The name "Pearl Harbor" has become a household name for something sudden and crushing, until now this "day of shame" keeps its secrets.

For two hares

The question of when and against whom Japan would enter the war was fundamentally important. The attack on the USSR was a strategic losing move. The capture of the Far East could not give anything to Japan, and certainly did not bring it closer to the main goal - oil. Sakhalin concessions gave only 100 thousand tons, and millions were required. Japan decided to play the "southern card". In addition, Japan has always considered the Anglo-Saxons to be its main enemy, which is why the wars in China and Singapore were of a liberating nature for it.

Hull note

Much is said today that the attack on Pearl Harbor was, in fact, provoked by the United States. On November 26, 1941, the so-called "Hull Note" (named after US Secretary of State Cordell Hull) was presented to the Japanese Ambassador to the United States. It contained demands for the complete withdrawal of Japanese troops from Indochina and from China (except Manchukuo). In fact, they were not feasible. The "Note of Hull" was an ultimatum that hurried Japan into hostilities. On this score, however, there is an alternative view. Thus, it is alleged that the aircraft carrier squadron was already on its way to Pearl Harbor when Nota was introduced.

They knew

On November 25, 1941, Roosevelt invited White House political and military leaders of the country. In his notes, the US Secretary of War recalled: “The President indicated that we, apparently, would be attacked. The problem boils down to how we can maneuver to get Japan to fire the first shot, while at the same time avoiding great danger to ourselves. It's a difficult task." There had been ambiguous signals about a Japanese attack before, but they all seemed to be ignored by the US leadership. Moreover, almost a day before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt was handed a Japanese note declaring war. The President did not react and did not warn the Pacific base: according to the “necessary” legend, the attack should have been treacherous.

And we knew

Stalin knew that Japan would not attack the USSR. Information reached him that at the "imperial meeting" it was decided to postpone the implementation of the Japanese plan of attack on the USSR "Kantokuen" until the spring of 1942. In addition, in early October, two months before the surprise attack, Richard Sorge informed Moscow that Pearl Harbor would be attacked within 60 days; this information, according to American sources, was brought by the Kremlin to Washington.

Aircraft carriers

The story of Pearl Harbor still bears little resemblance to a treacherous attack. Kazuhiko Togo, a well-known Japanese political scientist, grandson of Shigenori Togo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said in the early 40s: “There is an opinion that the United States knew about the attack in advance, hid it and allowed itself to be attacked. But I don't have enough information on this. We do not know to what extent the Americans were aware of the plans of the Japanese. At the same time, there are things that are not clear. For example, shortly before the Japanese attack, all three American aircraft carriers were withdrawn from Pearl Harbor. Such "coincidences" provide rich food for conspiracy theories.

Radars

What do the battle for Moscow and the attack on Pearl Harbor have in common? It would seem that, apart from the date of these epoch-making events, there is nothing, but there is something in common. We are talking about the British GL Mk.II radars, which in October 1941 were delivered to the USSR to protect Moscow from German air raids, and at about the same time to the Hawaiian island of Oahu, where the "pearl bay" is located. Gun laying radars GL Mk.II (Gun Laying Radar, model II, and in Russian “SON”) were the latest radio equipment for those times, which made it possible to aim guns anti-aircraft artillery on enemy aircraft at night and in adverse weather conditions. These radars operated at frequencies around 90 MHz, making it possible to determine the distance to the target, although not very accurately by today's standards. However, targeting anti-aircraft guns and had to be done manually. Nevertheless, anti-aircraft gunners and such radars brought tangible benefits. In the case of Pearl Harbor, the approach of the first planes was noticed by radar, but the Americans mistook them for "their own".

So what?

Pearl Harbor is one of the "eternal themes" of world history. It has a lot of details that one way or another will play with new colors under different lighting conditions. Like, for example, the fact that Isoroku Yamamoto, the Japanese admiral and main mastermind behind the attack, studied at Harvard in his time. Or the fact that the United States, in fact, dragged financial corporations into the war, which received super profits in the war ... Talk will continue about the role of Stalin in this event ... films will be made ...

Pearl Harbor became a US military base in 1875, when the Americans took possession of part of the Hawaiian kingdom. Over time, shipyards were built there, and by 1908 this place became the central base of the US Pacific Fleet.

