The Attack
More than a year before the attack, the American Government had been able to crack the code Japanese used to transmit messages. By late November, military leaders knew Japanese aircraft carriers were moving throughout the Pacific. An attack was anticipated, but the exact time and location of this attack was unknown. The target of this attack was Oahu, home of the US Pacific Fleet.
The morning of December 7, 1941 planes were detected by an American radar operator. He reported this to an officer at his headquarters who believed it was an American plane. Less then an hour later, more than 180 Japanese planes flew over the military base. Half of the Pacific Fleet was contained in a small area which made destruction easy for the Japanese. They attacked the fleet and nearby airfields with machine guns and bombs. |
Time Line
Here is an approximate time line of the events that occurred on December 7, 1941 during the attack of Pearl Harbor.
- 6:00am December 7, 1941 - Japanese fleet takes off in route for Oahu
- 7:00am - Radar operators detect air attack approaching, superiors believe planes are American
- 7:15 - A second Japanese fleet takes off headed for Pearl Harbor
- 7:53-9:45 - First Japanese air fleet beings attack on Pearl Harbor, Americans taken by surprise and military suffers great losses.