Pearl Harbor - a US tragedy during World War II

If you look at where Pearl Harbor is on the world map, it’s hard to believe that this paradise of the Hawaiian Islands became a real hell one Sunday morning. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor using the troops of Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, who was assisted by midget submarines delivered to the site by submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy. This date remains in the memory of the American people as a reminder of the horrors of a war that must not be repeated.

US Navy military exercises

The US Pacific Fleet, which was located at the Pearl Harbor military base, was considered one of the strongest fleets in the world. The military base was perfectly protected from attacks from sea and air. To test combat readiness, the Americans conducted large-scale military exercises.

In 1932, during the exercises, the American Admiral Yarmouth (commander of the “offensive” forces) behaved untypically, and instead of unleashing the full power of the naval squadron entrusted to him on the Pearl Harbor military base, he decided to attack only with the help of two fast aircraft carriers (which appeared in the fleet not so long ago). Having approached the target at a distance of 40 miles, the admiral sent 152 aircraft into battle. The attacking air forces brilliantly coped with the combat mission, conditionally destroying all aircraft at the enemy base.

Despite the complete defeat of the defenders, the US military command believed that in a real battle the aircraft carriers would be destroyed and most of the aircraft would be shot down, since the real results of the battle would differ significantly from the simulated attacks. The exercises of 1937 and 1938, as a result of which carrier-based aircraft again completely defeated the mock enemy, did not prove anything to the American military.

The thing is that battleships were considered the main force in the 1930s; attacking these powerful warships was considered a deliberately failed idea if the enemy did not have the same class of warships. All major world powers believed that the success of a war at sea depended on a single meeting of the navies of the two powers. Victory was guaranteed to be won by the side whose number of battleships exceeded its opponent. Although aircraft carriers played an important role in navies, their task was only to support battleships. The American military command was skeptical about the results of the exercises.

On November 11, 1940, a battle took place between the English aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious and the Italian battle fleet. Contrary to expectations, an attack by aircraft from a single aircraft carrier was able to destroy one Italian battleship and put two others out of action. The battle in the harbor of Taranto was considered by the American military to be luck and the result of the irresponsible attitude of the Italian military towards the battle.

"Killers" attack

Initially, the detachment of American aircraft was divided into a “killer group” and a “cover group.” It was assumed that the first of them would include four aircraft, the pilots of which must destroy Admiral Yamamoto’s plane at any cost, while the rest would engage in battle with Japanese covering fighters.

The "hit team" included Lieutenant Thomas Lanphier, Lieutenant Rex Barber, Lieutenant Joe Moore and Lieutenant Jim McLanagan. However, Moore did not take off due to damage, and McLanagan returned due to problems with the fuel supply system. Lieutenants Besby Holmes and Ray Hine were urgently transferred to the “killers”, who, however, were inferior to Moore and McLanagan in skill.

At about 9:30 Tokyo time, American and Japanese planes met in the skies over Bougainville Island. The Japanese group included two Betty bombers (Admiral Yamamoto himself flew on one, the officers accompanying him on the other) and six Zero cover fighters. The main group of P-38s engaged the Japanese fighters in combat, while the "killers" were ordered to attack the bombers. But a technical malfunction was discovered on Holmes' plane, and he and Hine left the battle. As a result, two bombers attacked - Thomas Lanphier and Rex Barber.

They completed their task - the first Betty crashed into the jungle, the second made an emergency landing on the water. The Americans did not have the opportunity to finish off the grounded plane, since it was necessary to return to base due to an extreme shortage of fuel.

The Americans did not suffer any casualties directly during the attack, but upon returning to base they were intercepted by Japanese fighters. During this attack, the plane of the would-be “killer” Ray Hine and killed.

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Prerequisites for preparing the attack on Pearl Harbor

It is still unknown exactly why Japan decided to attack Pearl Harbor. The prerequisites for this were already evident in 1927. This year, the future Chief of Staff of the 1st Carrier Fleet, Kusaka Ryunosuke, who had just graduated from a specialized naval staff college and was at that time a captain of the second rank, began developing plans to attack the US naval base at Pearl Harbor.

Shortly after graduating from college, he was appointed to teach an aviation course to 10 important government officials, among whom was Nagano Osami (admiral and future marshal of the Imperial Japanese Navy). It was during this course that Kusaka Ryunosuke wrote a document stating that if a general battle with the American fleet did not take place, since it refused to go to the open sea, it would be necessary to urgently seize the initiative and strike at Pearl Harbor. This operation can only be carried out by aviation.

