Aloha!
We’re at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Right over there,
in 12 meters of water, lies a 185-meter ship
in her final resting place. When Japanese naval aviation
attacked the naval base at Pearl Harbor, the battleship Arizona
took bomb hits and became a tomb
for a thousand officers and men. Four other American battleships
were also sent to the shallow bottom. December 7, 1941—
a tragic day in U.S. history. It was a day of defeat,
but it also gave rise to a great victory, albeit at enormous effort
and the cost of countless victims. Before that day though, almost nobody in the world had
heard of Pearl Harbor or Oahu. The Hawaiian Islands are comprised
of more than 20 islands and atolls. They are located in the northern
part of the Pacific Ocean, almost in the middle
between North America and Asia. The islands represent a very important
strategic location for the U.S.A., which is why they were annexed by the
States at the turn of the 20th century. Territory of Hawaii,
as was the case in World War II, to be able to use that as a jump-off
point for their Navy or Air Forces. And given the limitations of fuel
capacity in the Second World War, a lot of airplanes
didn’t have the ability to fly from North America
to Asia as they do today. So Hawaii was a way
for a lot of that hardware to come to the central area of the
Pacific and to be used in warfare. At the very beginning of 1941, the Commander of the
Combined Japanese Fleet, Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku,
stated his opinion that a sudden strike against the U.S. fleet
stationed at the Hawaiian Islands would inflict maximum damage
to the enemy and buy Japan some time to capture the resource-rich
territories that Japan badly needed. The mission seemed impossible:
the Hawaiian Islands and Japan were separated by a distance
of more than 4,000 miles. There was an entire chain
of airfields on the islands— Hickam, Wheeler, Ewa,
Kaneohe, Haleiwa, and Bellows— all of which could launch aircraft
to fend off an enemy attack. This is the best remaining example
of a Nakajima B5N2 torpedo bomber. The Americans called it a “Kate.” And 142 of these aircraft were
used on the raid on Pearl Harbor. During training exercises,
it was observed that the torpedoes, after being dropped in shallow water, would simply embed
themselves into the sea floor. But by autumn of 1941, a new development of the
Type 91 torpedo was released. And this used a new angular
acceleration control system that was unique in the world. Externally, what you would see
would be these two fins here, which would be
used for roll control. And also you can see
on the tail the wooden panels that were added for better
aerodynamics during the drop, that would detach
upon hitting the water. But what this all meant was, that a torpedo could now be used
in the 17-meter depth of Pearl Harbor. December 7th was not the original
date, it was November 20th. And they have been training
their pilots for months— the pilots for the torpedo planes and
the fighter planes, and the dive-bombers have been in training specifically for
at least four months for this operation. Operation Hawaii was
a very big secret in Japan. Many of the pilots
did not know the mission until they were assigned to the
carrier and were actually practicing. Some of them were practicing not knowing
exactly what the target was at the time. …there was an entire
ordnance, secrecy also… For a long while,
the Japanese lacked a bomb capable of penetrating
the thick armor of US battleships, but they set their
engineers to the problem. The solution they came up
with was quite novel. You start with an obsolete
410-millimeter battleship round, you repurpose it
to become an aerial bomb, and suddenly the Japanese now have
a new highly capable form of ordnance, as in particular
USS Arizona would discover. The fate of Pearl Harbor was decided
at the beginning of November 1941. On November 4, the command
structure of the Imperial Japanese Navy approved the mission plan, and the 5th
Commander of the Combined Japanese Fleet issued Combat Order 1
for the attack on Pearl Harbor. Two days later, Admiral Yamamoto
