Pearl Harbor

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USS Arizona's forward Magazines explode

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USS Arizona burning

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USS Arizona sunk at en:Pearl Harbor. The ship is resting level on the bottom. The supporing structure for the gun director tripod mast has collapsed and so the mast has tilted.

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Men aboard U.S. ships awoke to the sounds of alarms, bombs exploding, and gunfire prompting bleary eyed men into dressing as they ran to General Quarters stations. (The famous message, "Air raid Pearl Harbor. This is not drill.",[21] was sent from the headquarters of Patrol Wing Two, the first senior Hawaiian command to respond.) Despite a lack of readiness, which included locked ammunition lockers, aircraft parked wingtip to wingtip to prevent sabotage, and no heightened alert status, many American military personnel served with distinction during the battle. Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd and Captain Franklin Van Valkenburgh (her skipper) both rushed to the bridge of USS Arizona to direct her defense, until they were killed by an explosion in the forward magazine, resulting from an armor piercing bomb hit next to turret two. Both were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Ensign Joe Taussig got his ship, USS Nevada, under way from a dead cold start during the attack. One of the destroyers, USS Aylwin, got under way with only four officers aboard, all Ensigns, none with more than a year's sea duty. That ship operated at sea for four days before her commanding officer managed to get aboard. Captain Mervyn Bennion, commanding USS West Virginia (Kimmel's flagship), led his men until he was cut down by fragments from a bomb hit to USS Tennessee, moored alongside.

Gallantry was widespread. In all, 14 officers and sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor.[22] A special military award, the Pearl Harbor Commemorative Medal, was later authorized for all military veterans of the attack.

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_{Japanese plane leaves the Shokaku}

Second wave composition
The second wave consisted of 54 B5Ns, 81 D3As, and 36 A6Ms, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Shigekazu Shimazaki.[15] This wave and its targets comprised:[15]
•   1st Group - 54 B5Ns armed with 550 lb (249 kg) and 120 lb (54 kg) general purpose bombs[16]
o   27 B5Ns - aircraft and hangars on Kaneohe, Ford Island and Barbers Point
o   27 B5N - hangars and aircraft on Hickam Field
•   2nd Group (targets: aircraft carriers and cruisers)
o   81 D3As armed with 550 lb (249 kg) general purpose bombs, in four sections
•   3rd Group - (targets: aircraft at Ford Island, Hickham Field, Wheeler Field, Barber’s Point, Kaneohe)
o   36 A6Ms for defense and strafing

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_{Japanese plane leaves Akagi}


The second wave was divided into three groups. One was tasked to attack Kāneʻohe, the rest Pearl Harbor proper. The separate sections arrived at the attack point almost simultaneously, from several directions.

Ninety minutes after it began, the attack was over. 2,386 Americans died (55 were civilians, most killed by unexploded American anti-aircraft shells landing in civilian areas), a further 1,139 wounded. Eighteen ships were sunk, including five battleships.[2][3]

Of the American fatalities, nearly half of the total were due to the explosion of USS Arizona's forward magazine after it was hit by a modified 40 cm (16in) shell.[23]

Already damaged by a torpedo and on fire forward, Nevada attempted to exit the harbor. She was targeted by many Japanese bombers as she got under way, sustaining more hits from 250 lb (113 kg) bombs as she was deliberately beached to avoid blocking the harbor entrance.

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Battleship row at the begin of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Battleships USS Nevada, Arizona, West Virgina, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Maryland, California with Vestal and Neosho

Torpedos can be seen in the water.

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_{Burning ships at Pearl Harbor}

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USS California was hit by two bombs and two torpedoes. The crew might have kept her afloat, but were ordered to abandon ship just as they were raising power for the pumps. Burning oil from Arizona and West Virginia drifted down on her, and probably made the situation look worse than it was. The disarmed target ship USS Utah was holed twice by torpedoes. USS West Virginia was hit by seven torpedoes, the seventh tearing away her rudder. USS Oklahoma was hit by four torpedoes, the last two above her belt armor, which caused her to capsize. USS Maryland was hit by two of the converted 40 cm shells, but neither caused serious damage.

Although the Japanese concentrated on battleships (the largest vessels present), they did not ignore other targets. The light cruiser USS Helena was torpedoed, and the concussion from the blast capsized the neighboring minelayer USS Oglala. Two destroyers in dry dock were destroyed when bombs penetrated their fuel bunkers. The leaking fuel caught fire; flooding the dry dock in an effort to fight fire made the burning oil rise, and so the ships were burned out. The light cruiser USS Raleigh was holed by a torpedo. The light cruiser USS Honolulu was damaged but remained in service. The destroyer USS Cassin capsized, and destroyer USS Downes was heavily damaged. The repair vessel USS Vestal, moored alongside Arizona, was heavily damaged and beached. The seaplane tender USS Curtiss was also damaged. USS Shaw was badly damaged when two bombs penetrated her forward magazine.[24]

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USS California sinking. Pearl Harbor

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USS Nevada burning. Pearl Harbor

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USS Nevada burning. Pearl Harbor

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USS Shaw. Pearl Harbor

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USS West Virginia sunk. Pearl Harbor

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_{Planes burning on Ford Island during Pearl Harbor attack}

Almost all of the 188 American aircraft in Hawaii were destroyed or damaged, 155 of those on the ground. Almost none were actually ready to take off to defend the base, having been parked wingtip to wingtip as a sabotage protection measure. Of 33 PBYs in Hawaii, 24 were destroyed, and six others damaged beyond repair. (The three on patrol returned undamaged.) Attacks on barracks killed additional personnel. Friendly fire brought down several U.S. planes, including some from an inbound flight from USS Enterprise.

Fifty-five Japanese airmen and nine submariners were killed in the action. Of Japan's 414[15] available planes (361 took part in the attack), 29 were lost during the battle[citation needed] (nine in the first attack wave, 20 in the second).[25] with another 74 damaged by antiaircraft fire from the ground.