This document was published in only 30 copies and secretly distributed to the command staff. Most likely, he came to the attention of Admiral Yamamoto, after which he formed a plan in his head to attack Japan on Pearl Harbor. The results of the naval exercises forced the Japanese to take a different look at the use of aircraft carriers, and the battle in Taranto harbor convinced them of their idea.

Although Admiral Yamamoto did not approve of Japan's entry into World War II (he especially did not like the conclusion of the Tripartite Pact), as a professional military man, he did everything necessary to prepare the Japanese fleet for future hostilities. In particular, he increased the number of aircraft carriers and carried out the attack plan on Pearl Harbor.

It should be understood that Admiral Yamamoto could not have carried out the plan to attack Pearl Harbor on his own. When the situation between Japan and the United States became so tense that war became almost inevitable, Yamamoto turned to Rear Admiral Kaijiro Onishi, who commanded the 11th Air Force, for help. Kaijiro had at his disposal only Zero fighters and G3M and G4M torpedo bombers, which due to insufficient range could not participate in this operation. Onishi advised the distressed Yamamoto to contact his deputy, Minoru Genda.

Why was Genda chosen? This man, in addition to being an ace pilot (his combat fighter unit was nicknamed “Genda magicians”), had an excellent sense of tactics. In addition, he was considered the best specialist in Japan in the combat use of aircraft carriers. Genda carefully studied all the possibilities of attacking the US Pacific Fleet at the Pearl Harbor base and calculated how much material and human resources would be needed. To successfully carry out the operation, according to Genda, 6 heavy aircraft carriers were needed. It was necessary to place only the best pilots on all planes, and the operation itself had to be carried out in the strictest secrecy to ensure complete surprise.

Nikolay Starikov

Source: Oleg Matveychev's blog

On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked an American military base in Pearl Harbor and the United States found itself an active participant in World War II, and ultimately its beneficiary.

The report on losses after the attack on Pearl Harbor by Secretary Knox stated what was apparently intended from the very beginning: “The overall balance of power in the Pacific in terms of aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers and submarines was not affected. They are all at sea and are looking for contact with the enemy,” that is, the Japanese attack did not cause any tangible damage. The fate of the American fleet based in the Gulf had already been decided, but in November 1941, Roosevelt asked about the upcoming events: “how should we bring them to the first strike position so that the damage would not be too destructive for us?”, which he wrote about in his diary. Recorded by Minister Stimpson.

Already in our time, the Japanese political scientist and grandson of Shigenori Togo, the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the early 40s, Kazuhiko Togo, with bewilderment Fr. Indeed, by order of the US Navy command, Kimmel sent 2 aircraft carriers, 6 cruisers and 14 destroyers to the islands of Midway and Wake, that is, the most expensive equipment was removed from the attack, which will finally become clear from the commission’s report.

To understand how this happened, it is necessary to reconstruct the course of previous events. The first attempt in 1939 to change the US Neutrality Act, which would have allowed states to enter the war, was opposed by Senator Vandenberg and the so-called “National Committee”, which included Henry Hoover, Henry Ford and Governor LaFollette. “Post-war documents and declassified documents of Congress, as well as the death of Roosevelt himself,” according to W. Engdahl: “show beyond any doubt that the President and his Secretary of Defense Henry Stimson deliberately incited Japan to war.” Robert Stinnett’s book “Day of Lies: The Truth About the Federal Reserve Fund and Pearl Harbor” says that the Roosevelt administration provoked the Japanese attack because its further actions could not be called anything other than a provocation.

On June 23, 1941, a note from presidential aide Harold Ickes landed on Roosevelt's desk, indicating that "an embargo on oil exports to Japan could be an effective way to start a conflict." The very next month, Deputy Secretary of State Dean Acheson banned the Japanese from importing oil and petroleum products from the United States. The Japanese fleet, according to Admiral Nagano, “burned 400 tons of oil per hour,” which the Japanese could only obtain by seizing the oil resources of Indonesia (Dutch East Indies), the Philippines and Malaysia. On November 20, 1941, Japanese Ambassador Nomura made a proposal for a peaceful resolution of the conflict, which included the clause: “The United States Government will supply Japan with the necessary amount of oil.”

In addition to the fact that the United States interrupted shipping communications with Japan and closed the Panama Canal to Japanese ships, on July 26, Roosevelt signed a decree on the seizure of Japanese banking assets worth a significant amount of $130 million at that time and the transfer of all financial and trade transactions with Japan under government control. The United States ignored all subsequent requests from politicians in the Land of the Rising Sun for a meeting of the heads of both countries to resolve relations.