approved the final date of the attack— Sunday, December 7. And in fact, it was determined
by a very prominent Japanese spy who worked at the
Japanese Consulate on Oahu, that Sunday morning would be
the absolute best time to attack. And that's why they planned it,
because he knew that the surprise element
would be magnified so much. On November 22,
all 30 ships of the task force had gathered in
Hitokappu Bay on Iturup Island: 6 aircraft carriers,
2 battleships, 3 cruisers, 9 destroyers,
3 submarines, 7 oil tankers. The carriers had the following
aircraft on their decks: 40 torpedo bombers armed
with torpedoes, 135 dive-bombers, 104 torpedo bombers armed with bombs,
129 fighters. 408 aircraft in total. So, there were many
difficulties in planning this, and what they actually
experienced when they came across. One was the heavy seas,
the pitching of the aircraft carriers during the weather
for launch and takeoff. The other was they were
under a radio blackout, so they had very minimal
kind of communications, much of it just conning tower to conning
tower kind of light signals and flags. The last radio message
received by the Japanese staff from their assets in Honolulu
came from a spy, Takeo Yoshikawa. The message read as follows: “Vessels moored in harbor,
nine battleships, three Class-B cruisers, three seaplane
tenders, seventeen destroyers. Entering harbor are four
Class-B cruisers, three destroyers. All aircraft carriers and heavy
cruisers have departed harbor. No signs of any changes
in US fleet or anything unusual.” The Japanese staff
were disappointed to hear that there were
no aircraft carriers at the base but they did not
cancel the operation. The ships were blacked out and set
a course to Oahu Island at full speed. The famous signal flag Z was raised
on the mast of the Japanese flagship, aircraft carrier Akagi. The flag is one of the most
treasured relics of the Japanese Navy. 36 years prior, when this signal
had appeared on armorclad Mikasa, it symbolized the legendary order that
Admiral Togo had delivered to his fleet before the Battle
of Tsushima broke out: “The fate of the Empire rests
on the outcome of this battle. Let every man
do his utmost duty.” On December 7, 1941,
that order was delivered again to every serviceman who
set out on that dangerous raid. “The Empire's fate depends
on the result of this battle, let every man
do his utmost duty.” In addition to an airborne attack
by Japanese deck aviation, the Hawaiian Islands were also
subjected to an attack by submarines deployed near Oahu Island. They were ready
to destroy any U.S. ship that attempted to flee from the
harbor during the aviation attack. Moreover, five of the
Japanese submarines carried midget two-man
submarines on their decks… Hawaii, of course, remained
in a state of blissful ignorance, and the parties
continued on into the night. Even the radio station,
if you happen to turn it on, was playing a series
of light and amusing tunes. It was a Sunday and,
you know, a lot of ships had actually been prepared before
the December 7th, on Saturday, for an inspection on Sundays. So, a lot of hatches were closed, a lot of the normally functioning battle
spaces had been prepared for inspection and not necessarily being manned
at the state that they would have been. So it was an
unfortunate twist of fate. Privates Joseph Lockard
and George Elliott were on watch at the Army's
radar post on Opana Mountain. At the end of their shift, suddenly a very large return
appeared on their display. Only a very large airborne group
could cause such a return. There was no time to waste. At 7:06,
they reported their findings: a very large signal
due north 137 miles out. To the watch officer, a young lieutenant
at the information center… “Excuse me sir,
this is Private Lockard. I believe a large flight of planes are approaching
slightly east of north of Oahu at a distance of about 130 miles.” …so Lieutenant Kermit Tyler
was told by aviation friend of his “Hey, if you ever hear
the music playing at 3:00 a.m., it's because we're expecting an incoming
flight of aircraft from the mainland.” So when he got in his vehicle
that morning to come to work, turned on his radio,
there was music playing. Normally it would
