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Nagumo's fleet assembled in the remote anchorage of Tankan Bay in the [[Kurile Islands]] and departed in strictest secrecy for Hawaii on November 26, 1941. The ships' route crossed the North Pacific and avoided normal shipping lanes. At dawn on December 7, 1941, the Japanese task force had approached undetected to a point slightly more than 200 miles north of Oahu. No one sighted the force en route and it maintained complete radio silence.  Neither Japan's allies nor Japan's diplomats knew the strike was coming.  Nagumo did not know that the American aircraft carriers based at Pearl Harbor would not be there on December 7.<ref>The Japanese did not have current information on the disposition of ships at Pearl Harbor. On November 28, Admiral Kimmel sent USS ''Enterprise'' under Rear Admiral William Halsey to deliver Marine Corps fighter planes to [[Wake Island]]. On December 4 ''Enterprise'' delivered the aircraft and on December 7 the task force was on its way back to Pearl Harbor. On December 5, Admiral Kimmel sent the USS ''Lexington'' with a task force under Rear Admiral Newton to deliver 25 scout bombers to [[Midway Island]]. The last Pacific carrier, USS ''Saratoga'', had left Pearl Harbor for upkeep and repairs on the West Coast.</ref>

Nagumo's fleet assembled in the remote anchorage of Tankan Bay in the [[Kurile Islands]] and departed in strictest secrecy for Hawaii on November 26, 1941. The ships' route crossed the North Pacific and avoided normal shipping lanes. At dawn on December 7, 1941, the Japanese task force had approached undetected to a point slightly more than 200 miles north of Oahu. No one sighted the force en route and it maintained complete radio silence.  Neither Japan's allies nor Japan's diplomats knew the strike was coming.  Nagumo did not know that the American aircraft carriers based at Pearl Harbor would not be there on December 7.<ref>The Japanese did not have current information on the disposition of ships at Pearl Harbor. On November 28, Admiral Kimmel sent USS ''Enterprise'' under Rear Admiral William Halsey to deliver Marine Corps fighter planes to [[Wake Island]]. On December 4 ''Enterprise'' delivered the aircraft and on December 7 the task force was on its way back to Pearl Harbor. On December 5, Admiral Kimmel sent the USS ''Lexington'' with a task force under Rear Admiral Newton to deliver 25 scout bombers to [[Midway Island]]. The last Pacific carrier, USS ''Saratoga'', had left Pearl Harbor for upkeep and repairs on the West Coast.</ref>

Nagumo's force included, in addition to its supply train, six aircraft carriers, two battleships, two cruisers, nine destroyers, and three submarines. They reached position approximately 200 miles north of Oahu before dawn on 7 December (Hawaiian time.) Plans for the strike had been initiated during the previous summer, completed by early November. In September picked crews--with pilots who averaged better than 800 hours' flying time--from the Japanese First Air Fleet had begun a period of intensive training in horizontal and dive bombing and in the technique of torpedo attack in shallow waters. En route to the rendezvous above Oahu, with the ships under radio silence, the pilots were briefed on their coming mission. The primary target was the naval base of Pearl Harbor, the design to cripple the Pacific Fleet. It was hoped that at least four aircraft carriers and four battleships could be sunk or rendered useless for a long period. Exactly on schedule, at 0600 on the 7th, orders for the take-off were given. Shortly thereafter the first wave--fifty fighters, fifty horizontal bombers, forty torpedo bombers, and fifty dive bombers--roared off the carriers and headed toward Oahu. Forty-five minutes later fifty horizontal bombers, eighty dive bombers, and forty fighters followed as the second and last wave of attack.<ref> Wesley Frank Craven and James Lea Cate, eds. ''Army Air Forces in World War II: Vol. I: Plans & Early Operations, January 1939 to August 1942'' (1949), ch. 6</ref>

