an attack on the United Kingdom's colonies would bring the U.S. into the war,[8] so a pre-emptive strike appeared to be the only way[8] Japan could avoid U.S. interference in the Pacific.[9] The attack was one of the most important engagements of World War II. Occurring as it did before a formal declaration of war, it pushed U.S. public opinion from isolationism to an acceptance war was unavoidable, as Roosevelt called December 7, 1941 "… a date which will live in infamy." Background to conflict Main article: Events leading to the attack on Pearl Harbor War between Japan and the United States had been a possibility each nation had been aware of (and developed contingency planning for) since the 1920s, though tension did not begin to seriously rise until Japan's 1931 invasion of Manchuria. Over the next decade, Japan continued to expand into China leading to all out war between the two in 1937. In 1940, Japan invaded French Indochina, partly in an effort to control supplies reaching China, and partly as a first step to gain improved access to resources in Southeast Asia. This move prompted an American embargo on oil exports to Japan, which caused the Japanese to decide to commence the planned takeover of oil supplies in the Dutch East Indies.[10] Preliminary planning for an attack at Pearl Harbor, to protect this move into the "Southern Resource Area" (the Japanese term for the East Indies and Southeast Asia generally), had begun in very early 1941, under the auspices of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, then commanding Japan's Combined Fleet. He won assent to formal planning and training for an attack from the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff only after much contention with Naval Headquarters, including a threat to resign his command. Full scale planning was under way by early spring 1941. Over the next several months, pilots trained, equipment was adapted, and intelligence gathered. Despite these preparations, the actual order to attack was not given until December 1st, after it was apparent diplomacy would not win a settlement satisfactory to Japan. On December 6, President Roosevelt read an intercepted Japanese message and told his assistant Harry Hopkins, "This means war."[11] He never warned Admiral Husband Kimmel or Lt. Gen. Walter Short after reception of the message before the December 7 Pearl Harbor attack. Approach and attack The attackers came in two waves. The first wave was detected by U.S. Army radar at 136 nautical miles (252 km), but was misidentified as USAAF bombers from the mainland. Top: A. Ford Island NAS B. Hickam Field C. Bellows Field D. Wheeler Field E. Kaneohe NAS F. Ewa MCAS R-1. Opana Radar Station R-2. Kawailoa RS R-3. Kaaawa RS G. Haleiwa H. Kahuku I. Wahiawa J. Kaneohe K. Honolulu 0. B-17s from mainland 1. First strike group 1-1. Level bombers 1-2. Torpedo bombers 1-3. Dive bombers 2. Second strike group 2-1. Level bombers 2-1F. Fighters 2-2. Dive bombers Bottom: A. Wake Island B. Midway Islands C. Johnston Island D. Hawaii D-1. Oʻahu1. USS Lexington 2. USS Enterprise 3. First Air FleetAt 03.42[12] Hawaiian Time, hours before commanding Admiral Chuichi Nagumo began launching strike aircraft, the minesweeper USS Condor spotted a midget submarine outside the harbor entrance and alerted destroyer USS Ward. Ward was initially unsuccessful in locating the target. Hours later, Ward fired America's first shots in the Pacific theater of WWII when she attacked and sank a midget submarine, possibly the same one, at 06:37. Five midget submarines had been assigned to torpedo U.S. ships after the bombing started. None of these returned, and only four have since been found. Of the ten sailors aboard, nine died; the only survivor, Kazuo Sakamaki, was captured, becoming the first Japanese prisoner of war.[13] United States Naval Institute analysis of photographs from the attack, conducted in 1999, indicates one of these mini-subs entered the harbor and successfully fired a torpedo into the USS West Virginia, what may have been the first shot by the attacking Japanese. Her final disposition is unknown.