Reasons for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

Japan, as you know, was an ally of Germany. The power in this country wanted to expand its borders and seize neighbouring countries. Beginning in 1931, Japan gained enough strength to gradually take over China. By 1937, most of this country was already under occupation. And the apogee of this confrontation was the incident in the city of Nanjing, when Japanese troops carried out an act of intimidation and killed hundreds of thousands of civilians. After the partial capture of China and other neighboring Asian states, the Japanese decided to attack the USSR, but they did not succeed. In parallel, Japan was able to capture the French colony of Indochina in the south. While the Germans fought with the main forces of the European states, the Asians easily occupied their colonies in this region. Many different cities belonging to Britain and the Netherlands were captured. The only force that prevented Japan from becoming a superpower in the Pacific region was the United States. At the same time, the Americans demanded from the Japanese that they return their state borders to their previous position in which they were until 1931. Also, the United States stopped supplying this country with strategic raw materials necessary for waging war, including oil. This did not suit the Japanese authorities, headed by the Prime Minister. But the preponderance of forces was on the side of the Americans. Therefore, the Japanese were in no hurry to enter into open war with them. They decided to conduct a surprise and quick operation to attack the main American military base in Hawaii, Pearl Harbor.

Attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941

In November 1941, events in this region began to develop very rapidly. The United States supported China in the fight against the Japanese, and the authorities of this country did not like it very much. Then they offered the Americans the following: Japan withdraws its troops from Indochina, and the United States stops supporting China. But this was not enough for the Americans, and they offered the Asians also to withdraw troops from China. But such demands hurt the Japanese General Staff very much, and then a firm decision was made to suddenly attack Pearl Harbor. This event was destined to take place on December 8, 1941.

On this day, in the early morning, about 350 Japanese bombers and torpedo bombers took to the air and a few minutes later attacked Pearl Harbor. The attack was so unexpected that 18 ships and about 300 aircraft of the American Pacific Fleet sank or were disabled during the bombardment. At the same time, about 2,500 soldiers and officers died. During this battle, irreparable damage was inflicted on the entire US Navy. However, there could have been even more losses, but all four aircraft carriers were absent from this military base at that time. Despite this, the main goal of Japan was achieved. The US Pacific Fleet practically ceased to exist, and the Japanese completely seized dominance of the sea in this region. This allowed them to carry out extensive offensive operations in the Philippines and the Dutch Indies.

As you know, following the results of World War II, Japan was forced to capitulate, but the Battle of Pearl Harbor dealt a serious blow to the reputation of the United States.

Forced the United States to join WWII. Initially, the Americans did not even imagine that the "Pearl Harbor" could be attacked. Back in 1932, the US military conducted large-scale exercises, the main task of which was, in the event of an attack by a mock enemy on the Hawaiian Islands. It is known that Admiral Yarmouth outwitted the defending side by sending only a few aircraft carriers forward. Then, 40 miles from the island, he raised attack aircraft into the air and conditionally destroyed the entire enemy defense. As a result, he managed to gain complete air superiority, but, unfortunately, this did not convince the chief mediator that the system of fortifications needed to be changed. He (the intermediary) stated that "any aircraft carriers would be destroyed on approach, and the attacking aircraft would suffer too heavy losses, since Oahu was heavily protected by heavy aircraft." In 37 and 38, the exercises were repeated, while the attackers managed to "destroy" shipyards, airfields and the entire fleet. It was this series of mistakes that led to the disaster that happened on December 7, 1941.

The basis of the incorrect conclusions of the American command was that in the 30s, battleship-class ships were considered the main weapon both at sea and in politics. Countries that could afford the production of these ships forced all other world powers to reckon with them. Basic military doctrine, both the United States and Japan (which was seriously inferior in the number of these ships), was considered the implementation of a general battle, where battleships take the place of the main combat units. Carrier ships appeared much later, respectively, the command of both sides considered them to be something of secondary importance and used them mainly to reduce the advantage of the enemy's battle fleet.

Pearl Harbor is located on the island of Oahu, which belongs to the Hawaiian Archipelago. The harbor got its name from the name of the bay, which translates as "Pearl Harbor". Almost the entire territory of the island consisted of military bases, airfields and other defensive fortifications.

There is still no exact information about when exactly the Japanese began to work out a plan of attack. It is only known that in 1927 - 28, a certain captain of the 2nd rank named Kusaka Ryunosuke began to prepare an initial plan for attacking the American base in the Hawaiian Islands. Subsequently, he was promoted to commander of the 1st Carrier Fleet. He happened to conduct a course on aviation at once ten very important people, among which was Nagano Osami. In this regard, he prepared a document in which it was indicated that if the United States did not want to go to the general battle on their own, then Japan urgently needed to seize the initiative. It was planned to carry it out through the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is likely that Isoroku Yamamoto saw that document and drew up the vague plans more clearly and concretely, which, together with the results of the American exercises, could convince the entire Japanese command of the expediency of this idea.

