Table of Contents

Introduction--- 1

What happened on December 7--- 2

Submarines Involved--- 3

Japanese Aircraft Carriers Involved--- 4

Important Figures Involved--- 5-7

US Ships that were involved and sunk- 8

Losses and Casualties--- 9

Closing--- 10

Glossary--- 11

More Trivia--- 12

Other Pictures--- 13

Sources--- 14
 Introduction
Have you ever knew that The Attack on Pearl Harbour made the U.S.A
enter World War II? You’ll always wonder why the Imperial Japanese Air
Force would ambush Pearl Harbour, Hawaii Territory and Ford Island, as it
plays an important role in the U.S.A’s history in WWII. Read this book to
know the story of December 7th, 1941, the date which will live in infamy,
and also other things that were involved in the attack, along with
important figures who were at the harbour or who planned it.
Topic: Attack on Pearl Harbour
Subtopics:
What Happened on December 7th, 1941
Submarines involved
Japanese Aircraft Carriers involved
Important Figures involved
U.S Ships that were sunk and involved
Losses and Casualties
 1

What Happened on December 7, 1941

The Attack on Pearl Harbour was a military surprise attack that occurred
on December 7,1941 sometime at 7:48 AM, which was split in two waves.
Because the attack happened without a declaration of war and without
explicit warning, the attack on Pearl Harbour was later judged in the
Tokyo Trials to be a war crime. 6 Aircraft Carriers were involved in the
attack along with some midget submarines. The 6 Aircraft Carriers were:
1. Akagi
2. Kaga
3. Soryu
4. Hiryu
5. Shokaku
6. Zuikaku
 2

Submarines Involved
Fleet submarines I-16, I-18, I-20, I-22, and I-24 each embarked a Type A
midget submarine for transport to the waters off Oahu. The five I-boats
left Kure Naval District on November 25, 1941. On December 6, they came
to within 10 nmi (19 km; 12 mi) of the mouth of Pearl Harbour, the midget
submarines were launched at 1:00AM, hours before the attack. A third
midget submarine, Ha-19, grounded twice, once outside the harbour
entrance and again on the east side of Oahu, where it was captured on
December 8. Ensign Kazuo Sakamaki swam ashore and was captured by
Hawaii National Guard Corporal David Akui, becoming the first Japanese
prisoner of war.

Kazuo in US custody The HA-19 that ran aground after the Attack on Pearl Harbour

3
Japanese Aircraft Carriers Involved

Kaga (foreground), with Zuikaku (background), heads towards Pearl Harbor sometime between 26
November and 7 December 1941.

You saw that list of 6 aircraft carriers, right? Now let’s discuss about them, Akagi
was an Amagi-class battlecruiser, Akagi was converted to an aircraft carrier
while still under construction to comply with the terms of the Washington Naval
Treaty. Kaga was originally intended to be one of two Tosa-class battleships, Kaga
was converted under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty to an aircraft
carrier as the replacement for the battlecruiser Amagi, which had been damaged
during the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. Soryu was an aircraft carrier built for
the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the mid-1930s. A sister ship, Hiryu, was
intended to follow Soryu, but Hiryu's design was heavily modified and she is often
considered to be a separate class. Shokaku was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial
Japanese Navy, the lead ship of her class. Along with her sister ship Zuikaku, she
took part in several key naval battles during the Pacific War, including the attack
on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of the Santa Cruz
Islands before being torpedoed and sunk by a U.S. submarine at the Battle of the
Philippine Sea.
4
 Important Figures Involved
So let’s discuss the important people involved, in the attack, 2,335
Americans were killed by the Japanese planes. The Japanese leaders who
were involved are:

