PEARL HARBOUR

              PEARL HARBOUR!   

FACTS ABOUT PEARL HARBOUR:

• The attack on Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7, 1941.
• The Japanese attacked the United States without warning.
• The attack lasted 110 minutes, from 7:55 a.m. until 9:45 a.m.
• A total of 2,335 U.S. servicemen were killed and 1,143 were wounded. Sixty-eight civilians were also killed and 35 were wounded.
• The Japanese lost 65 men, with an additional soldier being captured.
• Pearl Harbor is on the south side of the Hawaiian island of Oahu and is the home to a U.S. naval base.
• The attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II. 
• Plans for a surprise attack against the United States were begun as early as January of 1941.
• Although it was Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto who initiated the plans for the attack against Pearl Harbor, Commander Minoru Genda was the plan's chief architect.
• The Japanese used the codename "Operation Hawaii" for the attack on Pearl Harbor. This later changed to "Operation Z."
• The Japanese specifically chose to attack on a Sunday because they believed Americans would be more relaxed and thus less alert on a weekend.
• The Japanese attack force stationed itself approximately 230 miles north of the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
• The Japanese launched their airplanes in two waves, approximately 45 minutes apart.
• The first wave of Japanese planes struck Pearl Harbor at 7:55 a.m. The second wave reached Pearl Harbor around 8:40 a.m.
• When Japanese Commander Mitsuo Fuchida called out, "Tora! Tora! Tora!" ("Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!") upon flying over Pearl Harbor, it was a message to the entire Japanese navy telling them they had caught the Americans totally by surprise.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         The attack commenced at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time.^[13] The base was attacked by 353^[14] Japanese fighter planes, bombers, and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers.^[14] All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four being sunk. All but one (Arizona) were later raised, and six of the eight battleships were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship,^{[nb 5]} and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded.^[16] Important base installations such as the power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not attacked. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 65 servicemen killed or wounded. One Japanese sailor was captured.