The attack on Pearl Harbor pursued several goals at once, but most of them were only partially achieved, despite the initial success of the operation. In particular, the main tasks of their fleet were:

  1. The preemptive attack was supposed to weaken the American forces in the region and thus provide security for the Japanese forces making the seizure of rich oil. South-East Asia. Given that due to the capture of the southern part of Indochina, the United States, Holland and Great Britain imposed an embargo on the supply of petroleum products. This option was the only chance to hold positions in the political arena. However, the idea failed, as the most well-armed American forces served in other places.
  2. The destruction of the fleet and airfields allowed the Japanese troops to operate more freely and opened up a wide theater of war. However, much less was hurt during the attack. American ships than planned, especially given that many of them are already outdated. That is why this goal was achieved only partially, mainly due to the huge losses in personnel of the US troops.

On November 26, 1941, one of the shock formations of the Japanese fleet (whose commander was Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo) left the base located in Hitokappu Bay (the modern name is Kasatka Bay) on Iturup Island, by order of the fleet commander Isoroku Yamamoto. The strike group consisted of six aircraft carriers, which in total carried more than 400 fighters, dive bombers and torpedo bombers. The escort included 2 battleships and 2 heavy cruisers, as well as one light cruiser, in addition, they were covered by 9 destroyers. Also, about 6 submarines participated in the operation, transporting dwarf submarines to the battlefield. All these combat units were sent by various, hidden routes to the assembly point, where they were to receive the last orders, which depended on the decision of the Japanese command about the start of the war.

As a result, on December 1, a decision was made to start the war, and the next day a message was sent to Admiral Nagumo. In turn, Yamamoto sent a coded message to the strike force. It read: "Climb Mount Niitaka", which meant that the attack was to begin on December 7th.

At about 6 o'clock in the morning, aircraft of the first wave began to rise from aircraft carriers located 230 miles from the island. Among them were 40 Nakajima B5N2 torpedo bombers, their torpedoes were equipped with special wooden stabilizers for easier launching in tight harbor conditions. Also, 49 of them were equipped with bombs weighing 800 kg. In addition, the group included 51 Aichi D3A1 dive bombers, armed with 250 kg of bombs, and 43 A6M2 fighters.

Bye strike aircraft reached the island, at the same time a Japanese mini-submarine was discovered and sunk there.

At 07:02, with the help of radar, the Americans managed to detect the approaching Japanese, but Lieutenant Tyler reassured the station staff, saying that they were their own. Similar information was transmitted by the radio station, which was used for direction finding. On that day, B-17 bombers were really supposed to fly to the base, but it was the Japanese who were lucky to detect the radar.

Already 40 minutes later, the attack began, and the first explosions began to be heard. Despite the chaos and devastation that had begun, at exactly 8:00 am, military musicians on the USS Nevada began to play the US anthem. At the same time, an alarm was sent, which read: "The air raid on Pearl Harbor is not an exercise."

Since there were no aircraft carriers in the harbor, this created confusion in the actions of the Japanese, who were forced to choose targets at their discretion. As a result of the raid, 4 battleships, 2 destroyers and a mine layer were sunk. 3 light cruisers, 4 battleships and 1 destroyer were heavily damaged. Also, the Americans lost more than 188 aircraft shot down and another 159 damaged. The personnel had a particularly hard time - 2,403 killed (1,102 died on board the Arizona battleship, which was blown up), while the number of wounded reached 1,178. The Japanese lost only 29 aircraft destroyed and 74 damaged.

The second wave consisted of over 160 aircraft. Among them were 54 - B5N2, 78 - D3A1 and 35 - A6M2. Torpedo bombers were not included in its composition, since the main bet was made on the first wave, and even fighter cover was reduced. Nevertheless, this echelon was destined to meet the fiercest resistance - the Americans were already able to lift several fighters into the air, although most of them had already been destroyed.

Conclusion

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was supposed to break the spirit of the American people and destroy most of their fleet. None of these tasks were completed. Soldiers, on the contrary, constantly went into battle with slogans like: "Remember Pearl Harbor." Although the Japanese were lucky to sink part of the enemy fleet, this did not give them a serious advantage in the ensuing war.

On December 13, 1937, Japanese troops entered the Chinese capital of Nanjing. What happened in the city for the next few weeks is impossible to describe. The Japanese massacred hundreds of thousands of residents of the city, making no exceptions by sex and age.