On November 26, 1941, the Japanese Admiral Nomura, who was sent to the United States, was given a written demand to withdraw Japanese armed forces from China, Indonesia and North Korea, to terminate the tripartite pact with Germany and Italy, such an ultimatum response to Nomura’s proposals was clearly interpreted by Japan as the unwillingness of the United States to resolve differences peacefully .

On May 7, 1940, the Pacific Fleet received an official order to remain in Pearl Harbor indefinitely; its leader, Admiral J. Richardson, in October tried to convince Roosevelt to withdraw the fleet from the Hawaiian Islands, since there it did not have a restraining influence on Japan. “...I must tell you that the senior officers of the fleet do not trust the civilian leadership of our country,” the admiral summed up the conversation, to which Roosevelt, in turn, remarked: “Joe, you don’t understand anything.” In January 1941, J. Richardson was fired, and his post was taken by Husband Kimmel, from whom not only were consistently hidden documents that could suggest that the target of the attack would be Pearl Harbor, but also, on the contrary, demonstrated those that had been created false impression of an impending attack on the Philippines.

William Endgall's book talks about documents that "prove that Roosevelt was fully aware of the plans for the bombing of Pearl Harbor several days before it began, down to the details of the movements of the Japanese fleet in the Pacific and the exact time of the operation." Churchill also admitted: Roosevelt “was fully aware of the immediate goals of the enemy operation. In fact, Roosevelt instructed the director of the International Red Cross to prepare for large casualties at Pearl Harbor because he had no intention of preventing or defending against a potential attack."

At a minimum, it is known for sure that on November 26, the day after the Secretary of War wrote about the imminent attack on Pearl Harbor, the British Prime Minister informed Roosevelt, indicating the exact date. Kimmel. Previously, when he tried to prepare for a clash with Japanese troops, the White House sent a notice that he was “complicating the situation,” and in late November he was told to completely stop conducting reconnaissance against a possible airstrike. A week before the tragic events, it was decided to leave the sector in the direction of 12 hours without patrolling, anti-aircraft artillery was not ready, in accordance with anti-sabotage warning No. 1 technician, and the ships were herded into dense groups, which made them easy prey for air attack. The US Army commission that followed the event summed up the situation as follows: “everything was done to maximally favor an air attack, and the Japanese did not fail to take advantage of this.”

Colonel O. Sadtler, who, by virtue of his position, was familiar with the contents of Japanese correspondence and found coded words in it warning of an impending attack, also tried to prevent an attack on the American fleet. He wrote a warning to all garrisons, including Pearl Harbor, on behalf of the Chief of Staff, General J. Marshall, but he was practically ridiculed, despite the fact that the command knew from secret correspondence about the offensive operation developed in Tokyo under the code name "Magic" and could well have known that on January 7, 1941, Secretary of the Navy Koshiro Oikawa was studying a nine-page justification for the attack on Pearl Harbor. On September 24, 1941, it became known from incoming encryption that Japanese naval intelligence was requesting squares of the exact location of US ships in Pearl Harbor.

Regarding the deciphered Japanese codes, it is noteworthy that the head of the then official intelligence structure of the Special Operations Executive, William Donovan, who located his office in room No. 3603 of the Rockefeller Center, was excluded from among the recipients of the decrypted materials by the Army Chief of Staff, General George Marshall. It is also noteworthy that individual unit headquarters received a machine for deciphering the code, but the Pearl Harbor group did not receive a machine for deciphering the code, that is: in Rockefeller Center and on the base itself they were not supposed to know about the impending provocation. It is possible that Roosevelt “did not seem surprised” on the day of the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor, as William Donovan later recalled, because he himself was doing his best to bring it closer, because he was worried, according to the head of the Special Operations Executive, only that the public did not supported the declaration of war.

US intelligence services have been reading the encrypted correspondence of the Japanese fleet since the second half of the 20s, secretly re-photographing code books with the so-called “red code”. In 1924, the future head of the radio interception and decoding department at headquarters, Captain Lawrence F. Safford, joined the team of codebreakers, whose position during the hearings on the events related to Pearl Harbor would cause many to doubt the official version. Since 1932, Safford, using IBM equipment, has been developing those same decryption machines; in 1937, special radio stations were deployed for radio interception along a giant arc from the Philippines to Alaska. The efforts of more than 700 employees under the leadership of L. Safford and W. Friedman in August 1940 culminated in deciphering the complex “pink” or “purple code” that encrypted Japanese government diplomatic correspondence.

