on December 1, 1941. It would be war. This time the Emperor was silent. 8
Americans knew nothing of these decisions of the Imperial Conference. They
were to be executed promptly. On December 2, Admiral Yamamoto radioed to
the Pearl Harbor Striking Force, “Climb Mt. Mitaka.” This was the signal for the
attack to proceed. Xday was set for Sunday, December 7, Hawaii time. 9 The Striking Force was on the move.
Gathered in Deepest Secrecy
If America was wholly unaware of these crucial Japanese decisions, it was equally
unaware of the assembly of forces preparing for the attack. The Pearl Harbor
Striking Force was one of the greatest f leets the world had ever seen: the air-
craft carriers Akagi , Kaga , Zuikaku , Hiryu , and Soryu ; the battleships Hiei and Kirishima ; the cruisers Tone and Chikuma ; nine destroyers; and three screening
146 “Day of Infamy”: Sunday, December 7, 1941
submarines well supported by eight tankers. They had gathered in deepest secrecy
in the remote and lonely northern port of Hitokappu. The Striking Force was
led by its commander, Admiral Chiuchi Nagumo. The date for the attack was
December 8 Tokyo time, which was December 7 Hawaii time. There would be
favorable moonlight and the greatest number of men aboard the American ships
would be off duty.
Proceeding steadily eastward, on December 3, the Japanese fleet was 900 miles
north of Midway Island. December 4 and 5 were spent refueling, after which the
tankers retired. On December 6, Admiral Yamamoto rallied his forces. Through-
out the fleet, all the crew not at their stations below decks assembled on deck.
Admiral Yamamoto then addressed them: “The moment has arrived. The rise or
fall of our empire is at stake. . . .” They gave this message a thunderous reception.
Looking back to a signal moment in the history of modern Japan, the flagship of
the Japanese fleet ran up the Z flag, which had been flown by Admiral Togo at the
great Japanese victory over the Russian fleet at Tsushima in 1905.
At 1:20 a.m. on the 7th, Hawaii time, the Japanese fleet received its last mes-
sage from Tokyo. It accounted for the U.S. Navy vessels moored in Pearl Harbor,
among them nine battleships, three cruisers, seventeen destroyers and numerous
other ships. But the most critical information was not noted: that the U.S. aircraft
carriers had departed Pearl Harbor. It would be the carriers, not the battleships,
which would be decisive in the war that was about to begin.
Into the Air
December 7, 1941. It was a quiet morning in America. Unknown and unsus-
pected the Japanese f leet was 250 miles from Pearl Harbor.
The moment had come. Commander Mitsuo Fuchida, who was to lead the
aerial assault, said to Admiral Nagumo, “I am ready for this mission.” To which
Nagumo replied: “I have every confidence in you.”
The first wave of attackers took off at 6:00 a.m., the cheers of the crew on deck
drowned out by the roar of the planes’ engines. Soon there were 183 aircraft aloft,
bearing the flaming red symbol of the Rising Sun: 40 torpedo planes, 100 bomb-
ers, and 43 fighters, with a combat air patrol of 39 planes left behind to defend
the fleet in case of attack. All but the plane guard were heading straight for Pearl
Harbor. 10
In Oahu and Pearl Harbor that morning, there were seemingly minor dramas.
The U.S. minesweeper Condor , in league with the destroyer Ward , was tracking a midget submarine just outside the entrance to Pearl Harbor. At around 7:00 a.m.,
the American radar-spotting station at Opama at the northern tip of Oahu identi-
fied and plotted a large flight of incoming aircraft which might or might not be a
flight of B-17 bombers scheduled to arrive that day in Oahu. The private operat-
ing the radar called the targets to the attention of a lieutenant who was present
for training. They relayed the message to the information center at Fort Schafer.
Through a series of mistakes and mishaps nothing was done, no action was taken.
What America Didn’t Know 147
The range of this flight kept decreasing: at 7:08 a.m. 113 miles; at 7:15 a.m. 92
miles; at 7:25 a.m. 62 miles; at 7:30 a.m. 45 miles.
By then the second wave of Japanese aircraft had also taken off: eighty dive-
bombers, fifty-four high-level bombers, and thirty-six fighters.
As Fuchida approached Oahu, thick clouds obscured his vision. He could
scarcely believe his good fortune when he broke into the clear of perfect visibility
over Pearl Harbor. It was time to signal the attack. He fired one “Black Dragon”
from his signal pistol. The dive bombers circled upward to 12,000 feet, the hori-
zontal bombers came down to 3,500 feet and the torpedo planes dropped to a
level almost skimming the sea, all eager for the assault.
Fuchida again signaled the attack. It was 7:55 a.m.
Even before the first bomb of the second attack fell, Fuchida, confident of suc-
cess, signaled to the carriers, “Tora . . . Tora . . . Tora!” “Victory!”
