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}

Jap Adv Exped.

Force Leaves

from here

Japanese

Strike Force

launced from

220 miles NW

of Oahu

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.

Anti-

submarine

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 1st wave hit with 183 planes

8:50 2nd wave hit with 170 planes

** 3rd wave was cancelled!!

Pearl Strike Force

Leaves from here

on Nov. 26, 1941

{Chuichi

Nagumo}

Jap Adv Exped.

Force Leaves

from here

Japanese

Strike Force

launced from

220 miles NW

of Oahu

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 3rd 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 8th, 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.)