In addition to the high command, the US leadership was aware of the success of the codebreakers: President F. Roosevelt, Secretary of State C. Hull, Secretary of War G. Stimson and Secretary of the US Navy F. Knox, who were not familiar with only four of the 227 documents that made up the secret correspondence between Tokyo and the Japanese embassy in the USA. Accordingly, it is likely that they were aware of the contents of the meeting of the Imperial Government held on September 6, 1941 in the presence of the Emperor, which stated that if “there is no significant hope of reaching an agreement with our demands through the above-mentioned diplomatic negotiations, we will immediately decide on imposing readiness for war against the United States."

Between November 28 and December 6, seven coded messages were intercepted confirming that Japan intended to attack Pearl Harbour. The inevitability of war with Japan finally became known the day before the attack on Pearl Harbor; six hours before the attack, its exact time became known - 7.30, which the US Army command decided to inform Hawaii not by a telephone call, but by a regular telegram that reached the addressee when the fleet was already sunk. And just before the attack, two soldiers on duty on the radar noticed Japanese planes, but no one answered the call to headquarters, and half an hour later, Kimmel’s wife, standing in a nightgown in the courtyard of her villa, was already reporting to her husband: “It looks like they covered the battleship Oklahoma "!"

In total, during the attack, 2403 (according to N. Yakovlev 2897) base employees were killed, 188 aircraft were destroyed, the old target ship Utah, the minelayer Oglala, the destroyers Cassin, Daune and Shaw and the battleship "Arizona", the burning image of which became a symbol of the defeat of Pearl Harbor. The death of the Arizona brought the largest number of victims - 47 officers and 1056 lower ranks, but added a number of questions. According to Nimitz's research, the Arizona was destroyed by a Val-234 dive bomber, but it would not have been able to lift the 800-kg bomb that allegedly destroyed the battleship; the Arizona also did not receive torpedo hits. Moreover, an examination of the ship by divers showed that the battleship, which was considered an impregnable fortress, sank as a result of a series of explosions that occurred inside the ship. Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox then concluded that the bomb hit the battleship's smokestack.

Roosevelt himself appointed the composition of the first commission of Chief Justice O. Roberts, which was supposed to find out the circumstances of the tragedy. Her report was published many times, but never before 1946 were the 1,887 pages of interview transcripts and more than 3,000 pages of documents presented to the general public, since their contents obviously contradicted the conclusions, however, the President thanked O. Roberts “for his thorough and comprehensive investigation.” , which placed all the blame on the chief of the garrison, Walter Short, and Husband Kimmel, who was dismissed on March 1 with a promise to later be tried by a military tribunal. After the fateful tragedy, both worked in military production. In 1943, Kimmel requested materials from the Navy Department, but was refused under the pretext of security.

In 1944, presidential candidate Thomas Dewey intended to publicize the story of Japanese codes, which clearly indicated that Roosevelt knew about the impending operation, but the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General J. Marshall convinced him not to show his cards to the Japanese during hostilities. The following year, the Senate considered E. Thomas's bill, which provided for 10 years in prison for disclosing encrypted materials, but the Republicans rejected it, and more than 700 decrypted Japanese documents were presented to the new commission. Although the Republican members of the commission showed particular zeal in the investigation, they were forbidden to independently study the archives of government departments, and Secretary Grace Tully issued documents from the personal archive of the then deceased president at her own discretion. There were other oddities

“The testimony records are full of contradictions. What was said in the fall of 1945 invariably contradicted the testimony given before previous investigative commissions. In 1945, the documents were either hidden or disappeared, and the memory of the participants in the events was “refreshed”, or they completely forgot what happened. Therefore, in a number of cases persistent questions were answered with a stereotypical answer: “I don’t remember.” Even the senators who were eager to make political capital from the investigation grew tired and stopped delving into the case.” N. Yakovlev “Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941 - Fact and Fiction”

A Japanese telegram dated December 4, 1941, warning of the outbreak of war, was deciphered and sent to US leaders, but already in 1944, a commission of the War Ministry stated: “The original telegram disappeared from the archives of the naval forces... Copies were found in other places, but now they all disappeared... Over the past year, the radio station's logs, in which the receipt of the telegram was recorded, were destroyed. An army witness testified that the army command never received this telegram.” One by one, the witnesses began to get confused in their memories. A. Krammer, who was in charge of the translation and distribution of deciphered materials, who was known as an absolute pedant, inserted his favorite word “exactly!” everywhere. After lunch with Admiral Stark, he suddenly began to give inconsistent testimony. This was achieved not only by having lunch with the higher command, but also by placing him in the psychiatric ward of the Bethesda naval hospital, from where, according to relatively modern research, he was released in exchange for changing his testimony and under the threat of lifelong imprisonment. The head of naval intelligence, Vice Admiral Theodore Wilkinson, presented the commission with 11 radio intercepts, which, as Marshall and others showed, did not exist, but in February 1946, during the work of the last commission, the car he was driving rolled off a ferry, which led to the death of the witness .

