HH104 AMERICAN NAVAL HISTORY

PEARL HARBOR

 

 PACIFIC NAVAL BALANCE

    Japan has about a 2:1 numerical advantage compared to US Pacific fleet overall

 

JAPAN’S ATTACK PLAN – 6 CVs w/360 planes in 2 waves at dawn on Dec. 7, 1942

    JAPANESE COMMANDERS

ADM Yamamoto, VADM Nagumo

 

    DIPLOMATIC ACTIONS

Negotiations continued in DC; Japs wanted free hand in Asia and an end to the American oil embargo

Planned to inform US 30 min prior to attack of the permenant end to negotiations

 

AMERICAN COMMANDERS – Admiral Kimmel, LTGen Short

JAPAN’S TARGET – Pearl Harbor and airfields on Oahu

 

JAPAN’S WEAPONS

    Carrier task fleet; 1st Air Fleet is the strike force.  Includes 6 CV escorted by DDs, bships, bcruiser, and tankers; 31 ships

    SUBMARINE FORCE (SPECIAL ATTACK FORCE) – Setup to prevent escape; 5 midget subs sent into harbor (all lost)

    AIRCRAFT – Val à Dive bomber … Zero à fighter and strafe ground targets … Kate à torpedo and high-level bombers

    TORPEDO ATTACK – NV, WV, CA, OK, and UT take torpedoes and sink

 

THE LAUNCH – 0530 – 2 Zeroes scout Pearl … 0630 – 1st wave launched … 0715-0730 – 2nd wave … 90min to Pearl from CVs

 

EARLY WARNINGS – 1) Radar contact (thought to be B17s [they returned b/w the two waves]) … 2) midget sub sunk earlier that morning

 

U.S.S. ARIZONA - 1st bomb glanced off turret and blew up the flag officers pantry; 2nd blew the ship in half, sinking it in minutes, killing 1177

 

SORTIE OF THE NEVADA – Only bship to get underway; was hit trying to get out of the harbor; ran aground to prevent blocking the entrance fully

 

THAT NIGHT 6 US planes from USS Enterprise cleared to land at Pearl but 4 are shot down when US ships open fire, thinking they were Japs

 

CIVILIAN DAMAGE

Antiaircraft fire lands in Honolulu killing 68 civilians

Martial Law declared – Japanese invasion expected

 

U.S. LOSSES – 300+ planes, 300,000 tons (eight bships, 3 DDs, 3 Cruisers, 8 aux), 3,600+ casualties (2,400 killed)

JAPANESE LOSSES – 30 planes, 5 midget subs, 1 sub, 185 casulaties

 

FATE OF THE JAPANESE TASK FORCE

4 CVs sunk at Midway; 1 CV later; last CV from Pearl task force sunk; only 1 of 32 ships (the tanker) survives