WAR infographic

The Japanese plan was:

• To destroy the Pacific Fleet.

  • If they do that, the Americans would not be able to fight back

  • Admiral Yamamoto had initiated the attack against the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

  • The Japanese used the codename "Operation Hawaii" for the attack. This later changed to "Operation Z."

 

Prelude

• The naval base was not on a state on high alert.

• The naval facilities at Pearl Harbor were almost undefended.

• Almost the entire Pacific Fleet was tied around Ford Island in the harbor

• Hundreds of airplanes were crowded onto adjacent airfields.

• On November 26 a Japanese fleet with 360 planes sailed to a point 440 km north of Hawaii.

 

 

Attack

• On December 7 the Japanese launched their attack.

• The attack took place on a sunny Sunday morning.

• A minimal number of soldiers was on duty at the time.

• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise

 

• The Japanese bombers split into two groups.

  • One group proceeded overland at low altitude across the island just before 8 a.m.

  • One U.S. Army officer noticed large flight of planes on his radar. He was told to ignore them. Japanese bombers were mistaken for an incoming group of American planes which was expected at that time.

  • 45 minutes later, the other group flew over the water around the island

• By the time the attack was over, every battleship in Pearl Harbor had sustained significant damage.

• The attack lasted 110 minutes

 

Epilogue

• The Japanese destroyed nearly 20 American naval vessels, and more than 300 airplanes.

• More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded.

• The Japanese lost from 29 to 60 planes, five small submarines, two fleet submarines, and fewer than 100 men.

• The assault had left intact the base’s most vital onshore facilities–oil storage depots, repair shops, shipyards and submarine docks

• the Navy and Army commanders on Oahu, were relieved of duty

• The day after the assault, America declared war on Japan

• Sudden attack resulted in a enormous influx of volunteers into the U.S. armed forces.

 

Interesting facts

• The Pearl Harbor attack has been depicted in many films: Pearl Harbor in 2001, From Here to Eternity  in 1953, and the Tora! Tora! Tora! in 1970.

• American cryptanalysts had been ordered to concentrate on Japanese diplomatic traffic, rather than military messages. If it was the other way around - disaster of Pearl Harbor might have been prevented.

• Japanese Commander called out "Tora! Tora! Tora!" ("Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!") while flying over Pearl Harbor. It was a message to the Japanese navy telling them they had surprised Americans.

• U.S. staff were still in pajamas and eating breakfast when the attack began.

• “Remember Pearl Harbor!" - a rallying cry for the U.S. during World War II .

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• The significant innovation by the Japanese Navy was the use of air-launched torpedoes against the ships.

• The U.S. Navy had dismissed its importance to Pearl Harbor because previous harbor was around 23-meters deep, almost double the depth of Pearl Harbor. It was not believed by Americans that air launched torpedoes would work in shallow waters.

• The Japanese solved that problem by modifying their torpedoes to provide them a flatter glide path.

 

• The Japanese plan of attack had been designed by an American admiral Harry Yarnell ten years before WW2.

  • American admiral Harry Yarnell stated that Japan "had always started operations by attacking before a declaration of war."

  • He designed an attack plan for military competition in 1930’s that utilized carrier aviation to launch a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

  • He achieved total surprise.

  • The airfields were put out of commission

  • The attacking force scored multiple hits, by dropping sacks of white flour to simulate bombs.

  • The refeeres declared that Yarnell's attack had been a complete success and declared him the winner.

  • The Army complained that Yarnell had cheated.

  • He had attacked at dawn on a Sunday morning, a time considered "inappropriate" for an attack.

  • A decade later – Japanese used this idea as a role model for their naval attack. This time, “inappropriate” attack time became perfect time..