People were buried alive, their heads were chopped off, drowned, shot with machine guns, burned, thrown out of windows... There was no such torment that the inhabitants of Nanking would not have been subjected to. Thousands of women went to the "comfort stations" of the Japanese army, into sexual slavery.

However, Nanjing became only dress rehearsal"The Great East Asian Sphere of Mutual Prosperity". The relative success of Japan's aggressive policy in China, where the empire occupied one part of it and created puppet "states" in the other, only allowed the war architects to whet their appetites.

Japan before the Second World War did not resemble the current, familiar to us country of high technologies, unusual culture and strange hobbies. Japan in the 1930s is an empire of military madness in which the main political controversy there was a conflict between the militarists, thirsty for blood and ... other militarists, hungry for her own.

Since 1931, even before Hitler came to power, the Japanese Empire began a leisurely expansion into China: the Japanese intervened in small armed clashes, pitted Chinese warlords against each other (the country continued to Civil War), created a puppet Manchu state in the northern territories of the country, placing Pu Yi, the last Chinese emperor from the Qing dynasty, overthrown by the 1912 revolution, on its throne.

In 1937, Japan gained strength and began real war, of which the Nanjing Incident became a part. A huge part of China was under occupation, and the tentacles of the empire continued to reach out to their neighbors. It was even in the USSR, but they preferred to forget the events near Lake Khasan as a border incident: it turned out that since 1905 the northern neighbor had significantly improved his combat skills. They also coveted Mongolia, but at that time it was the second socialist state in the world (even Trotskyists were shot there) - so I had to deal with the same northern neighbor on the Khalkhin Gol River.

And the Japanese government did not have a clear understanding of whether a war with the USSR was needed in the near future. It is today that we know how rich Siberia and the Far East are in minerals. In those years, the regions were only being studied, and the war with the USSR seemed like a risky undertaking without a guaranteed result even in case of victory.

Things were much better in the south. After Hitler's attack on France (the Anti-Comintern Pact was concluded with him back in 1936) and the fall of Paris, Japan occupied French Indochina with minimal losses.

The military maniacs at the head of the empire looked around frantically: they wanted everything. At that time, almost any country in Asia was in the status of a colony of one of the European powers: Great Britain, the Netherlands or France. While Hitler smashed the mother countries, the colonies could be taken with bare hands At least that's how it seemed to the Japanese.

In addition, for military operations in China, as well as a potential war with the USSR (this idea was never abandoned, especially since after June 22, 1941, Hitler began to press on the empire with demands to fulfill its allied duty) huge resources were needed, in particular - fuel reserves, with which things were not very good for Japan.

At the same time, oil was very close, just reach out: in the British and Dutch East Indies (modern Malaysia and Indonesia). And by the fall of 1941, making sure that Germany was not able to easily and quickly break the Soviet resistance, Japan decided to send main blow South. In October 1941, the notorious Hideki Tojo, who had previously served as the head of the Kempeitai, became prime minister of the country - military police Kwantung Army. Japan has embarked on big war, for the redistribution of the entire Pacific region.

In the British and Dutch garrisons, Japanese strategists did not see a serious obstacle, and practice showed the correctness of their calculations. For example, looking ahead, the pride of the British Empire - the naval base of Singapore - the Japanese occupied in just a week, and Britain had never known such a shame: the size of the Singapore garrison was twice the number of attackers.

The only problem seemed to be the United States, which traditionally had views of the Pacific region, wanting to dominate it: back in 1898, the Americans took Hawaii and the Philippines from Spain. And in subsequent years, they managed to equip powerful naval bases on this territory and would definitely not stand aside in the event of a major war.

The United States was extremely dissatisfied with Japan's activity in this region and did not hesitate to emphasize this. Moreover, America no longer had any doubts that sooner or later it would have to fight: after the German attack on Soviet Union Roosevelt did not reaffirm the neutrality of the country, as American presidents traditionally did during wars in Europe.

Back in 1940, the United States took an active part in the creation of the "ABCD environment" - this is the name given to the trade embargo of the Western powers on the supply of Japan with strategic raw materials necessary for the war. In addition, the United States began to actively support the Chinese nationalists in their war with Japan.

On November 5, 1941, Emperor Hirohito approved the final plan for the attack on the main US Navy base in the Pacific, Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. At the same time, the Japanese government made a final attempt to negotiate peace, which was most likely a red herring, because the disposition had already been developed.