Also a “tough nut to crack” was the creator of decryption machines, Lawrence Safford, who earned the nickname “mad genius” from his subordinates for good reason. In February 1944, he appeared before Kimmel, claiming to have evidence that the admiral was “the victim of the most foul conspiracy in the history of the Navy,” which apparently inspired the admiral to tell Navy Chief E. King on November 15, 1945: “Immediately after Pearl Harbor, I believed that... I had to take the blame for Pearl Harbor... Now I refuse to accept any responsibility for the disaster at Pearl Harbor." By this time, at least the ninth investigation had already taken place, and it still did not clarify the reasons that brought the United States into the world war. The latter was headed in 1946 by a lawyer with the revealing surname Morgan.

Safford stubbornly insisted that on December 4, having received a telephone message with a code word that meant war, he immediately reported this to Rear Admiral Knox. Safford was the only one to address the Navy's investigative committee, pointing out the pressure being applied. Chief Counsel Richardson pestered Safford for hours, resorting to legal maneuvers and pushing his testimony to the point of absurdity: “So, what you're saying is that there was a vast conspiracy from the White House, through the War Department, the Navy Department, through the Kramer Division, to destroy these copies?” To which Safford only retorted that the chief adviser is not the first who is trying to force him to change his testimony. Corresponding with researchers, he intrigued the public for another three decades, and most of all his wife, who out of harm’s way let journalists down the stairs and burned all the papers found in the house that mentioned Pearl Harbor, as a result of which Safford began to encrypt his notes from her.

Even modern researchers note that it is extremely difficult to investigate the nature of the incident that dragged the United States into the war, since secret dispatches were removed from the materials of the US Congress hearings, and later became available only in special archives. One of the researchers, Robert Stinnett, believes that President Roosevelt, Secretary of State Hull, Secretary of War Stimson and nine other people from the military leadership, whom Stimson himself lists in his diary, were behind the deliberate provocation of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Using the Freedom of Information Act, Stinnett spent a long time collecting documents that had survived censorship and came to the conclusion that the main organizer of the provocation was, after all, Roosevelt, who received a memo from naval intelligence officer A. McCollum in October 1940 (A. McCollum), containing instructions of eight actions, including an embargo, which were guaranteed to lead to war. However, for known reasons, the official version remains different.

(from the book “World Elites and the British Reich in the Second World War”, via)

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Detailed study of the combat operation

The development of the plan for the attack on Pearl Harbor was entrusted to one of the main officers of the United Fleet, Kuroshima Kameto. This officer was distinguished by his eccentricity and originality. When he “created”, he locked himself in his cabin for several days, stripped naked and sat on the table in this form, fumigating the entire room with incense. It was this strange man who developed the entire tactical plan for an attack on a US military base, taking into account all possible nuances.

The finished detailed plan was submitted to the naval general headquarters for trial, where it unexpectedly met with strong distrust and opposition. Many officers, not believing the effectiveness of aircraft carriers, believed that as a result of this operation they could all die. In addition, some were distrustful of such a large-scale operation, in which too much depended on various factors:

• The factor of surprise could fail, and the aircraft carriers would be shot on the approach to the base;
• The number of ships at the base was unknown, as was their readiness for surprise combat;
• The state of the military base's air defenses was also unknown;
• Weather conditions could also interfere with the military operation.

Admiral Yamamoto fiercely defended his plan, as he was a very gambler, ready to put everything he had on the line. When the General Staff was ready to abandon the risky operation, Admiral Yamamoto threatened to resign. Due to the fact that Admiral Yamamoto was a highly respected person, his departure would be a disaster, so the Chief of the General Naval Staff, Nagano, had no choice but to accept Yamamoto’s plan. Admiral Nagumo also doubted success. To convince him, Yamamoto stated that he was ready to personally lead troops into battle if Admiral Nagumo was afraid. In order not to “lose face,” Nagumo was forced to agree.

The “skin” of the murdered admiral was shared for more than half a century

The operation to eliminate Admiral Yamamoto made an extremely difficult impression on the Japanese military. It was believed that the admiral, despite all his negative attitude towards the war, was almost the only one who could effectively fight the Americans. His death was a heavy blow to Japan and boosted morale in the US Army.