Nagumo's force included, in addition to its supply train, six aircraft carriers, two battleships, two cruisers, nine destroyers, and three submarines. They reached position approximately 200 miles north of Oahu before dawn on 7 December (Hawaiian time.) Plans for the strike had been initiated during the previous summer, completed by early November. In September picked crews—with pilots who averaged better than 800 hours' flying time—from the Japanese First Air Fleet had begun a period of intensive training in horizontal and dive bombing and in the technique of torpedo attack in shallow waters. En route to the rendezvous above Oahu, with the ships under radio silence, the pilots were briefed on their coming mission. The primary target was the naval base of Pearl Harbor, the design to cripple the Pacific Fleet. It was hoped that at least four aircraft carriers and four battleships could be sunk or rendered useless for a long period. Exactly on schedule, at 0600 on the 7th, orders for the take-off were given. Shortly thereafter the first wave—fifty fighters, fifty horizontal bombers, forty torpedo bombers, and fifty dive bombers—roared off the carriers and headed toward Oahu. Forty-five minutes later fifty horizontal bombers, eighty dive bombers, and forty fighters followed as the second and last wave of attack.<ref>Wesley Frank Craven and James Lea Cate, eds. ''Army Air Forces in World War II: Vol. I: Plans & Early Operations, January 1939 to August 1942'' (1949), ch. 6</ref>

==The attack==

==The attack==

At 6:00 a.m. on December 7, the six Japanese carriers launched a first wave of 181 planes composed of [[Nakajima B5N|torpedo bombers]], [[Aichi D3A|dive bombers]], horizontal bombers and [[Mitsubishi Zero|fighters]]. Even as they winged south, some elements of U.S. forces on Oahu realized there was something different about this Sunday morning.

At 6:00&nbsp;a.m. on December 7, the six Japanese carriers launched a first wave of 181 planes composed of [[Nakajima B5N|torpedo bombers]], [[Aichi D3A|dive bombers]], horizontal bombers and [[Mitsubishi Zero|fighters]]. Even as they winged south, some elements of U.S. forces on Oahu realized there was something different about this Sunday morning.

In the hours before dawn, U.S. Navy vessels spotted an unidentified submarine periscope near the entrance to Pearl Harbor. It was attacked and reported sunk by the destroyer USS ''Ward'' (DD-139) and a patrol plane. At 0700, an alert operator of an Army radar station at Opana spotted the approaching first wave of the attack force. The officers to whom those reports were relayed did not consider them significant enough to take action. The report of the submarine sinking was handled routinely, and the radar sighting was passed off as an approaching group of American planes due to arrive that morning.

In the hours before dawn, U.S. Navy vessels spotted an unidentified submarine periscope near the entrance to Pearl Harbor. It was attacked and reported sunk by the destroyer USS ''Ward'' (DD-139) and a patrol plane. At 0700, an alert operator of an Army radar station at Opana spotted the approaching first wave of the attack force. The officers to whom those reports were relayed did not consider them significant enough to take action. The report of the submarine sinking was handled routinely, and the radar sighting was passed off as an approaching group of American planes due to arrive that morning.

==Aftermath==

==Aftermath==

[[Image:U036055.jpg|right|200px|thumb|USS ''Bennington'' (CVA-20) passes the wreck of USS ''Arizona'' (BB-39) on Memorial Day, 31 May 1958. By the mid-1950's platforms were constructed over the sunken battleship for services to the more than 1,100 sailors and Marines entombed on board; a white marble memorial structure would span the wreck in 1962, inscribed with their names.]]

[[Image:U036055.jpg|right|200px|thumb|USS ''Bennington'' (CVA-20) passes the wreck of USS ''Arizona'' (BB-39) on Memorial Day, 31 May 1958. By the mid-1950's platforms were constructed over the sunken battleship for services to the more than 1,100 sailors and Marines entombed on board; a white marble memorial structure would span the wreck in 1962, inscribed with their names.]]

When the attack ended shortly before 10:00 a.m., less than two hours after it began, the American forces have paid a fearful price. Twenty-one ships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet were sunk or damaged: the battleships ''Arizona'', ''California'', ''Maryland'', ''Nevada'', ''Oklahoma'', ''Pennsylvania'', ''Tennessee'', and ''West Virginia''; cruisers ''Helena'' (CL-50), ''Honolulu'' (CL-48), and ''Raleigh'' (CL-7); the destroyers ''Cassin'' (DD-372), ''Downes'' (DD-375), ''Helm'' (DD-388), and ''Shaw'' (DD-373); seaplane tender ''Curtiss'' (AV-4); target ship (ex-battleship) ''Utah'' (AG-16); repair ship ''Vestal'' (AR-4); minelayer ''Oglala'' (CM-4); tug ''Sotoyomo'' (YT-9); and Floating Drydock Number 2. Aircraft losses were 188 destroyed and 159 damaged, the majority hit before they had a chance to take off. The AAF reported 64 of its 231 aircraft had been destroyed, and 79 of the remaining planes needed major repairs. At Hickam Field some of the more important administrative and engineering files, the base parachute section, and the overhaul and assembly sections of the Engine Repair Branch had been wiped out. Test equipment, about 75 per cent of the equipment of Aero Repair Branch, and more than half of the depot property stocks were destroyed. AAF casualties, especially at Hickam Field, were heavy, reaching a total of 163 killed, 43 missing, and 336 wounded. The Japanese canceled a third strike that would have knocked out the vital American oil supply, which proved critical to rebuilding Pearl Harbor in the months to come.

