Facts
My grandfather with his friends on leave during WWII
American Losses:
2,403 Americans killed, including 68 civilians
1,178 American soldiers and civilians wounded
21 ships of U.S. Pacific Fleet destroyed or damaged
188 aircraft destroyed
159 aircraft damaged
Special Torpedoes?
Normal torpedoes went deep under the water before finding their target and heading in that direction. Since the water is so shallow in Pearl Harbor, the Japanese developed custom torpedoes by putting on wooden fins that kept the torpedoes horizontal to the water from the time they were dropped to when they hit the water. Once they reached water, the fins broke off and it headed for its target.
2,403 Americans killed, including 68 civilians
1,178 American soldiers and civilians wounded
21 ships of U.S. Pacific Fleet destroyed or damaged
188 aircraft destroyed
159 aircraft damaged
Special Torpedoes?
Normal torpedoes went deep under the water before finding their target and heading in that direction. Since the water is so shallow in Pearl Harbor, the Japanese developed custom torpedoes by putting on wooden fins that kept the torpedoes horizontal to the water from the time they were dropped to when they hit the water. Once they reached water, the fins broke off and it headed for its target.
The Approaching B-17's
My grandfather during WWII
There were a group B-17's that were expected to arrive from California to Pearl Harbor on the day of the attack. When Private Joseph Lockard looked at the radar and saw a lot of large blips on the screen, he phoned into his commander saying "It's the largest [group of planes] I have ever seen." The commander didn't worry, because he thought they were the B-17's. He obviously thought wrong. Unfortunately, the planes ended up being shot at by both the Japs and the paranoid Americans on land. To their luck, they all landed their damaged planes on Oahu.
USS Arizona
The USS Arizona was never salvaged after Pearl Harbor. To this day, it lies in the same place where it sank, underneath the USS Arizona Memorial for tourists to come see. The memorial has a list of the names of the sailors who died on the Arizona the day of the attack.
A Jump on the Bandwagon
On the day of the Pearl Harbor attack, there were 1.5 million soldiers in the U.S. armed forces, with one million still in training. After World War II, 16 million Americans served.
USS Arizona
The USS Arizona was never salvaged after Pearl Harbor. To this day, it lies in the same place where it sank, underneath the USS Arizona Memorial for tourists to come see. The memorial has a list of the names of the sailors who died on the Arizona the day of the attack.
A Jump on the Bandwagon
On the day of the Pearl Harbor attack, there were 1.5 million soldiers in the U.S. armed forces, with one million still in training. After World War II, 16 million Americans served.
The Japanese Flag
Japanese Spy
There was a spy who reported to the Japanese who was stationed in Oahu, and counted the American warships in Pearl Harbor and told their locations. His name was Takeo Yoshikawa. He made one last report on December 6th, the day before the attack. People like him were the reason behind the Japanese-American Internment. If Americans had been more realistic, we would have realized there were not very many people living in America who were loyal to Japan.
There was a spy who reported to the Japanese who was stationed in Oahu, and counted the American warships in Pearl Harbor and told their locations. His name was Takeo Yoshikawa. He made one last report on December 6th, the day before the attack. People like him were the reason behind the Japanese-American Internment. If Americans had been more realistic, we would have realized there were not very many people living in America who were loyal to Japan.