-
9:45 a.m.
The Americans were taken completely by surprise. The first attack wave targeted Pearl Harbor's airfields and battleships. The second wave targeted other ships and shipyards. The air raid lasted until eight battleships were severely damaged, and 5 had sunk. Three small boats and three destroyers were lost, along with 188 planes. The Japanese lost only 27 planes and five small submarines. -
6 Am
The first attack began, bringing 183 Japanese planes, that took off from their carriers located 230 miles north of Oahu. Their goal was to take down the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. -
7:02 a.m.
At this point in time, two Army operators, that were stationed at Oahu's northern shore, detected the Japanese planes on their radar system. They, then, immediately contacted a junior officer, but he thought they were just thought they were American planes which were expected to be coming in from the U.S. west coast. -
Near Oahu - At 7:15 a.m.
A second group of Japanese planes (167) took off from the Japanese carriers and headed for Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor wasn't on high alert, so the Senior commanders concluded that there was no reason to believe an attack is coming, so they didn't move their planes from from their airbase. -
7:53 a.m.
The first group of Jappanese flight attackers had 51 'Val' dive bombers, 40 'Kate' torpedo bombers, 50 high level bombers and 43 'Zero' fighters. They began the attack with flight commander, Mitsuo Fuchida, sounding his battle cry: "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!). -
9:45 a.m.
The Japanese had specific targets during this raid. They were the three U.S. Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers (big plane-carrying ships), The Lexington, Enterprise and Saratoga, along with the base fuel tanks. The casualty list includes 2,335 servicemen and 68 civilians killed, with 1,178 wounded. Included are 1,104 men aboard the Battleship USS Arizona killed after a 1,760-pound air bomb penetrated into the forward magazine causing catastrophic explosions. -
2:30 p.m.
Various delays prevented the Japanese diplomats from getting their message of war to the current Secretary of State, Cordell Hull. News of the "sneak attack" was broadcast to the American public in radio bulletins. The news sent a huge shockwave across the nation, which resulted in quite a large amount of young voulunteers into the U.S. armed forces. -
Monday
The United States and Britain united, as the beginning of the Allies, and declared war upon Japan, the beginning of the Axis. President Roosevelt called December 7, "a date which will live in infamy..." which is a famous quote of his to this day. -
Thursday
Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. Europe and Southeast Asia had now come into a global conflict with the Axis powers; Japan, Germany and Italy, and have by this time, united against the Allies, which were America, Britain, France (etc.). -
Wednesday
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz became the new commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. He, as well as Navy Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, and Army Lt. General Walter C. Short, lost their positions in the US Army after the attack. Many men would be let go because they failed to defend Pearl harbor and didn't take the necessary defense measures to protect it.