Participants in Operation Revenge received awards, but a conflict arose between Thomas Lanphier and Rex Barber that lasted for three decades. Each of their pilots insisted that it was he who ended Admiral Yamamoto.

Only in 1975, one of the Japanese pilots who were part of the cover group described the exact picture of what was happening, after which it became known for sure that the “Betty” on which the admiral was flying was shot down by Rex Barber.

However, the dispute continued after this, and only in 2003, after examining the wreckage of a downed bomber for traces of hits, the destruction of Admiral Yamamoto was indisputably attributed to Barber. True, the pilot himself did not live to see this - he died in 2001 at the age of 84.

Why did Japan go to war with the USA?

Many still do not understand how Japan entered into a war with such a powerful power as the United States of America. This was due to several reasons:

1. In 1937, Japan began a war with China, which was an economically backward country. For 3 years, Japanese troops advanced to the border of Indochina, which led to an escalation of the conflict with England and the United States;
2. In 1940, Japan concluded the Tripartite Pact, which was a military alliance between three countries (Germany, Italy and Japan), which greatly influenced the deterioration of relations with the United States;
3. In July 1941, when Japanese troops invaded Indochina, the United States, Holland and Great Britain imposed an embargo on oil exports to Japan.

It was this last point that was the last straw in the aggravation of relations between Japan and the United States. Japan's oil fuel reserves would last for 3 years, after which the powers with oil fields could demand any price for oil, so the Japanese command decided to seize the oil fields of Southeast Asia. Naturally, the United States did not like this decision, so the Japanese command was faced with two options for possible events:

1. Capture oil fields and give battle to the American fleet on the high seas (which was quite problematic, since the forces of the American fleet were significantly superior to the Japanese fleet);
2. First, defeat the enemy’s navy (through a surprise attack), and then concentrate forces on the occupation.

As you might guess, the second option turned out to be preferable.

Taken by surprise

American radars detected the approaching planes an hour before the attack. But the incompetence and bungling of some military personnel led to the fact that the information did not reach its destination .

When the bombing began, many soldiers had just woken up, others were having breakfast, some were on leave. Doris Miller , a common seaman, was finishing his breakfast when a Japanese torpedo blew up the ship. His battle post was destroyed and he was ordered to assist the wounded captain. Doris carried the captain to safety, and then, having no skills, fired from the anti-aircraft gun until the shells ran out. He shot down one plane. Along with other surviving sailors, under fire and under fire, Miller helped rescue wounded and drowning people. For his fearlessness he was awarded the Navy Cross.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The Japanese military unit left the Kure base between November 10 and 18, 1941. On November 22, the combat formation was in Hitokappu Bay, in the Kuril Islands area. All the necessary equipment was loaded onto the warships, including canvas covers for guns and barrels of fuel for aircraft. The people who were given a full set of winter uniforms were not forgotten either.

On November 26, the ships set off for the collection point. They all took different routes so as not to attract suspicion. It was at the gathering point that it was to be decided whether war with the United States would begin or not.

On December 1, Japan decided to start a war with the United States, which was announced to Admiral Nagumo, who commanded the entire operation, the very next day. The attack on Pearl Harbor was scheduled for December 7, which was transmitted in a coded order that read "Ascend Mount Niitaka."

In addition to aircraft carriers, about 30 different submarines took part in the combat operation, 16 of which were powerful submarines with a long range. 11 submarines each carried 1 seaplane, and 5 carried small submarines.

At 6 o'clock in the morning, combat aircraft began to take off from aircraft carriers that were 230 miles from the Hawaiian Islands. Each plane took off with precise synchronization relative to the pitching of the aircraft carriers.

First wave of attack on Pearl Harbor

The first combat wave, which went to bomb the US naval base, included:

1. 40 Nakajima B5N2 torpedo bombers, whose torpedoes (especially for attacks in shallow water) were equipped with wooden stabilizers;
2. 49 aircraft of the same type, which carried huge 800 kg bombs - deeply modernized and converted battleship shells;
3. 51 aircraft of the Aichi D3A1 type (dive bomber), each of which carried a bomb weighing 250 kg;
4. 43 Mitsubishi A6M2 fighters, whose task was to cover the bombers.

