I Was There - December 1941 - U.S. War Correspondents Reporting World War Two

Although the assault on Pearl Harbor was but one of many virtually simultaneous attacks by the Japanese armed forces against the United States and its Allies in the Pacific, it was the one that struck a nerve in the American public and prompted President Franklin D. Roosevelt to demand, and receive, an immediate declaration of war from Congress.

To declare war is one thing, but to carry the fight to the enemy is quite another. Almost two years would pass before U.S. Army forces tangled with the Japanese Army in the last weeks of the Central Pacific Campaign

Most Americans caught in the Japanese attack on Oahu went through successive stages of shock, fear, and anger a poor cli¬mate indeed for pinning down exactly what happened. And even about the basic statistics it's dangerous to be dogmatic.

There are different ways of counting things: should, for instance, an obsoete airplane that is out of commission anyhow be counted as "destroyed by the enemy"?

Keeping these cautions in mind, here are the answers to some basic questions that are bound to arise;

How many ships were in Pearl Harbor?

Best answer seems to be 96. Most maps show 90 ships, but omit the Ontario, Condor, Crossbill, Cockatoo, Pyro, and the old Baltimore.

What was U.S. air strength?

Some 394 planes, according to Con¬gressional investigation, but many were obsolete or being re¬paired. Available aircraft: Army-93 fighters, 35 bombers, 11 ob¬servation; Navy-15 fighters, 61 patrol planes, 36 scout planes, 45 miscellaneous.

How big was the Japanese Striking Force?

There were 31 ships, six carriers, two battleships, two heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, nine destroyers, three submarines, eight tankers. Air strength; 432 planes used as follows: 39 for combat air patrol, 40 for reserve, 353 for the raid.

What was the strength of the Japanese Advance Expeditionary Force?

Probably 28 submarines-11 with small planes, five with the famous midget subs (The Congressional investigation set the figure at 20, but this is too low, according to the Japanese.)

When did various events occur?

Most reliable sources agree the raid began about 7:55 AM, ended shortly before 10:00 AM. At Pearl and Hickam few noticed the five neat phases spelled out in the CINCPAC Official Report.
To the men it was a continuing battle, flaring up and down in intensity, with a 15-minute lull around eight-thirty.

The most stunning single moment-the Arizona blowing up-seems to have taken place about 8: 10.

Some eyewitnesses feel that the explosion came at the very start of the attack, yet this couldn't be so, judging from the experiences of the five Arizona survivors who were located.

In fixing the time for various events, this book depends on both official records and the memory of eyewitnesses. Neither source is infallible. Logs and reports were sometimes worked up long after the event, and in the excitement of battle a fighting man could lose all track of time.