Attack on Pearl Harbor
December 7th, 1941
Planning the Attack
• Plan to attack Pearl Harbor was discussed as
early as March of 1940
• The strategy was written by Admiral
Yamamoto in Jan. 1941
• Japanese trained for the attack at small
bases to simulate Pearl Harbor.
3 Problems
• Refueling in the Pacific
– Tankers would follow larger ships to refuel
• Accuracy of the Pilots
– Experimented with altitude and dive angles allowed
accuracy rate of bombers to improve to 70%
• Depth of the torpedoes
– Used a stabilizer fin on the torpedo to reduce the depth to ~40ft. So
that the torpedo could hit its target.
That mornings map.
December 7, 1941
the early morning
• The attack was planned by Isoroku
Yamamoto
• The first attack occurred at 7:55 a.m.
• The second attack followed at 8:54 a.m.
Attack Visual
• The first attacks would hit the USS Oklahoma, West Virginia,
Arizona, and Nevada.
•The second attack would hit USS Pennsylvania, and cruisers:
San Francisco, and New Orleans.
Attacks Casualities
Ships
Other
• 3 battleships sunk
• 3 battleships disabled
• 11 other ships
sunk/damaged
• 188 aircraft destroyed
on ground
• 2,330 servicemen
killed
• 100 civilians killed
Ship Casualities
Sunk
• USS California
• USS West Virginia
• Oglala (minelayer)
*Were all later raised and
rebuilt.
Destroyed
• USS Arizona
• USS Utah
• USS Oklahoma
(was raised)
Roosevelt Announces to the
World
“December 7, 1941- a
date which will live in
infamy- the United
States was suddenly
and deliberately
attacked by naval and
air forces of the Empire
of Japan.”
During the Attack
Japan was also attacking
Great Britian
Malaya
Hong Kong
United States
Phillippine Islands
Guam
Midway
Wake Island
* Japan would control the entire Pacific by December 8
After the Attack
• December 8: United States declared war on
Japan.
• December 11: Germany declared war on
America.
– Italy then declared war on America.
– Great Britain declared war on Japan.
America’s Reaction
• Many sons enlisted
into the military to
help fight the war.
• Many daughters
entered the work force
to help aid the cause.
USS Arizona
• Positioned in “Battle
Row”.
• Hit within 10 min.
after attack began.
• Bomb crashed through
the 2 armored decks,
igniting its magazine.
• Went down with 1,300
lives.
USS Arizona Memorial
“Created to honor the survivors of Pearl
Harbor, their families and friends, and to
all those who died.”
The ship has been preserved as a tomb for
those who went down with the ship.
Erected in 1962.