have been static, because they didn't pay DJ's to play
music at 2:00–3:00–4:00 in the morning. So he knew that
they were using that as a way to allow incoming pilots
to hone in on Hawaiian Islands, given the navigational challenges of
flying 2,500 miles across the open ocean. Rather infamously, the officer told
them it's most likely a flight of B-17s inbound from California,
“don't worry about it.” “Thank you, Sir!” A lot of their aviators thought
that this was their final mission, they didn't believe that it would
be a complete and total surprise the way it was. So the heroism
just to get into cockpit, you know, I think, if you're an
18 or 19 or 20 year old aviator, and know that you're flying off of
a ship 200 miles from an island, 3,000 miles from your homeland… I can't imagine what that
would have been like for them. The targets of the torpedo
bombers and “Kate” bombers were seven battleships that were moored
in the battleship row near Ford Island. 51 dive-bombers were ordered to
bomb air bases Hickam and Wheeler, and Ford Island. That airborne attack was to be
supported by 43 "Zero" fighters. Apart from the
aforementioned air bases, the fighters also had to attack
airfields Ewa and Kaneohe. At 07:55, the crews of the ships
were preparing to raise their colors. On Nevada, they will be
accompanied by the ship's band, 23 personnel,
including the conductor. At 07:58, the conductor noticed
aircraft coming in over the harbor, and shortly thereafter the line of ships
was rocked by underwater explosions. Nevertheless, at 8 a.m. sharp, the band began
to play the national anthem. The memories of those sailors
who survived the attack describe that first
terrifying assault the best… Aviation Metalsmith Second Class
Adolph Kuhn, on Ford Island: “…a Japanese pilot swooped
down low in front of me, where I could see
his bomb bay doors open. He released a huge bomb
heading straight for my tractor. I said to myself
‘Adolph, this is it, for sure.’ With my foot on my brake
and hands on top of my head like I did in a little crowded
boat earlier, I prayed again. After all, I had missed
Mass this morning. I saw the bomb
enter the concrete runway, ripping out huge chunks of
cement lace and reinforcing steel, which landed on nearby
rooftops and equipment, while smaller pieces hit
my tractor and bounced off, some hitting my arm and shoulder. Again, I thanked
my guardian angel.” Signalmen Second Class
Richard E. Burge, USS Tennessee: “I watched the fleet
destroyed right before my eyes… I watched the fleet
destroyed right before my eyes. The USS Arizona was anchored
50 feet to the stern of our ship. She took several
bombs and torpedoes, raised up and quickly sank
to the bottom of the harbor. USS West Virginia and
USS Oklahoma took several torpedoes. The West Virginia
sank alongside us. The USS Oklahoma, which was
anchored forward of the West Virginia, capsized completely… The USS Maryland, anchored forward
of us, took a bomb and its bow sank.” People often want to know
what damage was received in the first few
minutes of the air raid, and the answer to that
is it was quite a lot. In fact, the surprise is one
of the fundamentals of war, and the Japanese used that
with overwhelming success. You have to remember
this is the aircraft carrier that had never been used before,
the way that the enemy aviation was being used against the
United States on December 7th 1941. So they didn't really feel
like it was a practical possibility for there to be an airborne
attack against Oahu. It was raid planner and first
wave commander Mitsuo Fuchida who had sent the signal
“Tora! Tora! Tora!” to the carrier Akagi. The signal meant two things: first, complete surprise
had been attained, and second, World War II
had just expanded to the Pacific. Watch Next 7th of December, 1941, 07:58, the following message was
transmitted to all ships in Hawaii area. It would then of
course been forwarded on to the commanders of the
Atlantic and Asiatic fleets and the commander-in-
chief in Washington DC: “Air raid on Pearl Harbor,
this is not a drill.” “I was four or five feet into the
JO mess when the first torpedo hit. It was an explosion I will never forget.