The Japanese ambassador to the United States proposed a scheme of action, according to which Japan withdraws its troops from Indochina, and the United States ceases support for the Chinese side. On November 26, the Americans responded with the Hull Note, in which they demanded the withdrawal of troops from China as well.

Tojo took it as an ultimatum, although from no point of view it was such, and failure to comply with the required did not provide for military action. But Tojo and the Japanese General Staff really wanted to fight and probably decided: if there is no ultimatum, then one should be invented.

On December 2, the chiefs of staff agreed on the start of hostilities in all directions, appointing it for December 8, Tokyo time. But Pearl Harbor was located in another hemisphere, and there at the time of the attack it was still December 7, Sunday.

Unaware of Japan's military plans, on the morning of December 7, the Americans softened their demands: Roosevelt sent a message to the emperor, which spoke only of the withdrawal of troops from Indochina.

But the Japanese squadrons were already moving towards their assigned targets.

Read about how the attack on Pearl Harbor happened 75 years ago in the RT special project.

Oahu, Hawaii

Opponents

Side force commanders

Side forces

Pearl Harbor attack- a sudden combined attack by the Japanese carrier-based aircraft of the aircraft carrier formation of Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo and Japanese midget submarines delivered to the site of the attack by submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy, on the American naval and air bases located in the vicinity of Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu (Hawaii), which occurred on Sunday morning December 7, 1941.

Background of the war

In 1932, large-scale exercises were held in the United States, during which the defense of the Hawaiian Islands from attack from the sea and air was practiced. Contrary to the expectations of the "defenders", Admiral Yarmouth left the cruisers and battleships behind and moved to Hawaii with only two fast aircraft carriers - USS Saratoga And USS Lexington. Being 40 miles from the target, he raised 152 aircraft, which "destroyed" all aircraft at the base and won complete air supremacy. However, the chief negotiator concluded that "A strong air strike against Oahu in the face of strong air power defending the island is highly doubtful. Aircraft carriers will be hit, and attacking aircraft will suffer big losses". The American command was not convinced by the results of similar exercises in 1937 and 1938, when carrier-based aircraft conditionally destroyed shipyards, airfields and ships.

The fact is that in the 30s the battleship was considered the main weapon at sea (and even in the political arena). The country that had this class of ships forced even such major powers as the USA and Great Britain to reckon with it. Both in the USA and even in Japan, which was inferior to a potential enemy in battleships, the idea dominated that the fate of the war would be decided in a pitched battle, where this class was assigned the main role. Aircraft carriers have already appeared in the fleets of these countries, but both sides assigned them, although an important, but a secondary role. Their task was to negate the advantage of the enemy's battle fleet.

November 11, 1940 aircraft from an English aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious inflicted, located in the harbor of Taranto. The result was the destruction of one and the disabling of two battleships.

It is not known exactly when the idea came to the Japanese to strike at Pearl Harbor. So, in 1927-1928, the then captain of the 2nd rank, who had just graduated from the college of the naval headquarters, Kusaka Ryunosuke, the future chief of staff of the 1st aircraft carrier fleet, began to work out an attack on the base in the Hawaiian Islands. Soon he was to lead an aviation course with a group of 10 important persons, among whom was Nagano Osami, for which he wrote a document in which he argued that the basis of the strategy for war with the United States was still a pitched battle with the entire American fleet. But if the enemy refuses to go to the open sea, Japan needs to seize the initiative, so a strike on Pearl Harbor is necessary, and it can only be carried out by air forces. This document was printed in an edition of 30 copies and, after the exclusion of direct references to America, it was sent to the command staff. It may well be that Yamamoto saw this document, and in his head the idea took on clearer forms, the results of American exercises convinced him, and the Taranto attack convinced even sworn opponents.

And although Yamamoto was against the war in general, and the conclusion of the Tripartite Pact in particular, he understood that the fate of Japan depended on how she would enter the war and how she would conduct it. Therefore, as commander, he maximally prepared the fleet, especially the aircraft carrier, for hostilities, and when war became inevitable, he put into practice the plan of attack of the US Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor harbor.

But it should be understood that not a single Yamamoto "had a hand" in this plan. When war with the US became almost apparent, he turned to Rear Admiral Kaijiro Onishi, Chief of Staff of the 11th Air Fleet. However, he had at his disposal ground-based aircraft, mainly Zero fighters and G3M and G4M medium torpedo bombers, whose range was not enough to operate even from the Marshall Islands. Onishi advised to contact his deputy - Minor Ganda.

