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Attack on Pearl Harbor 67th anniversary 2008

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    Posted: December 07 2008 at 12:11am
Attack on Pearl Harbor 67th anniversary 2008 today that happened Sunday December 7, 1941
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Cookie Monster Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 3:00am

Sequence of Events

Saturday, December 6 - Washington D.C. - U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt makes a final appeal to the Emperor of Japan for peace. There is no reply. Late this same day, the U.S. code-breaking service begins intercepting a 14-part Japanese message and deciphers the first 13 parts, passing them on to the President and Secretary of State. The Americans believe a Japanese attack is imminent, most likely somewhere in Southeast Asia.

Sunday, December 7 - Washington D.C. - The last part of the Japanese message, stating that diplomatic relations with the U.S. are to be broken off, reaches Washington in the morning and is decoded at approximately 9 a.m. About an hour later, another Japanese message is intercepted. It instructs the Japanese embassy to deliver the main message to the Americans at 1 p.m. The Americans realize this time corresponds with early morning time in Pearl Harbor, which is several hours behind. The U.S. War Department then sends out an alert but uses a commercial telegraph because radio contact with Hawaii is temporarily broken. Delays prevent the alert from arriving at headquarters in Oahu until noontime (Hawaii time) four hours after the attack has already begun.

Sunday, December 7 - Islands of Hawaii, near Oahu - The Japanese attack force under the command of Admiral Nagumo, consisting of six carriers with 423 planes, is about to attack. At 6 a.m., the first attack wave of 183 Japanese planes takes off from the carriers located 230 miles north of Oahu and heads for the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor - At 7:02 a.m., two Army operators at Oahu's northern shore radar station detect the Japanese air attack approaching and contact a junior officer who disregards their reports, thinking they are American B-17 planes which are expected in from the U.S. west coast.

Near Oahu - At 7:15 a.m., a second attack wave of 167 planes takes off from the Japanese carriers and heads for Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor is not on a state on high alert. Senior commanders have concluded, based on available intelligence, there is no reason to believe an attack is imminent. Aircraft are therefore left parked wingtip to wingtip on airfields, anti-aircraft guns are unmanned with many ammunition boxes kept locked in accordance with peacetime regulations. There are also no torpedo nets protecting the fleet anchorage. And since it is Sunday morning, many officers and crewmen are leisurely ashore.

At 7:53 a.m., the first Japanese assault wave, with 51 'Val' dive bombers, 40 'Kate' torpedo bombers, 50 high level bombers and 43 'Zero' fighters, commences the attack with flight commander, Mitsuo Fuchida, sounding the battle cry: "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!).

The Americans are taken completely by surprise. The first attack wave targets airfields and battleships. The second wave targets other ships and shipyard facilities. The air raid lasts until 9:45 a.m. Eight battleships are damaged, with five sunk. Three light cruisers, three destroyers and three smaller vessels are lost along with 188 aircraft. The Japanese lose 27 planes and five midget submarines which attempted to penetrate the inner harbor and launch torpedoes.

Escaping damage from the attack are the prime targets, the three U.S. Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers, Lexington, Enterprise and Saratoga, which were not in the port. Also escaping damage are 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.

In Washington, various delays prevent the Japanese diplomats from presenting their war message to Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, until 2:30 p.m. (Washington time) just as the first reports of the air raid at Pearl Harbor are being read by Hull.

News of the "sneak attack" is broadcast to the American public via radio bulletins, with many popular Sunday afternoon entertainment programs being interrupted. The news sends a shockwave across the nation and results in a tremendous influx of young volunteers into the U.S. armed forces. The attack also unites the nation behind the President and effectively ends isolationist sentiment in the country.

Monday, December 8 - The United States and Britain declare war on Japan with President Roosevelt calling December 7, "a date which will live in infamy..."

Thursday, December 11 - Germany and Italy declare war on the United States. The European and Southeast Asian wars have now become a global conflict with the Axis powers; Japan, Germany and Italy, united against America, Britain, France, and their Allies.

Wednesday, December 17 - Admiral Chester W. Nimitz becomes the new commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

Both senior commanders at Pearl Harbor; Navy Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, and Army Lt. General Walter C. Short, were relieved of their duties following the attack. Subsequent investigations will fault the men for failing to adopt adequate defense measures.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote thresher_593 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 8:52am
It may interest you to know that my father-in-law was stationed in the Panama Canal Zone with an Army Air Corps fighter squadron. On the day Pearl was attacked, his squadron was on full alert, every aircraft (P-39's) was fueled, armed, and had a pilot in the seat. They had been on alert for three days and stayed on alert until Wednesday following the attack. He always said he couldn't fathom how Pearl got caught with it's pants down.
 
Also, I've never been able to figure out why the Air Corps commander in Hawaii failed to use his available aircraft to carry out aerial search missions. General Short testified to the Roberts Commission that he didn't have "sufficient B-17 aircraft" to carry out the search program. What he DID have was a large force of B-18's which, although lacking the B-17's payload, were more than acceptable search aircraft. Apparently nobody ever thought about using the B-18's, DC-2's, or any of the other multi-engined aircraft that were available. The B-18, equipped with a bomb bay tank, had a range of over 2,500 miles. Thats more than a B-17! Talk about thinking "in the box"! 
Hiding out in the Northwest corner of Southeast Ohio
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote airforcediver Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 07 2008 at 1:44pm
There was a hole sh*t storm a things that broken down the communications between units on the Islands.  When I was at Pearl this summer we retraced the flight path of the the first wave of planes through death valley at the divider line between Schoffield Barracks and the Naval reserve, it's and eery feeling in the morrning.  Oahu is incredibly rich in Military history, there are still over 60 Military installations on that little island. 
 
That aside in response to your faters remarks about being caught with their pants down, some conspiercy theorists believe that government and/or seniors offices let them attack so they could jump into the war with japan, if this is true they seriously underestimated the level of account they provoke from Japan.
 
 
 
If all else fails call in a MOAB and call it a day
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tony Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 08 2008 at 3:51am
There are comments and indications that the US was forwarned of an impending attack. Substanciated by the fact that all the aircraft carriers were out at sea and not in harbour. But like everything else nobody will admit the truth as to what really happened!
Rottie (PitBulls dad.)


“If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons

Born free taxed to death!!!

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