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Bomb Plot
The "bomb plot" message from Japanese naval intelligence to Japan's consul general in Honolulu requesting a grid of exact locations of ships in Pearl Harbor is deciphered. The information is not shared with the Hawaii's Adm. Kimmel and Gen. Short. -
Sending A Message
Tokyo sends an experienced diplomat to Washington as a special envoy to assist Ambassador Kichisaburo Nomura, who continues to seek a diplomatic solution.Japan wants the U.S. to agree to its southern expansion in Asia diplomatically but if those efforts were unsuccessful, Japan was prepared to go to war. -
Submarines
Submarines, the first units involved in the attack, depart Japan. -
Carriers are Comming
The main body, aircraft carriers and escorts, begin the transit to Hawaii. -
Warning
Kimmel and Short receive a so-called "war warning" from Washington indicating a Japanese attack, possibly on an American target in the Pacific, is likely. -
Here They COME !!!
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 before 9 a.m. Washington time, more than 4 hours before the attack on Pearl Harbor. But the message is not forwarded to the Pearl Harbor commanders and finally arrives only after the attack has begun. -
Bombs Away
first wave of Japanese aircraft begin the attack. Along with the ships in Pearl Harbor, the air stations at Hickam, Wheeler, Ford Island, Kaneohe and Ewa Field are attacked.The Japanese attack continues for two hours and 20 minutes. When it's over, more than 2,400 Americans are dead and nearly 1,200 wounded. Eighteen ships have been sunk or damaged. More than 300 aircraft are damaged or destroyed. -
WAR
President Roosevelt addresses Congress and asks for a declaration of war against Japan, which he receives. -
Downgrade
Adm. Kimmel and Gen. Short are relieved of their commands -
News
Capt. Laurence Safford, the Navy's former chief cryptographer, discovers that officials in Washington withheld secret information from Kimmel and Short. -
Innocent
A Naval Court of Inquiry finds Kimmel had not been derelict but had acted appropriately given what he knew. The Chief of Naval Operations overrules the court, saying if Kimmel had done aerial reconnaissance he might have discovered the Japanese fleet just 250 miles off Hawaii.