Notes
1. Herbert Feis, The Road to Pearl Harbor: The Coming of the War Between the United States and Japan (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1953), 215–16
2. Feis, 264–67
3. Feis, 292
4. Feis, 293
5. Feis, 294
6. Feis, 295
7. Feis, 296
8. Feis, 329–30
9. Walter Lord, Day of Infamy (New York: Henry Holt, 1957), 19
10. Lord, 41–48
14
THE ANSWER
FIGURE 14.1 The USS Shaw exploding during the Pearl Harbor attack.
Courtesy of National Archives, photo 520590, 80-G-16871; Department of Defense.
So this was the answer to Secretary Hull’s Statement of Principles, to the Presi-
dent’s inquiry about Japanese troops in French Indo-China and to the President’s
plea to the Emperor. It was past noon in the eastern United States and late morning
The Answer 149
farther west when at 2:22 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Washington announced
the bombing of Honolulu and of Pearl Harbor. Tokyo had announced the attack
more than an hour earlier, at 1:05 p.m. Eastern Standard Time—3:05 a.m. on
December 8, Tokyo time. It was at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time that Japan
announced that a state of war existed against the United States and Great Britain.
Walter Lord reports in Day of Infamy that at 2:26 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
New York station WOR interrupted a Dodgers–Giants football game at the Polo
Grounds with the startling report of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. At a
New York Philharmonic concert at Carnegie Hall, the attack was announced a
half hour later, repeating an earlier CBS bulletin as the musicians were about to
start Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 1. At the end of the performance, the orches-
tra played “The Star-Spangled Banner. ” 1
By 10:00 a.m. Hawaii time, the raiders had departed and the Japanese fleet
had turned homeward. The towering clouds of black smoke that had enveloped
the naval base began to disperse. But aside from the shocking fact of the attack as
reported by radio, the American public knew little. It would be necessary first to
determine the extent of the damage, information that could not be disclosed until
it was no
longer useful to the enemy.
The actual losses that day included the battleships
Oklahoma and
Arizona.
The latter had been the victim of a spectacular direct hit, and in the following
FIGURE 14.2 The USS
West Virginia and the USS Tennessee burning after the Pearl
Harbor attack.
Courtesy of National Archives, photo 12008986, 80-G-32414; Department of Defense.
150 “Day of Infamy”: Sunday, December 7, 1941
FIGURE 14.3 The USS Arizona burning after the Pearl Harbor attack.
Courtesy of National Archives, photo 195617, NLR-PHOCO-A-8150(29) from the Franklin D.
Roosevelt Library collection.
explosions its crew had suffered more than half of the American casualties of
December 7. The battleships West Virginia , California , and Nevada , the only battleship to get underway that day, were sunk or beached. The battleships Tennessee , Maryland , and Pennsylvania registered severe damage, as did the cruisers Helena , Honolulu , and Raleigh , the destroyer Shaw , the seaplane tender Curtis and the repair ship Vestal. One hundred eighty-eight American planes were destroyed on the
ground and 159 damaged.
To achieve these staggering blows, the Japanese paid a minimal price—twenty-
nine planes, including nine fighters, fifteen dive bombers, and five torpedo planes.
Other losses included one large submarine and five midgets. The human cost to
Japan was fifty-five airmen and nine midget-sub crewmen. American casualties
were inversely severe: 2,403 killed and 1,178 wounded, including civilians. It was
a famous victory.
Note
1. Walter Lord, Day of Infamy (New York: Henry Holt, 1957), ii
Joe DiMaggio advertising Camel cigarettes.
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons; Stanford School of Medicine.
Courtesy of Northwestern University Library World War II poster collection, Pr32.5015:38.
Courtesy of Northwestern University Library World War II poster collection, N18.2:P94.
Courtesy of National Archives, photo 5197, NWDNS-44-PA-2272 from the World War II Posters collection.
Tojo, Mussolini, and Hitler.
Courtesy of Northwestern University Library World War II poster collection, 2591244.
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Life Begins for Andy Hardy poster from Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer.
Poster by Ben Shahn. Courtesy of Northwestern University Library World War II poster collection, Pr32.4812:A-25.
Poster by Thomas Woodburn. Courtesy of Northwestern University Library World War II poster collection, 2589267.
Poster by Charlotte Angus. Courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZC2-1108.
Poster by MacLean. Courtesy of Northwestern University Library World War II poster collection, W3.46/1:G31.
Poster by Valentino Sarra. Courtesy of Northwestern University Library World War II poster collection, Pr32.5015:28.
Poster by Alexander Ross. Courtesy of Northwestern University Library World War II poster collection, FS2.26:N93/10.
Courtesy of National Archives, 513886, NWDNS-44-PA-427, Office of Government Reports.
Courtesy of Northwestern University Library World War II poster collection, Pr32.409:Am3.
Courtesy of Northwestern University Library World War II poster collection, T1.107:W37/4.
Poster by Zebedee Johnson. Courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZC2-5680.
Poster by Bernard Perlin. Courtesy of Northwestern University Library World War II poster collection, Pr32.5015:15.
Poster by Allen Saalburg. Courtesy of Northwestern University Library World War II poster collection, Pr32.5015:14/3.