[14] Targets: 1:USS California 2:USS Maryland 3:USS Oklahoma 4:USS Tennessee 5:USS West Virginia 6:USS Arizona 7:USS Nevada 8:USS Pennsylvania 9:Ford Island NAS 10:Hickam field Ignored: A:Oil storage tanks B:CINCPAC headquarters building C:Submarine base D:Navy Yard First wave The first attack wave launched north of Oʻahu, commanded by Captain Mitsuo Fuchida. It included:[15] 1st Group (targets: battleships and aircraft carriers)[16] 50 Nakajima B5Ns armed with 800 kg (1760 lb) armor piercing bombs, in four sections. 40 B5Ns armed with Type 91 torpedoes, also in four sections. 2nd Group - (targets: Ford Island and Wheeler Field) 55 Aichi D3As armed with 550 lb (249 kg) general purpose bombs 3rd Group - (targets: aircraft at Ford Island, Hickham Field, Wheeler Field, Barber’s Point, Kaneohe) 45 A6Ms for air control and strafing[15] Each of the aerial waves started with the bombers and ended with the fighters to deter pursuit. As the first wave approached Oʻahu, an Army SCR-270 radar at Opana Point, near the island's northern tip (a post not yet operational, having been in training mode for months), detected them and called in a warning. Although the operators reported a target echo larger than anything they had ever seen, an untrained officer at the new and only partially activated Intercept Center, Lieutenant Kermit A. Tyler, presumed the scheduled arrival of six B-17 bombers was the source; the direction from which the aircraft were coming was close (only a few degrees separated the two inbound courses);[17] the operators had never seen a formation as large as the U.S. bombers' on radar;[18] and possibly because the operators had only seen the lead element of incoming attack. Several U.S. aircraft were shot down as the first wave approached land; one at least radioed a somewhat incoherent warning. Other warnings from ships off the harbor entrance were still being processed, or awaiting confirmation, when the planes began bombing and strafing. Nevertheless, it is not clear any warnings would have had much effect even had they been interpreted correctly and much more promptly. For instance, the results the Japanese achieved in the Philippines were essentially the same as at Pearl Harbor, though MacArthur had almost nine hours warning the Japanese had attacked at Pearl (and specific orders to commence operations) before they actually struck his command. The air portion of the attack on Pearl Harbor began at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time (3:18 a.m. December 8 Japanese Standard Time, as kept by ships of the Kido Butai), with the attack on Kaneohe.[19] A total of 361[15] Japanese planes in two waves reached Oʻahu. Slow, vulnerable torpedo bombers led the first wave, exploiting the first moments of surprise to attack the most important ships present (the battleships), while dive bombers attacked U.S. air bases across Oʻahu, starting with Hickam Field, the largest, and Wheeler Field, the main AAC fighter base. The 171 planes in the second wave attacked the Air Corps' Bellows Field near Kaneohe on the windward side of the island, and Ford Island. The only significant air opposition came from a handful of P-36 Hawks and P-40 Warhawks.[20] Men aboard U.S. ships awoke to the sounds of alarms, bombs exploding, and gunfire prompting bleary eyed men into dressing as they ran to General Quarters stations. (The famous message, "Air raid Pearl Harbor. This is not drill.",[21] was sent from the headquarters of Patrol Wing Two, the first senior Hawaiian command to respond.) Despite a lack of readiness, which included locked ammunition lockers, aircraft parked wingtip to wingtip to prevent sabotage, and no heightened alert status, many American military personnel served with distinction during the battle. Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd and Captain Franklin Van Valkenburgh (her skipper) both rushed to the bridge of USS Arizona to direct her defense, until they were killed by an explosion in the forward magazine, resulting from an armor piercing bomb hit next to turret two. Both were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Ensign Joe Taussig got his ship, USS Nevada, under way from a dead cold start during the attack. One of the destroyers, USS Aylwin, got under way with only four officers aboard, all Ensigns, none with more than a year's sea duty. That ship operated at sea for four days before her commanding officer managed to get aboard. Captain Mervyn Bennion, commanding USS West Virginia (Kimmel's flagship), led his men until he was cut down by fragments from a bomb hit to USS Tennessee, moored alongside. Gallantry was widespread. In all, 14 officers and sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor.[22] A special military award, the Pearl Harbor Commemorative Medal, was later authorized for all military veterans of the attack. Second wave composition The second wave consisted of 54 B5Ns, 81 D3As, and 36 A6Ms, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Shigekazu Shimazaki.[15] This wave and its targets comprised:[15] 1st Group - 54 B5Ns armed with 550 lb (249 kg) and 120 lb (54 kg) general purpose bombs[16] 27 B5Ns - aircraft and hangars on Kaneohe, Ford Island and Barbers Point 27 B5N - hangars and aircraft on Hickam Field 2nd Group (targets: aircraft carriers and cruisers) 81 D3As armed with 550 lb (249 kg) general purpose bombs, in four sections 3rd Group - (targets: aircraft at Ford Island, Hickham Field, Wheeler Field, Barber’s Point, Kaneohe) 36 A6Ms for defense and strafing The second wave was divided into three groups. One was tasked to attack Kâneʻohe, the rest Pearl Harbor proper. The separate sections arrived at the attack point almost simultaneously, from several directions. Ninety minutes after it began, the attack was over. 2,386 Americans died (55 were civilians, most killed by unexploded American anti-aircraft shells landing in civilian areas), a further 1,139 wounded. Eighteen ships were sunk, including five battleships.[2][3] Of the American fatalities, nearly half of the total were due to the explosion of USS Arizona's forward magazine after it was hit by a modified 40 cm (16in) shell.[23] Already damaged by a torpedo and on fire forward, Nevada attempted to exit the harbor. She was targeted by many Japanese bombers as she got under way, sustaining more hits from 250 lb (113 kg) bombs as she was deliberately beached to avoid blocking the harbor entrance. USS California was hit by two bombs and two torpedoes. The crew might have kept her afloat, but were ordered to abandon ship just as they were raising power for the pumps. Burning oil from Arizona and West Virginia drifted down on her, and probably made the situation look worse than it was. The disarmed target ship USS Utah was holed twice by torpedoes. USS West Virginia was hit by seven torpedoes, the seventh tearing away her rudder. USS Oklahoma was hit by four torpedoes, the last two above her belt armor, which caused her to capsize. USS Maryland was hit by two of the converted 40 cm shells, but neither caused serious damage. Although the Japanese concentrated on battleships (the largest vessels present), they did not ignore other targets. The light cruiser USS Helena was torpedoed, and the concussion from the blast capsized the neighboring minelayer USS Oglala. Two destroyers in dry dock were destroyed when bombs penetrated their fuel bunkers. The leaking fuel caught fire; flooding the dry dock in an effort to fight fire made the burning oil rise, and so the ships were burned out. The light cruiser USS Raleigh was holed by a torpedo. The light cruiser USS Honolulu was damaged but remained in service. The destroyer USS Cassin capsized, and destroyer USS Downes was heavily damaged. The repair vessel USS Vestal, moored alongside Arizona, was heavily damaged and beached. The seaplane tender USS Curtiss was also damaged. USS Shaw was badly damaged when two bombs penetrated her forward magazine.[24] Almost all of the 188 American aircraft in Hawaii were destroyed or damaged, 155 of those on the ground. Almost none were actually ready to take off to defend the base, having been parked wingtip to wingtip as a sabotage protection measure. Of 33 PBYs in Hawaii, 24 were destroyed, and six others damaged beyond repair. (The three on patrol returned undamaged.) Attacks on barracks killed additional personnel. Friendly fire brought down several U.S. planes, including some from an inbound flight from USS Enterprise. Fifty-five Japanese airmen and nine submariners were killed in the action. Of Japan's 414[15] available planes (361 took part in the attack), 29 were lost during the battle[citation needed] (nine in the first attack wave, 20 in the second).[25] with another 74 damaged by antiaircraft fire from the ground.