On December 7th 1941, an event occurred that would change the world forever. After weeks of preparation, a Japanese task force consisting of the aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Zuikaku, Shokaku; the cruisers Tone and Chikuma; and the battleships Hies and Kirishima were steaming towards the Islands of Hawaii. Also included were nine destroyers and ten subs along with a combined total of 432 airplanes. It was 4:05 AM when the mine sweeper Condor sighted what appeared to be the periscope of a Japanese submarine. She immediately notified the destroyer U.S.S. Ward who sounded general quarters and began an extensive search of the area.
At 6:37 the Japanese sub was sighted again, this time by the cruiser Antares. The nearby U.S.S. Ward shot twice, the first time shooting high and the second time getting a direct hit. The sub tilted slightly to one side and then slid beneath the waves. Commander Lt. William W. Outerbridge sent a report at 6:51 to the 14th Navel District Headquarters at Pearl Harbor. Fifteen minutes previous Privates Joseph Lockard and George Elliott reported several planes approaching from the Northeast. These may have been scout planes launched from the cruisers Tone and Chikuma. At 7:06, six minutes after his watch ended, Elliott reported that there was a large group of planes heading their way. This however was mistaken for a flight of B-17s that were supposed to be arriving from California.
At 7:40 Lt. Commander Fuchida with 48 Nakajima B2N1 High- Level bombers started their attack. The Japanese plan was to disable the American aircraft that were still on the ground and then attack our carriers and battleships. By God's providence all of the aircraft carriers were gone on odd jobs. The light cruiser Raleigh and the target ship Utah were the first to be hit. What was to follow was the destruction of Battleship Row and Pearl Harbor itself. In the end the total loss was 900 crewmen missing, 2,403 dead, 1,178 wounded, 169 aircraft destroyed, 3 ships destroyed and 18 ships badly damaged.
Although Pearl Harbor was one of the most devastating attacks in the history of the United States of America, it should have been much worse. Only 3 ships were destroyed out of the 21 that were hit and although they repeatedly strafed our encampment on Ford Island not a single life was lost. We still had all of our carriers and we still had the Lord.
-By T.J. and Kaleb
For more information see: http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor/ax/frameset.html
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