Perhaps the US Navy could have prepared for an attack in advance if it had promptly responded to the discovery of one of the Japanese mini-submarines. At 3:42 a.m., one of the US minesweepers noticed the periscope of a submarine that was located near the entrance to the harbor. The information was transmitted to the destroyer USS Aaron Ward, which unsuccessfully searched for her for 3 hours. At 6 o'clock this or another submarine was discovered by the Catalina flying boat, and already at 6-45 the destroyer sank it. 10 minutes after the destruction of the submarine, the destroyer transmitted a message to the duty officer, which reached him only at 7-12.

The approach of Japanese planes was noticed at 7-02 by a radar station. Privates Joseph Lockard and George Elliott, who were operators of the radar station, reported this to duty officer Joseph MacDonald, who in turn reported this information to Lieutenant K. Tyler. Knowing that B-17 bombers were about to arrive at the Pearl Harbor military base, the lieutenant reassured those on duty, saying that there was no cause for concern. The radio station, which pilots often used as a bearing, also spoke about this. That is why numerous danger signals were ignored.

The commander of the Akagi air group, Futida, in the memoirs he wrote after the war, rather inaccurately describes the signal for the attack. Although he gave it at 7:49, it was a repeated signal. The first signal, sent at 7:40, was a black flare, which was not noticed by Lieutenant Commander Itaya, leading the group of fighters. The second signal was noticed by the dive bomber commander, who immediately launched an attack.

Despite the suddenness of the attack, military musicians on the battleship USS Nevada performed the US national anthem at exactly 8:00, while bombs rained down from all sides. The musicians only lost their rhythm a little once, when one of the bombs almost hit the battleship.

Since the Japanese understood the danger enemy aircraft carriers posed, they were the main target of their attacks. But since the American aircraft carriers were not at the base during the attack, Japanese aircraft focused their attention on the battleships, since they were a fairly important target.

The most important Japanese aircraft that participated in this operation were undoubtedly torpedo bombers. 16 aircraft, due to the absence of aircraft carriers at the base, were left without a specific target and were forced to attack targets at their own discretion, which introduced a certain amount of confusion into a clearly planned attack.

The first targets to be attacked were:

1. Light cruiser USS Raleigh;
2. The old battleship USS Utah, which was mistaken for an aircraft carrier;
3. Light cruiser Detroit.

While the attack was underway, Captain Commander Vincent Murphy discussed details of the report from the destroyer USS Aaron Ward (which sank the Japanese submarine) with Admiral Kimmel. The arriving liaison informed the commander that the attack on Pearl Harbor was not an exercise, which Vincent immediately informed the admiral about. Kimmel, in turn, conveyed this news to all parts of the navy that were at military bases and on the high seas.

Rear Admiral W. Furlong, who was on board the minelayer USS Oglala during the Japanese attack, saw enemy planes in the sky, immediately realized that this was an enemy raid and signaled all ships to leave the bay. At that moment, a Japanese torpedo passed directly under the keel of the USS Oglala, which miraculously escaped damage. It would seem that the minelayer was lucky, but the torpedo, hitting the side of the cruiser USS Helena, damaged the starboard side of the USS Oglala with an explosion, causing the ship to sink to the bottom.

The huge battleship Arizona was sunk in 10 minutes, without having time to fire a single shot. 1,177 sailors went to the bottom with him. In total, 18 ships of the American navy were disabled:

1. Three battleships were sunk;
2. One ran aground;
3. One turned over;
4. The rest received significant damage.

In addition to warships, targets for Japanese aircraft were:

1. The airfield, which was located on Ford Island;
2. Hickam Air Force Base;
3. Wheeler Air Force Base;
4. Seaplane base.

Japanese fighters began destroying American B-17 aircraft, which were nicknamed the “Flying Fortress.”

Heavy aircraft on the ground were an excellent target that was unable to fight back. After the destruction of the B-17, the American carrier-based Dontless bombers became the target of the Japanese fighters.

USS Arizona (American Ship)

The Japanese plan was simple: destroy the Pacific Fleet. Thus, the Americans would not be able to repel the Japanese armed forces dispersed throughout the South Pacific. On December 7, after months of planning and practice, the Japanese launched their attack.

Around 8 a.m., Japanese planes filled the skies over Pearl Harbor. Bombs and bullets rained down on the ships moored below. At 8:10 a.m., an 1,800-pound bomb penetrated the deck of the battleship USS Arizona and struck her forward ammunition magazine. The ship exploded and sank with more than 1,000 people trapped inside.

The torpedoes then pierced the hull of the battleship USS Oklahoma. With 400 sailors on board, the Oklahoma lost its balance, capsized on its side and slid under the water.