In addition to being an excellent fighter pilot, whose unit became widely known as "Genda's conjurers", Genda was an excellent tactician and a great specialist in the use of aircraft carriers in combat. He comprehensively studied the possibilities of attacking the fleet in the harbor and came to the conclusion that in order to destroy the US Pacific Fleet in its main base, it was necessary to use all 6 heavy aircraft carriers, select the best aviators and ensure complete secrecy to ensure surprise, on which the success of the operation largely depended.

A detailed study of the plan was taken up by one of the leading officers of the headquarters of the United Fleet, Kuroshima Kameto. He was perhaps the most eccentric staff officer: as soon as he was inspired, he locked himself in his cabin, battened down the portholes and sat completely naked at the table, burned incense and smoked continuously. It was Kuroshima Kameto who developed the plan at the tactical level, taking into account the slightest nuances.

The plan was then presented to the Naval General Staff, where it met with strong opposition. This is due to the fact that the naval general staff intended to use aircraft carriers in the south, because. Few believed that the base aviation would be able to support operations to capture the southern regions as effectively. In addition, many doubted the success of the proposed attack, because much here depended on factors that the Japanese could not influence: surprise, how many ships would be in the base, etc. Here it is worth referring to the personality of the commander in chief himself - Yamamoto was known for his love of gambling, and was ready to take this risk, hoping to win. Therefore, he was unshakable, and threatened to resign. With such a formulation of the question, the chief of the naval general staff, Nagano, had to agree with Yamamoto's plan. But since Admiral Nagumo doubted success, Yamamoto said that he was ready to personally lead the aircraft carrier formation into battle if Nagumo did not decide on this operation.

What forced Japan to go to war with such a powerful industrial country as the United States of America? In 1937, the Sino-Japanese War began. Hostilities moved south until Japanese forces established themselves in northern Indochina in September 1940. At the same time, Japan entered into a military alliance with Germany and Italy, which greatly influenced its relations with the United States. And when, in July 1941, Japan invaded southern part Indochina, the USA, Great Britain and Holland dealt a crushing economic blow - an embargo on oil exports to Japan. It is not difficult to understand how important oil was for Japan: the fuel reserves of the fleet amounted to 6,450,000 tons, with the most economical use, they would be enough for 3-4 years, after which the country would have to fulfill any requirement of the aforementioned powers. Therefore, it was decided to seize the oil-rich regions of Southeast Asia. But the question arose: how would the United States react to this? It was necessary to take into account the fact that at the beginning of 1941 the Pacific Fleet was transferred to Pearl Harbor. The admirals discussed 2 options for the development of events - first, start capturing the regions of Southeast Asia, and then, when the American fleet goes to sea, destroy it in a pitched battle; or preventively destroy a potential threat, and then concentrate all forces on the occupation. The second option was chosen.

Side forces

USA

Fire Support Group (Rear Admiral D. Mikawa): 3rd battleship brigade: ships of the line IJN Hiei And IJN Kirishima; 8th cruiser brigade: heavy cruisers IJN Tone And IJN Chikuma .

Patrol detachment (captain 1st rank K. Imaizumi):

Submarines I-19 , I-21 , I-23 .

Auxiliary ships in the Strike formation:

8 tankers and transports. Midway Atoll Neutralization Force(captain 1st rank K. Konishi):

Destroyers IJN Akebono And IJN Ushio .

Attack

The strike formation, in successive groups, left the Kure naval base and passed through the Inland Sea of ​​Japan between November 10 and 18, 1941. On November 22, the task force gathered in Hitokappu Bay (Kuril Islands). The ships were loaded with canvas covers to protect the guns in stormy weather, aircraft carriers received thousands of barrels of fuel, and people were given warm uniforms. November 26 at - 06:00 the ships left the bay and went by different routes to the assembly point, where they were to receive final instructions, depending on whether war should be started or not. On December 1, it was decided to start a war, which was reported to Admiral Nagumo the next day: Yamamoto from the flagship stationed in the Inland Sea transmitted an encrypted order: “Climb Mount Niitaka”, which meant that the attack was scheduled for December 7 (according to local time).

There were also 30 submarines operating in the Pearl Harbor area. various types, of which 16 were long-range submarines. 11 of them carried one seaplane each, and 5 carried "dwarf" submarines.

At 00:50 on December 7, being only a few hours away from the aircraft pick-up point, the formation received a message that there were no American aircraft carriers in the harbor. The message, however, stated that the battleships were in Pearl Harbor, and therefore Vice Admiral Nagumo and his staff decided to proceed according to plan.

