bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Japan > Japan Lashes Out > Pearl Harbor, 1941, © 2024 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 21 Feb 2024.
Pearl Harbor - The Japanese Attack on Oahu, Hawaii Territory
Pearl Harbor - The Japanese Attack on Oahu, Hawaii Territory
At 8:00 am on Sunday, 7 December 1941, Japanese carrier aircraft launched a surprise attack at American military facilities on the island of Oahu. The attack focussed on Pacific Fleet warships at the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor to the west of Honolulu, and especially on the battleships moored on the shore of Ford Island.
Within hours, other American and British military facilities in the Pacific Ocean and in East Asia were attacked. The Pearl Harbor attack crippled the Pacific Fleet battleship force, but fortunately our Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers were at sea. The Pearl Harbor attack, followed on 11 December by German's Declaration of War, plunged the United States into two wars, the War with Japan and the War with Germany. The American populace was energized. The voices of pacifists, isolationists and Nazi sympathizers, formerly quite audible in the United States, fell silent. |
Some of the ships sunk at Pearl Harbor were later raised, repaired, and sent into combat.
The accompanying photo shows the forward magazine explosion of the destroyer USS Shaw (DD-373) during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Remarkably, the Shaw was repaired and in December 1943 assisted in the rescue of members of the 112th Cavalry Regiment during a failed portion of the invasion at Arawe, New Britain in the Southwest Pacific. |
📖 Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Japan > Japan Lashes Out > Pearl Harbor webpage:
- The webpage header photo, USS Arizona Burning, is courtesy of the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson. On the left is the USS West Virginia, in the middle the USS Tennessee.
- The maps The Air Attack on Oahu and Naval Losses at Pearl Harbor are courtesy of The Map Archive.
- The Pearl Harbor - USS Shaw photo is courtesy of wwlp.com.
🇺🇸 Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead — WWII Japan > Japan Lashes Out > Pearl Harbor webpage:
† Booton, Charles Vinton, served as Charlie Vinton Booton, SN 321-47-76, US Navy, Pott. & Montgomery Cos.
- bigpigeon.us > WWII Dead > Roster Records contains full individual records.
† Booton, Charles Vinton, served as Charlie Vinton Booton, SN 321-47-76, US Navy, Pott. & Montgomery Cos.
- Battleship USS West Virginia (BB-48); during the 7 Dec 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Oahu Is., Hawaii Territory, West Virginia was hit by aerial torpedoes and sank; 106 died; WIA 7 Dec 1941; DOW 10 Dec 1941 Hawaii Territory.
- Notes: West Virginia was later raised, repaired, and returned to service.
- Battleship USS Arizona (BB-39); during the 7 Dec 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Oahu Is., Hawaii Territory, the Arizona was hit by several aerial bombs; exploded and sank; 1,177 died; KIA 7 Dec 1941; BNR.
- Notes: The sunken Arizona settled in shallow water and remains today as a memorial.
- Battleship USS Arizona (BB-39); during the 7 Dec 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Oahu Is., Hawaii Territory, the Arizona was hit by several aerial bombs; exploded and sank; 1,177 died; KIA 7 Dec 1941; BNR.
- Notes: The sunken Arizona settled in shallow water and remains today as a memorial.
- Battleship USS Oklahoma (BB-37); during the 7 Dec 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Oahu Is., Hawaii Territory, the Oklahoma was hit by three Japanese aerial torpedoes and capsized; 429 died; KIA 7 Dec 1941.
- Notes: In 1943, Oklahoma was righted and the unidentified dead interred in mass graves; Oklahoma sank while being towed to California for salvage; in 2018, Bert McKeeman's body, having been identified, was returned to Co. Bluffs and reinterred.
- battleship USS Oklahoma (BB-37); during the 7 Dec 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Oahu Is., Hawaii Territory, the Oklahoma was hit by three Japanese aerial torpedoes and capsized; 429 died; KIA 7 Dec 1941.
- Notes: in 1943, Oklahoma was righted and the unidentified dead interred in mass graves; Oklahoma sank while being towed to California for salvage; in 2021 Eli Olsen's body, having been identified, was returned to Audubon County and reinterred.