The noise was a very well muffled blast. You could tell it was deep
in the bottom of the ship, as the ship was lifted rapidly
straight up a considerable distance. I don't think it would be far off
in estimating it is 24 to 30 inches. My legs almost buckled and I reached out my arms
to avoid being thrown to the deck… I did not fall
but I caught myself and then knew for sure
that this was no drill. The day of infamy had arrived.” Ensign Adolph D. Mortensen,
USS Oklahoma. At 08:10 AM, when the
Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Admiral Husband Kimmel,
arrived at HQ, the main forces of his fleet had
been already forced out of action. …Admiral Kimmel
and Admiral Short had a golf match planned
for later Sunday morning. So he was, most likely, just like
everyone else, completely surprised. What I found most
interesting in my research that happened when it comes to
Admiral Kimmel’s response to the attack, was as he sat in his headquarters,
which overlooks Pearl Harbor here, he was watching
the decimation of his fleet. And a spent American anti-
aircraft round actually came back, pierced the window
he was looking through, and smudged
his Navy white uniform. And he looked down at the time,
and it's purported that he said “It would have been
better had it killed me.” By that time, three battleships—
Arizona, Oklahoma, and West Virginia— had already been sunk. California was still afloat,
but she was doomed. Maryland and Tennessee had
been damaged by aerial bombs and were blocked by a ship that had
been moored nearby and then ran aground. Nevada was hit by a torpedo,
but she still attempted to start moving. Ships located on the other side
of Ford Island were damaged as well. Despite all that hell, the ship crews were organizing their
defenses and opening fire in return… …“man your battle stations”
was echoed amongst the fleet. So those that were available
rushed to their battle stations, and it's one
of my favorite stories. Because there was an American priest,
a chaplain, religious service member, who was working
on an American ship. He encouraged his shipmates
by saying to them, “Everyone praise the Lord,
but please pass the ammunition.” So yes, there was
a lot of confusion at first, but following the initial attack,
the American response was much higher. This is the
USS Oklahoma memorial. Each one of these
columns represents a sailor who was killed on just that one ship
on the morning of December 7th, 1941. Once the initial shock and surprise
to the attack had been gotten over, the sailors manned their systems
and started to fight back. There are various
stories of determination. For example, there was
a sailor aboard USS Maryland, he’d been put into the brig
for fighting the night before. Well, they released him
when the alarm was sounded and he started
carrying shells up ladders, until finally he collapsed
at a deck unconscious. Doris Miller, who's a famous African-
American who received the Navy Cross because he was called
to the bridge of the West Virginia to remove the wounded captain. He was mortally wounded— the captain subsequently refused
to be removed from the bridge, so Doris Miller thought: “Well, hey, while I'm up here
I might as well do something.” He went outside and started
operating an anti-aircraft machine gun that he had
never been trained on. The second attack
started at 07:15 AM. 54 bombers, 78 dive-bombers,
and 35 fighters took off. 36 more fighters
remained on the carriers to provide cover
on Admiral Nagumo's orders. It was very important
to the Japanese aviators that they neutralized
the PBYs amphibious planes from being able to go
and find their task force. And the first bomb
that was dropped on Ford Island eventually burned a hangar that had
a very large number of PBYs out front. Other targets included airfields
because the same reason— they didn't want heavy
bombers or any aircraft getting off the ground
and locating the fleet. Just one plane discovering
where the Japanese fleet had launched the planes from
would have been a catastrophe, because then the
U.S. forces would know where to intercept them
or to attempt to sink them. That morning at Hickam Field, you'd find 12 B-17 bombers, 12 A-20
bombers, 30 older B-18 bombers. The Japanese would destroy most of
the American aircraft on the ground, either in the hangars
or out on the airfield itself. Side by side, wingtip
to wingtip, as if on parade. Any American pilot that tried
to get into the air was shot down. Lieutenants Kenneth Taylor and George
Welch would prove to be an exception. Taylor and Welch called ahead and managed to make it
to the satellite airfield, from where they were able to
take off and enter the maelstrom, immediately taking attention
from Japanese fighters. Somehow over the course of the next
two hours, using multiple airfields, these two pilots were able
to land, rearm, refuel and get back up into the fight. By the end of the day, they were credited with
at least six confirmed kills. So, in the second wave, the dive-bombers
were meeting a heavy resistance— the anti-aircraft sites on the shore,
and also mostly on the ships had been supplied with their ammunition,
lockers had been finally opened, and the sailors were looking up, and Marines were
actually shooting with M1s, and it was quite
a resistance at the time. And as I said, the anti-aircraft fire
was all over the overhead, in fact, it was firing so much, that a lot of it
was falling on Honolulu, the city. So it was a very
difficult thing to fly into, and it was where they