At 06:00, the carriers, only 230 miles north of the Hawaiian Islands, began to raise aircraft. The takeoff of each aircraft was precisely synchronized with the roll of the aircraft carriers, which reached 15°.

The first wave included: 40 Nakajima B5N2 carrier-based torpedo bombers (type "97"), armed with torpedoes, which were equipped with wooden stabilizers specifically for attacking in a shallow harbor; 49 aircraft of this type carried an 800-kg armor-piercing bomb, specially developed by deep modernization of the battleship projectile; 51 Aichi D3A1 dive bombers (type "99"), carrying a 250-kg bomb; 43 Mitsubishi A6M2 fighters (type "0").

While Japanese aircraft were approaching the islands, one of the five Japanese mini-submarines was sunk near the harbor entrance. At 0342, the commander of one of the US Navy minesweepers spotted the submarine's periscope about two miles from the harbor entrance. He reported this to the destroyer USS Aaron Ward, who unsuccessfully searched for her until this or another mini-submarine was discovered from the Catalina flying boat. The submarine tried to get into the harbor, following the repair vessel "Antares". At 06:45 USS Aaron Ward sank her with artillery fire and depth charges. At 06:54 from the destroyer board the commander of the 14th naval region was transmitted: "We attacked, fired at and dropped depth charges on a submarine cruising within our territorial waters." Due to a delay in decryption, the duty officer received this message only at 07:12. He handed it over to Admiral Blok, who ordered the destroyer USS Monaghan come out to help USS Aaron Ward.

At 07:02, the approaching aircraft were detected by the radar station, and Privates Joseph Locard and George Elliott reported to the information center. Desk Officer Joseph McDonald relayed the information to 1st Lt. C. Tyler. He, in turn, calmed the privates, saying that reinforcements were coming to them. The radio station also spoke about this, transmitting music, which the pilots usually used as a bearing. The B-17 bombers were indeed about to arrive, but it was the Japanese who were spotted by the radar. Ironically, numerous signals of attack were, if not ignored, then left without due attention.

Fuchida in his memoirs is rather inaccurate in describing the signal to launch the attack. He actually fired it at 07:49, but at 07:40 he fired one black flare, which meant that the attack was proceeding according to plan (i.e., the attack was sudden). However, Lieutenant Commander Itaya, leading the fighters, did not see the signal, so Fuchida fired a second rocket, also black. She was also noticed by the dive commander, who understood this as a loss of surprise, and in this case, the dive bombers should go on the attack immediately. But the smoke from bomb hits could interfere with torpedoing, so the torpedo bombers were also forced to hurry.

Despite the explosions and the chaos that began, at exactly 08:00 on the battleship USS Nevada military musicians under the direction of conductor Auden Macmillan began to play the US anthem. They got off a little bit only once, when a bomb fell next to the ship.

The main goal of the Japanese, of course, were American aircraft carriers. But at the time of the attack, they were not in the harbor. Therefore, the pilots concentrated their efforts on battleships, as they were also a significant target.

The main striking force was 40 torpedo bombers. Because there were no aircraft carriers, 16 aircraft were left without a main target and acted on their own, which also made some confusion in the actions of the Japanese. The light cruiser was the first to be hit by a torpedo attack. USS Raleigh(CL-7) and target ship USS Utah(an old battleship, but some pilots mistook it for an aircraft carrier). Colleague suffered next USS Raleigh, light cruiser "Detroit" (CL-8).

At this time, Commander Vincent Murphy was talking on the phone with Admiral Kimmel about the report of the destroyer USS Aaron Ward. The messenger who entered the commander reported the attack on Pearl Harbor (“this is not an exercise”), after which he informed the admiral about it. Kimmel relayed the news to the commander Marine, Atlantic Fleet and Asiatic Fleet, as well as all forces on the high seas The message was sent at 08:00 and read: "Air raid on Pearl Harbor, this is not an exercise."

Rear Admiral W. Furlong, who was on board mine layer USS Oglala(CM-4), seeing the aircraft over the harbor, immediately realized what was happening, and ordered a signal to be given, which flew up on the minelayer's mast at 07:55 and contained the following: "All ships leave the bay." Almost at the same time, one of the torpedoes passed under the bottom USS Oglala and exploded aboard a light cruiser USS Helena(CL-50). It would seem that the minelayer was lucky, but, ironically, from the explosion, the lining of the starboard side of the minzag was literally demolished, which is why it sank.

USS Oklahoma was moored to the battleship USS Maryland and took a powerful hit. The battleship was hit by 9 torpedoes, causing it to capsize.

