The Japanese bombed the naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, an act which angered American citizens and led to their support of America joining World War II (Koeller). The Japanese forces were led by Vice-Admiral Nagumo, and were able to get within 450 kilometers north of Pearl Harbor without being detected. The strike force consisted of 19 naval ships, including 6 carriers, 2 battleships and 3 cruisers. There were also 16 I-type submarines and 5 midget submarines ready to neutralize any American ships not destroyed by the air attack. On Pearl Harbor, no warning was given because it was not thought to be a target, and only one in four machine guns were manned, no 5" batteries were manned, ammo was not readily accessible, and one third of the ships' captains were ashore.
The first wave of Japanese fighter planes were picked up on radar at 7am but mistaken for American B-17 bombers expected in the vicinity (Koeller). The alert to an enemy raid was given at 7:55am, and the first wave of Japanese planes strafed the fleet and airfields for 30 minutes, consisting of 49 bombers, 40 torpedo bombers, 51 dive-bombers, and 36 fighters. After a 15 minute break, a second wave of high altitude bombers attacked, accompanied by a wave of dive bombers. The second wave included 54 bombers, 78 dive-bombers and 36 fighters. A total of 351 Japanese planes were used in the attack.
In Pearl Harbor at the time were 70 warships, including 8 battleships and 24 auxiliaries. The heavy cruisers and carriers were out at sea (Koeller). Six of the battleships were sunk and two damaged. Three destroyers, three light cruisers, and four other vessels were destroyed. One hundred and sixty-four planes were destroyed and 128 were damaged at Hickam Field, Wheeler Air Field, Bellows Field and Ford Island (Attack). 2,403 servicemen and civilians were killed and 1,178 wounded (Koeller). The Japanese lost 29 aircraft, 5 midget submarines and ...