1. Japanese Admiral Chuchi Nagumo

2. Japanese Marshal Admiral Isoruku Yamomoto

3. Japanese Captain Mitsuo Fushida

Preliminary planning for an attack on Pearl Harbour to protect the move into the
"Southern Resource Area" (the Japanese term for the Dutch East Indies and
Southeast Asia generally) had begun very early in 1941 under the auspices of
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, then commanding Japan's Combined Fleet. Over the
next several months, pilots were trained, equipment was adapted, and intelligence
was collected. Despite these preparations, Emperor Hirohito did not approve the
attack plan until November 5, after the third of four Imperial Conferences called
to consider the matter.
5
The American commanders and leaders were:

1. Husband E. Kimmel

2. Walter Short
In the wake of the attack, 15 Medals of Honor, 51 Navy Crosses, 53 Silver Stars,
four Navy and Marine Corps Medals, one Distinguished Flying Cross, four
Distinguished Service Crosses, one Distinguished Service Medal, and three Bronze
Star Medals were awarded to the American servicemen who distinguished
themselves in combat at Pearl Harbour. Additionally, a special military award, the
Pearl Harbour Commemorative Medal, was later authorized for all military
veterans of the attack. The day after the attack, Roosevelt delivered his famous
Infamy Speech to a Joint Session of Congress, calling for a formal declaration of
war on the Empire of Japan. Congress obliged his request less than an hour later.
On December 11, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States, even though
the Tripartite Pact did not require it. Congress issued a declaration of war against
Germany and Italy later that same day. The UK actually declared war on Japan
nine hours before the U.S. did, partially due to Japanese attacks on Malaya,
Singapore and Hong Kong, and partially due to Winston Churchill's promise to
declare war "within the hour" of a Japanese attack on the United States 6
Some other figures are:
Rear Admiral Isaac Cambell Kidd; died on the bridge of the USS Arizona
when it exploded.
President Franklin Roosevelt; declared war on the Axis powers after the
attack.
Hawaii National Guard Corporal David Akui; captured Ensign Kazuo
Sakamaki, becoming the first Japanese PoW of the U.S.A
Ensign Kazuo Sakamaki; First Japanese PoW of the U.S.A, would later work
at the Toyota Motor Corporation, becoming president of its Brazilian
subsidiary in 1969.
Captain Mervyn S. Bennion; died during the attack, while mortally
wounded, he remained in command of his ship.
Fun Fact: Did you know tora is the two-syllable Japanese codeword used
to indicate that complete surprise had been achieved: to is the initial
syllable of totsugeki (突撃), meaning "assault", while ra stands for
raigeki (雷撃), "torpedo attack". Being Japanese a language with many
homophones, it is a coincidence that tora also means "tiger" (虎).

7
U.S Ships that were involved and sunk
Over 4 battleships sunk, 4 battleships damaged, 1 ex-battleship sunk, 1 harbour tug
sunk, 3 cruisers damaged, 3 destroyers damaged, and 3 other ships damaged
were the casualties and losses that the U.S.A had. The Japanese losses were light,
since only 4 midget submarines sunk, and only 1 midget submarine ran aground.
The USS Arizona had her forward magazine detonated by a modified 16-inch (410
mm) shell. USS West Viginia was sunk by six torpedoes and two bombs.

USS West Virginia sinking during the attack USS Arizona’s magazine exploding, colorized

The Japanese modified the torpedoes with wooden fins so the torpedoes wouldn’t
sink due to the weight of the torpedoes. The most important targets were the
battleships and aircraft carriers, though Japanese reports say that they didn’t
see any carriers docked at the Harbour. Even though the main targets were the
capital ships, they didn’t ignore other targets. Some battleships weren’t sunk, USS
Honolulu (CL-48) had a bomb that exploded near her hull that dealt minor damage,
USS Pennslyvania (BB-38), sister ship of the USS Arizona (BB-39), had her gun
damaged. Other targets were destroyers, light cruisers, and many more. The
light cruiser Raleigh was holed by a torpedo. 8
 Casualties and Losses
In the other pages, you saw some of the losses of the Americans, now
let’s proceed to the other losses. The Japanese losses and casualties
were light. The losses were 4 midget submarines sunk, 1 midget
submarine grounded, 29 aircraft destroyed, 64 killed, and only 1 sailor
was captured. The American losses were so heavy, 4 battleships sunk 4
battleships damaged, 1 ex-battleship sunk, 1 harbour tug sunk, 3 cruisers
damaged, 3 destroyers damaged, 3 other ships damaged, 188 aircraft
destroyed, 159 aircraft damaged, 2,335 were killed, and 1,143 were
wounded. Japan intended the attack as a preventive action to keep the
U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions that were planned
in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the
Netherlands, and the United States. Over the next seven hours there were
coordinated Japanese attacks on the U.S.-held Philippines, Guam and
Wake Island and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong
Kong. Many of the U.S aircraft and warships were damaged and destroyed
to immobilize the U.S.A Pacific Fleet for 6 months. The objective was to
sink a battleship, for propaganda purposes and the reason why the
battleships would be the main targets. The Japanese would later declare
war on the U.S.A hours after the attack.