The battleship was attacked almost simultaneously USS West Virginia, moored to USS Tennessee. Even though he, like USS Oklahoma received 9 torpedo hits, and an additional 2 bomb hits, thanks to the efforts of 1st Lieutenant Claude V. Rickets and his first assistant, Ensign Billingsley, who counter-flooded, the battleship did not roll over, which made it possible to restore it.

At 08:06, the first torpedo hit was received by the battleship USS California. In total, the battleship received 3 torpedo and one bomb hit.

Battleship USS Nevada was the only battleship to move. Therefore, the Japanese concentrated their fire on it, hoping to flood it in the fairway and block the harbor for many months. As a result, the ship received one torpedo and 5 bomb hits. The hope of the Americans to bring the battleship to the open sea did not materialize, and it was put aground.

hospital ship USS Vestal, moored to USS Arizona, reported a torpedo hit the battleship. After the attack, the ship was examined and no traces of torpedo hits were found, but veteran Donald Stratton, who served on USS Arizona, and after the war continues to claim that there was a hit.

This battleship was attacked by bombers at 08:11, and one of the bombs blew up the bow cellars of the main caliber, which destroyed the ship.

The following were attacked by bombers and fighters: the airfield on Ford Island, the US Air Force bases Hickam and Wheeler, the base of seaplanes.

Japanese fighters attacked the B-17s, which were unable to fight back. Then they attacked the "Dontlesses" (American carrier-based dive bombers) from an aircraft carrier. USS Enterprise. Several American planes were shot down after being attacked by their anti-aircraft guns.

The second echelon consisted of 167 aircraft: 54 B5N2, carrying 250-kg and 6-60-kg bombs; 78 D3A1 with 250 kg bomb; 35 A6M2 fighters. It is easy to see that there were no torpedo bombers in the second wave, because. the emphasis was on the first wave, and fighter cover was also reduced.

However, it was at this time that the American pilots were able to put up some decent resistance. Most of the aircraft were destroyed, but several pilots managed to take to the air and even shoot down some of the enemy aircraft. Between 8 h. 15 min. and 10 a.m. two sorties were made from the unattacked Haleiva airfield, in which 4 R-40 aircraft and one R-36 aircraft each participated. They shot down 7 Japanese aircraft at the cost of losing one aircraft. From Bellows Airfield until 9:50 a.m. not a single plane could take off, and the first plane took off from the Hickam airfield only at 11:27.

Among the numerous tragic and heroic episodes, there were also funny ones. This is a story about a destroyer USS Dale. Ernest Schnabel said after the war that a young boatswain named Fuller, during a respite between the first and second waves, was engaged in clearing the deck of wooden objects. He came across a crate of ice cream and decided to throw it overboard. However, he was stopped, the box was opened and the ice cream was distributed among the entire crew. If on that day someone could impartially observe the events, he would have seen the destroyer going into the canal, and the crew sitting at combat posts and eating ice cream!

Outcome

Japan was forced to attack the United States, because. negotiations, despite the efforts of Japanese diplomats, did not lead to anything, and she could not afford to play for time, because. resources were very, very limited.

The attack was planned the best specialists Japanese fleet, high-class aviators were trained.

Japan was waiting for the American fleet to be destroyed and the American nation to lose heart. If the first task was, though not completely, but completed, then the second was a failure. The Americans went through the entire war under the slogan: “Remember Pearl Harbor!”, And the battleship USS Arizona became for them a symbol of the "Day of Shame."

But to say that the entire American, and even the US Pacific Fleet went to the bottom, is wrong. The absence of aircraft carriers in the harbor helped America win the Battle of Midway, which is considered a turning point in the war on Pacific Ocean. After him, Japan lost the opportunity to conduct major offensive operations.

Nagumo was careful not to strike at the infrastructure of the base, and even the Americans do not deny that this would have played no less, and perhaps even more, role than the destruction of the fleet. He left the oil storage facilities and docks intact.

Success could be developed. But they decided to use aircraft carriers to conquer Southeast Asia, where they had to suppress airfields and fight enemy aircraft, which were an order of magnitude inferior to the Japanese. Only the Doolittle Raid prompted them to take action, which ultimately led to Japan's defeat.

Notes

  1. Grand Joint Exercise No. 4
  2. So, when dreadnoughts entered the Brazilian fleet Minas Geraes And Sao Paulo, American diplomats immediately remembered "American unity."
  3. Approximately so proceeded wars in the age of sail, which indicates the "novelty" of this idea.