Introduction
Welcome to my summary of what happened to Pearl Harbour on Dec 7, 1941:
Many people are lead to believe that this was an unprovoked surprise attack by Japan. But the reality of the situation lies within the files of congress and other secret documents. But over the years these secrets have leaked out slowly and silently. The Japanese had become dependent on a large trading volume with the United States. In Sept 1940, the United States banned exports of iron and steel to Japan and the following July, froze all Japanese assets in the United States. Demands that Japan withdraw from China were ignored. The following day the United States responded with a declaration of war on Japan. Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in December brought the war to a truly global scale. The attack on Pearl Harbour ignited war fever in the United States. Safe behind ocean barriers, the USA had let its military forces atrophy since the First World War. It would take the Americans time to rearm, but in less than two years there were 12 million soldiers under arms. The Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbour devastated the American battleship forces in the Pacific. Tactically the attack was one of the most successful in history, but strategically it was a disaster. Hitler used the occasion to declare war on the United States. The Americans entered the war and their industrial capacity would be directed to the destruction of both enemies. The only places that had military strength was Singapore and Honolulu. Towards the end of November 1941, American authorities sent a war warning notice to their pacific commanders. At the same time, the large aircraft carriers Lexington and Enterprise were away from Pearl Harbour, ferrying fighters to Wake and Midway Islands. A strike force of 6 aircraft carriers supported by 2 battleships, and a host of other warships, including 20 submarine scouts, rehearsed the battle plans. The Japanese approached Hawaii from the North. On the morning of December 7, they had arrived undetected within 600 km of Pearl Harbour. The first wave of 200 planes was followed by a second wave of 180. The American battleship Arizona was hit hardest. It capsized and carried a thousand of its crew to a watery grave. Of the other battleships, West Virginia was repeatedly hit, as were the Nevada, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Maryland and California. The Pennsylvania was also hit and it was in dry dock at the time. The Pearl Harbour Naval Complex is 2162 acres. It has $36.9 million in funding. The naval complex is divided into the Pacific fleet and industrial supply centre, naval station, submarine base, shipyard, public works centre, and inactive ship detachment. The Arizona was carrying 1.5 million gallons of oil when she was sunk. The explosion killed more than 1000 crew members. It took 9 minutes to sink.
PERSONNEL KILLED:
NAVY 2001
MARINE CORPS 109
ARMY 231
CIVILIAN unaccountable

PERSONNEL WOUNDED:
NAVY 710
MARINE CORPS 69
ARMY 364
CIVILIAN 35

SHIPS:
SUNK OR BEACHED 12
DAMAGED 9

AIRCRAFT:
DESTROYED 164
DAMAGED 159
The USS Arizona, Utah and Oklahoma were salvaged and later saw in action in world war two.

Pictures
Above -- Aboard a Japanese carrier before the attack on Pearl Harbour, crew members cheer departing pilots. Below -- A photo taken from a Japanese plane during the attack shows vulnerable American battleships, and in the distance, smoke rising from Hickam Airfield where 35 men having breakfast in the mess hall were killed after a direct bomb hit.