1941-12-07
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, Oahu
On the morning of 7 December 1941, aircraft from Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku, and Zuikaku attacked the Pacific Fleet inside Pearl Harbor. The maps are the Army and Navy charts: the carrier force came in from the north, and the two air waves came in from the north. The air attack is not credited to one carrier. Hiei and Kirishima, Tone and Chikuma, and Abukuma with nine destroyers screened that force and were not hit. Five submarines, I-16, I-18, I-20, I-22, and I-24, launched midgets offshore. Ward sank one midget outside the entrance before the air attack. Monaghan sank one inside the harbor. Which mother boat launched those two is disputed. The midget from I-24 grounded, and her captain was captured. I-19, I-21, and I-23 were on the patrol line off Oahu and did not enter the harbor. Enterprise was at sea, returning from Wake. Lexington was ferrying planes toward Midway. Saratoga was on the West Coast. None of the three was in the harbor. Nagato sent the Combined Fleet signal from Japan and was not at Hawaii. Ushio and Sazanami were off Midway that morning, a separate action, and are not on this page. The tankers that refueled the carriers are not given pages. This page lists the battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and submarines NHHC records inside the harbor, or within about twelve miles, at 0800, plus Utah, Oglala, Montgomery, Vestal, Curtiss, and Neosho. Minesweepers, PT boats, yard craft, and the other auxiliaries on that list are not given pages. Arizona and Utah were not raised. Oklahoma was raised and was not rebuilt.
Sunk in this fight
5 ships.
Track of the carrier task force, 26 November to 23 December 1941. United States Army map in Reports of General MacArthur. The note on the sheet says the hours and dates are Tokyo time. The force left Hitokappu Bay, ran east, then turned south to a point north of Oahu, and went west back to Japan. On the return the sheet marks two carriers and two destroyers to Wake. That is the chart's label for a later detachment. It is not a second fight on this page, and it is not the action off Midway. Enterprise, Lexington, and Saratoga are not on this sheet.
Aircraft approach to Oahu. United States Strategic Bombing Survey chart. North is up. The note on the sheet says the times are Hawaiian. The first attack unit was ordered to deploy at 0740, and its attack run is marked 0750. The second attack unit was ordered to deploy at 0850, and its attack run is marked 0855. The tracks run to Wheeler, Kaneohe, Ewa, Hickam, and Ford Island. The chart does not assign either wave to one carrier.
Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. United States Navy chart 80-G-47105. North is up. The sheet says the positions are approximate. It shows the larger ships in the harbor. Enterprise, Lexington, and Saratoga are not on it. Ward's midget was outside the entrance, and Monaghan's was inside. This chart does not plot those two boats. The hospital ship drawn on it is not given a page.
