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Pearl Harbor
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Possible Attack on Pearl Harbor
Adm. Yamamoto begins communicating with other Japanese officers about a possible attack on Pearl Harbor. -
U.S. Ambassador
The U.S. ambassador to Japan wires Washington that he has learned Japan is planning a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. No one in Washington believes him. -
Bomb Plot
The “bomb plot” message from Japanese naval intelligence to Japan’s general in Honolulu requesting a grid of the locations of the ships in Pearl Harbor is deciphered. The information isn’t shared. -
Transit to HI
The main aircraft carriers and escorts begin the transit to Hawaii. -
Decode Message
U.S. intelligence decodes a message pointing to Sunday morning as a deadline for some kind of Japanese action. The message is delivered to the Washington high command more than 4 hours before the attack on Pearl Harbor. But the message is not forwarded to the Pearl Harbor commanders in time. -
USS Condor
3:42am- The minesweeper Condor is on patrol less than 2 miles off the entrance to Pearl Harbor. The officer on deck sees a periscope out in the water. -
First Wave
6:10am- The first wave of planes-183 fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes-roar into the sky. -
Radar Station
7:02am- One of the privates on duty at the Army’s Opana Mobile Radar Station spots 50 or more aircraft on a bearing for Oahu on the radar oscilloscope. -
First Attack
7:55am- The first wave of Japanese aircraft attack. Dive bombers strike the Army Air Forces’ Wheeler Field and Hickam Field. Most aircraft are destroyed. -
USS Arizona
8:10am- An armor-piercing bomb pierces the dock of the Arizona, setting off more than a million pounds of gunpowder, creating a huge fireball, and killing 1,177 men. -
WWII POW
8:17am- The destroyer Helm escapes to the open sea. A lookout spots a Japanese sub snagged on a reef. Trying to escape the floundering sub, one crewman drowns. The other becomes the United States’ first WWII POW. -
USS Pennsylvania
8:57am- The second wave meets heavy antiaircraft fire. Bombers hit the Pennsylvania. -
Aftermath
:00pm- The Pearl Harbor strike force turns home. The attack lasted for 2 hours and 20 minutes. After the attack, more than 2,400 Americans are dead and nearly 1,200 wounded. 18 ships have been sunk or damaged, and more than 300 aircraft are damaged or destroyed. -
War vs Japan
1:00pm- President Roosevelt addresses Congress and asks for declaration of war against Japan, which he receives.