9
 Intelligence Reported/Closing
Thanks for reading this book about The Attack on Pearl Harbour,
hope you got a big interest in the big event that played an
important role in the U.S.A’s history in World War II.
Fun Facts:
1. Did you know that the Japanese military leadership referred
to the attack as the Hawaii Operation and Operation AI, and as
Operation Z during its planning?
2. Have you ever visited the USS Arizona Memorial? It was
constructed on May 30, 1962, it was also funded by Elvis
Presley, king of rock and roll!

The USS Arizona Memorial Route of the Japanese Aircraft of the

Attack on Pearl Harbour 10

 Glossary
Totsugeki (突撃)-meaning "assault”.

Raigeki (雷撃)-"torpedo attack".

Torpedo- self-propelled weapon with an explosive warhead.
Cruiser-a large and fast military ship
Destroyer-a small and fast military ship that escorts bigger ships
Battleship-a large ship that has many guns and is used in fighting wars
Aircraft Carrier-a military ship that has a large deck where aircraft take
off and land.
Magazine-a part of a gun that holds bullets
Pearl Harbour-a surprise attack with devastating effect
Propaganda-information that is not objective and is used primarily to
influence an audience and further an agenda.
Capsizing - over occurs when a boat or ship is turned on its side or it is
upside down in the water.
Auspices- a divine or prophetic token.

11
More Trivia:
1. Most of the info you see here was taken from my story ‘Men of Pearl
Harbour’, since it was the same topic as this book. I even watched some
documentaries about the event.
2. The Japanese disabled all seven battleships on Battleship Row.
Maryland, Tennessee and Pennsylvania were repaired in only a few
weeks and three others within a year, but Oklahoma and Arizona were
total losses.
3. Enterprise launched aircraft to patrol Ford Island and search for
Japanese carriers. Five American pilots returning from missions to hunt
down the Japanese fleet were mistakenly shot down by Ford Island anti-
aircraft gunners while attempting to land.
4. Seventeen ships were damaged or lost in the attack, of which
fourteen were repaired and returned to service.

12
Other Pictures:

Dec 2006: 65 years after the attack on Pearl Harbour, retired Lieutenant Commander
Joseph Langdell, a USS Arizona survivor, recalls the experience at the memorial (left pic)
with the USS Arizona exploding (right pic)

A scene from the 2001 Michael Bay movie ‘Pearl Harbour’ (left pic) with a 184-foot
memorial on the USS Arizona Memorial (right pic) and the cover for the Michael Bay movie
‘Pearl Harbour’ (bottom)

13
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%ABichi_Nagumo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isoroku_Yamamoto
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsuo_Fuchida
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Akagi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Kaga
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_S%C5%8Dry%C5%AB
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Hiry%C5%AB
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Sh%C5%8Dkaku
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Zuikaku
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Arizona_Memorial
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsizing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mervyn_S._Bennion

One can watch the movie ‘Pearl Harbour’ on YouTube, or download it. It
has great acting and it focuses on the Attack on Pearl Harbour on
December 1941 and the Doolittle Raid on April 1942.
14