sustained most of their losses. Of course it wasn't just the military
that would fall victim to the raid. A number of civilians
were killed as well. Civilian involvement was inevitable,
as those who were nearby would render aid to crewmen
coming off sunken vessels, or to those who
were wounded by fire. And even in this there were
a number of noteworthy stories. Pennsylvania was
in dry dock number 1. When the Japanese bombers
launched an offensive on the battleship, a civilian crane
operator came to rescue— he moved the crane along
the rails of the dock wall and blocked the path for low-flying
enemy aircraft with the crane arm, thus forcing them to break off
from their attack course. A bomb exploded near
the crane and destroyed it, but the sacrifice of the worker
had made a real difference… The battleship had taken just minor
damage and was still able to fire. At around 10 AM,
the Japanese attack concluded— their aircraft turned back
and flew off to the north. The airplane of Captain Fuchida stayed
over Oahu Island for some time so the pilot could take photos
of the U.S. base after the attack… A devastating strike was
inflicted on the U.S. Pacific Fleet on December 7, 1941. Out of eight battleships,
none remained in service. Arizona, West Virginia, California,
and Oklahoma had been sunk; Nevada had run aground; Pennsylvania, Maryland, and
Tennessee were heavily damaged. Light cruisers Helena,
Honolulu, and Raleigh had also received damage and
were forced out of action. Destroyers Downes and Cassin were
destroyed; Shaw was heavily damaged. 174 army and naval aircraft
were completely destroyed. 121 more aircraft
received severe damage— some of them would
later be decommissioned. 3,581 people were killed
or wounded as a result of the attack. The Japanese squadron lost 29 out
of the 350 aircraft of the task force. 55 pilots were considered dead. Quite often we hear
about certain things that could have really led to a more
total victory for the Japanese— and some of those are the fact that they did not hit the fuel
tanks that are stored here, the fact that the aircraft carriers
that were originally the primary target happened to be
away at sea, fortunately… As we know now,
a short seven months later they inflicted overwhelming damage
on the Japanese fleet at Midway, sinking four of the six aircraft carriers
that originally attacked Pearl Harbor. And the third of those being that
they did not bomb the actual shipyard where they could service
and repair damaged ships. A couple of hours after the attack, U.S. experts were already looking
for the way to raise the sunken ships from the bottom of Pearl Harbor. Almost all the battleships,
except for Arizona and Oklahoma, were eventually repaired. The former of two was back in service
as early as in February of 1942. Five weeks after Pearl Harbor,
at 17 years old, I joined the Navy. I went through training
center in San Diego and wound up
in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. My first job
was on the salvage crew, salvaging the sunken
ships that were sunk. I worked for 60 days without
stopping, 10 to 12 hours a day, cleaning up, removing ammunition,
standing by while they picked up bodies. They never did let us, young boys,
fool with the bodies, thankfully, but we were right there
to witness all of this. The strike on Pearl Harbor
agitated the nation. That the Japanese were able
to attack the Pacific Fleet over thousands of miles of open
water, drove home to Americans, that they could no longer feel safe,
protected behind their ocean barriers. That day young men
will present themselves to recruiting stations
for service in the Armed Forces. Civilians started patrolling the western
coast armed with personal rifles. The next day, December the 8th, President Roosevelt addressed Congress
asking for a declaration of war. His words were met
with a thunderous applause. “The American people
in their righteous might will win through
to absolute victory.” Yamamoto correctly determined
that the effect of the attack and its effect on the U.S. public would be enough to,
you know, dissuade them. Unfortunately, because of circumstances
and how it was presented to the public, and it was more of a surprise attack
in the US public's interpretation, it steeled the resolve of the US,
and their response was quite different than what Yamamoto thought
was going to be the response. Throughout the rest of the war, whenever soldiers,
or sailors, or Marines, or airmen would need some
type of motivation— the common phrase was
“Remember Pearl Harbor.” This is USS Missouri. 2nd September 1945,
it was on this ship, starboard side, 01 level by the number 2 turret, that the unconditional
surrender of Japan was accepted. 09:02, General Douglas MacArthur starts
the proceedings with a small speech: “It is my earnest hope,
and indeed, the hope of all mankind, that from this solemn occasion,
a better world shall emerge, out of the blood
and carnage of the past.” “We are gathered here, representatives
of the major warring powers to conclude a solemn agreement
whereby peace may be restored.” World War II ended that morning. In 1998, the ship upon which
that final signature was applied to bring the war to a close,
was relocated to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. She is now moored
just 460 meters away from where the war
started for the Americans, with the sinking of another
battleship, USS Arizona. The story of the US
involvement in World War II thus has been drawn full circle.