When the attack ended shortly before 10:00&nbsp;a.m., less than two hours after it began, the American forces have paid a fearful price. Twenty-one ships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet were sunk or damaged: the battleships ''Arizona'', ''California'', ''Maryland'', ''Nevada'', ''Oklahoma'', ''Pennsylvania'', ''Tennessee'', and ''West Virginia''; cruisers ''Helena'' (CL-50), ''Honolulu'' (CL-48), and ''Raleigh'' (CL-7); the destroyers ''Cassin'' (DD-372), ''Downes'' (DD-375), ''Helm'' (DD-388), and ''Shaw'' (DD-373); seaplane tender ''Curtiss'' (AV-4); target ship (ex-battleship) ''Utah'' (AG-16); repair ship ''Vestal'' (AR-4); minelayer ''Oglala'' (CM-4); tug ''Sotoyomo'' (YT-9); and Floating Drydock Number 2. Aircraft losses were 188 destroyed and 159 damaged, the majority hit before they had a chance to take off. The AAF reported 64 of its 231 aircraft had been destroyed, and 79 of the remaining planes needed major repairs. At Hickam Field some of the more important administrative and engineering files, the base parachute section, and the overhaul and assembly sections of the Engine Repair Branch had been wiped out. Test equipment, about 75 per cent of the equipment of Aero Repair Branch, and more than half of the depot property stocks were destroyed. AAF casualties, especially at Hickam Field, were heavy, reaching a total of 163 killed, 43 missing, and 336 wounded. The Japanese canceled a third strike that would have knocked out the vital American oil supply, which proved critical to rebuilding Pearl Harbor in the months to come.

American dead numbered 2,403. That figure included 68 civilians, most of them killed by improperly fused anti-aircraft shells landing in Honolulu. There were 1,178 military and civilian wounded.

American dead numbered 2,403. That figure included 68 civilians, most of them killed by improperly fused anti-aircraft shells landing in Honolulu. There were 1,178 military and civilian wounded.

The Japanese success was overwhelming, but it was not a strategic victory. They failed to damage any American aircraft carriers, which by a stroke of luck, had been absent from the harbor. They were unable to damage the shoreside facilities at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base, which played an important role in the Allied victory in [[World War II]] (it would have been impossible to do strategically significant damage to industrial facilities at Pearl Harbor with carrier-based aircraft). American technological skill raised and repaired all but three of the ships sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor (''Arizona'', ''Oklahoma'' and ''Utah''). Most importantly, the shock and anger caused by the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor united a divided nation and was translated into a wholehearted commitment to victory in World War II.

The Japanese success was overwhelming, but it was not a strategic victory. They failed to damage any American aircraft carriers, which by a stroke of luck, had been absent from the harbor. They were unable to damage the shoreside facilities at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base, which played an important role in the Allied victory in [[World War II]] (it would have been impossible to do strategically significant damage to industrial facilities at Pearl Harbor with carrier-based aircraft). American technological skill raised and repaired all but three of the ships sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor (''Arizona'', ''Oklahoma'' and ''Utah''). Most importantly, the shock and anger caused by the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor united a divided nation and was translated into a wholehearted commitment to victory in World War II.

==see also==

==See also==

* [[World War II in the Air]]

* [[World War II in the Air]]

[[Category:World War II]]

[[Category:World War II]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearl Harbor}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearl Harbor}}

[[category:warships]]

[[Category:Warships]]

[[Category:Naval Battles]]

[[Category:Naval Battles]]

[[Category:United States Navy]]

[[Category:United States Navy]]