PART IV
First Week at War
December 8–13, 1941
15
MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1941
FIGURE 15.1 Sailor reading the Chicago Daily Tribune, December 8, 1941.
U.S. Navy photo. Courtesy of National Archives, 80-G-405258.
A Nation at War: Reports Pouring In
Banner headlines the next day, Monday, confirmed what had been known by
radio the day before—the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and assaults on other
154 First Week at War: December 8–13, 1941
far-f lung targets, by air, sea, and land. The fate of the U.S. battleships Okla-
homa and West Virginia —whether damaged or sunk—was neither confirmed nor denied, and the same was true of the destroyers and other vessels. 1
From the Associated Press came reports of one ship lying on its side and four
others on fire. It further reported a naval engagement off Honolulu with a Japa-
nese aircraft carrier attacking Pearl Harbor’s defenses, complete with columns of
water rising up from the sea. 2 There were greater claims. The Mutual Broadcasting System reported a Japanese aircraft carrier sunk off the Oahu coast. 3 In a battle of dueling claims, Japanese headquarters claimed a U.S. aircraft carrier sunk by a
Japanese submarine. 4
There were continuing reports of a naval engagement off Oahu and con-
fused stories of the sinking of an American, or perhaps Japanese, aircraft carrier. 5
Washington also announced damage to Army and Navy aircraft and hangars. It
confirmed attacks on Wake Island, Midway, Guam, Hong Kong, Singapore, and
Shanghai. Other sources reported Japanese landings in northern Malaya and Japa-
nese moves into Thailand. 6 , 7
In another report, the U.S. fleet was portrayed as sweeping out to sea protected
by clouds of airplanes as it searched for the carriers that had launched the attack.
This was a picture congenial to Americans but unfortunately unsupported by
reality. The action was not confined to Hawaii. In the reports that came pour-
ing in, it seemed that the Japanese army, navy, and air force were everywhere
swarming to the attack across the Pacific. Correspondent Royal Arch Gunnison
reported from Manila that Japanese parachutists had landed in the Philippines,
and together with local Japanese had seized some unnamed communities. He
added a positive note: the ABCD fleet seemed successful against the Japanese
invaders.
There had been air attacks on the Philippine islands of Luzon and Mindanao,
where General MacArthur reported little damage. 8 Further attacks were recorded in Thailand. 9 In northern Malaya, some 300 miles from Singapore, 10 Japanese forces had seized the International Settlement at Shanghai, capturing the American gunboat Wake and destroying the British gunboat Petrel. Wake Island was under assault, as was Guam, where the U.S. minesweeper Penguin was sunk. 11 In the Philippines, President Quezon spoke reassuring words: “Everything is calm
and fully organized.” 12
The U.S. Navy, it was reported, would be operating out of Singapore to protect
shipments of tin and rubber vital to the defense effort, and immediate steps would
be taken to meet the threat to China’s lifeline, the Burma Road. 13
Navy officials added that its forces counterattacked from the moment the first
bombs fell. They portrayed the U.S. fleet “its giant guns stripped for action,” in
search of the foe, especially the aircraft carriers which had launched the attack.
There was no doubt, they added, that the enemy carriers had “stolen into position
under the cover of darkness.” 14
What was new on Monday was the official White House statement that the
American casualties at Pearl Harbor, which on Sunday had been reported to be up
to 104 dead and 300 wounded, 15 were now about 3,000, more than half killed.
Monday, December 8, 1941 155
And there appeared
in the newspapers the first casualty lists, which would become
a daily feature for the next four years.
The reports continued to pour in. The White House announced a second wave
of bombers that was met by antiaircraft fire. 16 NBC reported that the battleship Oklahoma was afire. Domei, the Japanese news agency, claimed the Oklahoma had been sunk. There were unconfirmed reports that the battleship West Virginia had been damaged or sunk, together with 7 destroyers and 350 aircraft caught on the
ground. The War Department reported 104 soldiers killed and 300 wounded, a
number that would soon grow sharply. 17
Hearing the first radio reports of the attack, thousands had called their news-
papers for confirmation of the White House statement. One of these was The
Denver Post . It reported on Monday that “laymen sat by their radios, listening to reports they simply couldn’t believe. Japan, they argued, could not be so stupid.
The peace discussions were still going on. The Japanese peace mission was still in
Washington. It just didn’t make sense.” 18
A Nation at War: Diplomatic Documents
Monday morning’s newspapers published four documents that told much about
the origins of the conf lict and even more about the state of mind of the contes-
tants. Secretary Hull’s Statement of Principles delivered to the Japanese envoys
on November 26 had adopted an elevated moral tone. America’s policy, it said,
was based on the principles of peace, law and order, and fair dealing among
nations. More specifically included were the principles of the inviolability of the
territorial integrity and sovereignty of every nation; the principle of noninter-
ference in the affairs of other nations; the principle of equality among nations,
which included equality of economic opportunity; and international coopera-
tion and conciliation in addressing disputes, which would be resolved by peace-
ful methods and processes. 19
There had as yet been no reply to this document by the 6th when President
Crucible of a Generation Page 24