In less than two hours, the surprise attack was over, and every battleship in Pearl Harbor - USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, USS California, USS West Virginia, USS Utah, USS Maryland, USS Pennsylvania", the American "Tennessee" and the American "Nevada" - received significant damage. (All but USS Arizona and USS Utah were eventually salvaged and repaired.)

Second wave of attack on Pearl Harbor

The second wave of Japanese air attack consisted of 167 aircraft. There were no more torpedo bombers in the second wave, since the second attack was only the final stage.

It was during the second Japanese attack that American pilots were able to provide at least some resistance to Japanese aircraft. Haleiv airfield was able to organize two combat sorties consisting of 5 aircraft. These flights occurred from 8-15 to 10-00. As a result of combat missions, American pilots were able to shoot down 7 Japanese aircraft, losing only one of their own. This is an indication that US combat aircraft were significantly superior to Japanese ones.

Results of the attack on Pearl Harbor

Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor was not so much a daring raid as a necessary measure, since Japan's fuel resources were under threat. Despite all the efforts of politicians and diplomats, the oil embargo issue could not be resolved peacefully, so the command of the Japanese army was forced to launch a surprise attack on the American naval base.

This operation was planned by excellent Japanese naval specialists, who took into account every detail with Japanese scrupulousness. Japan's best aviators were selected to take part in the attack.

The main objectives that Japan set for itself when planning the attack on Pearl Harbor were:

1. Completely destroy the American navy so that it does not interfere with the seizure of oil fields;
2. Demoralize the spirit of the American people.

If the first task was partially completed, then the second one came true exactly the opposite. The entire war with Japan took place under the slogan “Remember Pearl Harbor.”

Since the American aircraft carriers survived, they were able to turn the tide of the Battle of Midway, after which the Japanese fleet lost 4 aircraft carriers and about 250 aircraft, forever losing the ability to operate without coastal artillery cover.

Due to the excessive caution of Admiral Nagumo, who did not strike at the base’s infrastructure, the docks and oil storage facilities remained intact. Continuing the offensive in this direction could have consolidated the success, but the Japanese command decided to transfer aircraft to southeast Asia, hastening to seize rich oil fields.

"White Crow" among the militarists

Yamamoto believed that all conflicts must be resolved at the negotiating table. After studying in Japan, he attended Harvard and then served as naval attaché at the Japanese Embassy in the United States.

He took part in the second London Naval Conference in 1930 with the rank of rear admiral and in the 1934 London Naval Conference with the rank of vice admiral.

While militaristic sentiments were gaining strength in Japan, Yamamoto remained a “black sheep” - he was opposed to the invasion of Manchuria, the war with China, and had an extremely negative attitude towards the conclusion of an allied pact between Nazi Germany and fascist Japan.

Yamamoto's position extremely irritated supporters of the war, who began to openly threaten him.

“To die for the Emperor and for the Motherland is the highest honor for a military man. Flowers rise in a field where a hard, brave battle took place. And even under the threat of death, the fighter will be forever loyal to the Emperor and his land. The life and death of one person means nothing. The Empire is above all... They can destroy my body, but they will never be able to conquer my will,” Yamamoto responded to all threats.

Isoroku Yamamato, 1934. Photo: Public Domain

In 1939, he was appointed to the post of Commander-in-Chief of the United Fleet. This appointment was connected with the desire to remove Yamamoto from Tokyo, where the nationalists almost openly threatened him with death.

Pearl Harbor Memorial

The Pearl Harbor Memorials consist of two large complexes:

1. USS Arizona Memorial;
2. USS Missouri Memorial.

The Arizona Memorial is located above the site of the sinking of the battleship of the same name. Since its construction in 1962, more than a million people have visited this memorial. There is a tradition in the United States according to which every president of this country must visit this memorial at least once.

The second Missouri Memorial is located aboard the decommissioned battleship Missouri, which is a museum ship. It was on this warship that the Japanese surrender was signed in 1945.

The attack on the Pearl Harbor military base killed approximately 2,500 people. This operation did not bring Japan a complete victory over the American navy, but showed the superiority of aircraft carriers over battleships.

The attack killed 2,467 people

The Americans were completely shocked by this attack. Many of them woke up to the sounds of alarms, bomb explosions and gunfire. Some thought it was a training session. They were woefully unprepared with locked lockers, unmanned weapons, etc. 2,403 Americans died and 1,178 others were wounded during the attack. 18 ships were sunk, including five battleships, 188 aircraft were destroyed and 159 were damaged. The Japanese lost 29 aircraft, five midget submarines and 64 people.

US battleship Arizona explodes