December 7, 1941
American Losses: 41 P-40 Warhawks. 16 F4F Wildcats. 1 Battleship. 2 Destroyers. Total killed: 441.
Japanese Losses: 246 planes. Total Killed: 519.
Now what will happen? Will Kimmell be replaced for delaying the reaction? Will Germany still declare war?
- 0342: Minesweeper USS Condor reports sighting a submarine periscope outside of Pearl Harbor. Several US destroyers scramble to investigate the report.
- 0550: The Japanese aircraft carriers northwest of Pearl Harbor turn into the wind. The pilots gathered on deck are assured of “certain victory.”
- 0610: The first waves of Japanese aircraft - 183 fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes – roar off the decks of the Japanese carriers. Pilots reconfirm their navigation by using a Honolulu radio station’s music as a guiding beam.
- 0645: Japanese midget submarine surfaces just a quarter-mile from the US destroyer Ward. The USS Ward moves in for the kill The Ward’s captain, Lt. William W. Outerbridge, has been in command for only two days. He orders men to commence firing. The first shot misses. The second strikes the submarine at the waterline. The submarine heels over and appears “to slow and sink.” The Ward assures the sinking by dropping “a full pattern of depth charges.”
- 0653: The USS Ward’s message arrives at 14th Naval Headquarters, Pearl Harbor Naval Station. The message: “We have attacked, fired upon, and dropped depth charges upon submarine operating in defensive sea area.”
POD: Unlike in OTL, Outerbridge panics and sends the message before encoding it. Thus, there is no delay in the time between the message was sent and the time it was decoded, as in OTL.
- 0702: The Army’s Opana Mobile Radar Station is one of six radar stations on Oahu. One of the two privates on duty looks at the radar oscilloscope and can’t believe his eyes. He asks his buddy to take a look—and he confirms the sighting: 50 or more aircraft on a bearing for Oahu. The privates call the Fort Shafter information center, the hub of the radar network.
- 0715: The Ward’s message has, by now, been heard by many across the island of Oahu, including the Commander of the Pacific Fleet, Husband Kimmell, who dismisses the report.
- 0720: An Army lieutenant who is in training at the radio-network operations center at Fort Shafter gets the Opana radar station report: “the biggest sightings” the radar operator had ever seen. By now the planes are about 70 miles (113 kilometers) away. The lieutenant, who heard the Ward’s message, which was broadcast over open airwaves, sends this report up the chain of command.
- 0727: Lt. General Walter C. Short, commander of US Army forces on Hawaii, receives the radar report. Like Kimmell, he does not completely believe the authenticity of the reports, but orders the US Army forces on the island to alert, anyhow. Better to be safe than sorry, he figures.
- 0733: The first warplanes on Hawaii roar aloft. Five P-40 Warhawks of the 47th Pursuit Squadron based at Haleiwa Field in western Oahu meet up with another twenty Warhawks of 18th Pursuit Group based at Wheeler Field.
- 0740: The twenty-five Warhawks receive permission to engage the forty-nine high-altitude bombers, fifty-one dive-bombers, forty torpedo planes, forty-one fighters they spot flying through clouds northwest of Kakuku Point. In a monumental stroke of good luck, the Japanese pilots who had been flying in a cloud bank, fail to spot the Americans until they emerge.
- 0742: Twenty-five American fighters engage the Japanese planes. They tear through the lines of fighter escorts and strike at the vulnerable bombers.
- 0745: Fighters around Oahu roar into the clear, sunny skies. By this time, there are nearly seventy American fighters in the air. More are being readied at Wheeler, Hickam, Haleiwa, and Bellows. Admiral Kimmell finally orders the navy to battle stations.
- 0801: The Japanese first airwave is torn to shreds by nearly one hundred American fighters. During the attack, the Japanese have lost nearly 110 of their 180 planes. The American losses include nineteen P-40 Warhawks and six F4F Wildcats. With US fighters massing in northwestern Hawaii, Air-attack commander Mitsuo Fuchida is forced to order the Japanese strike force to turn around.
- 0839: With Japanese forces returning to their carriers, the American fighters land at their respective airfields to rearm and refuel. A twenty plane combat air patrol continues to run a race-track pattern over Oahu. Meanwhile, the second Japanese air wave claws into the sky.
- 0854: The second attack wave hits. They meet stiff resistance from ground fire but catch nearly fifteen P-40’s on the ground at Wheeler. The 35 Japanese fighters fend off the American air patrol and penetrate to Pearl Harbor itself. Bombers attack the navy yard dry dock and hit the battleship USS Pennsylvania. Another bomber hits oil tanks between the destroyers USS Cassin and USS Downes. Onboard ammunition explodes, and the Cassin rolls off her blocks and into the Downes. They will be the only naval losses of the day.
- 0930: The Japanese strike force turns for home but finds itself confronted by over 100 US fighters. The force is virtually annihilated in its return to the carriers. Of the 167 planes of the second air wave, only 21 make it back to the carriers.
- 1000: Japanese commanders cancel the third attack wave. They reason that it is too risky and the planes are needed to defend the carrier fleet.
- 1200: The Japanese carriers turn for home, their mission a failure.
- 0550: The Japanese aircraft carriers northwest of Pearl Harbor turn into the wind. The pilots gathered on deck are assured of “certain victory.”
- 0610: The first waves of Japanese aircraft - 183 fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes – roar off the decks of the Japanese carriers. Pilots reconfirm their navigation by using a Honolulu radio station’s music as a guiding beam.
- 0645: Japanese midget submarine surfaces just a quarter-mile from the US destroyer Ward. The USS Ward moves in for the kill The Ward’s captain, Lt. William W. Outerbridge, has been in command for only two days. He orders men to commence firing. The first shot misses. The second strikes the submarine at the waterline. The submarine heels over and appears “to slow and sink.” The Ward assures the sinking by dropping “a full pattern of depth charges.”
- 0653: The USS Ward’s message arrives at 14th Naval Headquarters, Pearl Harbor Naval Station. The message: “We have attacked, fired upon, and dropped depth charges upon submarine operating in defensive sea area.”
POD: Unlike in OTL, Outerbridge panics and sends the message before encoding it. Thus, there is no delay in the time between the message was sent and the time it was decoded, as in OTL.
- 0702: The Army’s Opana Mobile Radar Station is one of six radar stations on Oahu. One of the two privates on duty looks at the radar oscilloscope and can’t believe his eyes. He asks his buddy to take a look—and he confirms the sighting: 50 or more aircraft on a bearing for Oahu. The privates call the Fort Shafter information center, the hub of the radar network.
- 0715: The Ward’s message has, by now, been heard by many across the island of Oahu, including the Commander of the Pacific Fleet, Husband Kimmell, who dismisses the report.
- 0720: An Army lieutenant who is in training at the radio-network operations center at Fort Shafter gets the Opana radar station report: “the biggest sightings” the radar operator had ever seen. By now the planes are about 70 miles (113 kilometers) away. The lieutenant, who heard the Ward’s message, which was broadcast over open airwaves, sends this report up the chain of command.
- 0727: Lt. General Walter C. Short, commander of US Army forces on Hawaii, receives the radar report. Like Kimmell, he does not completely believe the authenticity of the reports, but orders the US Army forces on the island to alert, anyhow. Better to be safe than sorry, he figures.
- 0733: The first warplanes on Hawaii roar aloft. Five P-40 Warhawks of the 47th Pursuit Squadron based at Haleiwa Field in western Oahu meet up with another twenty Warhawks of 18th Pursuit Group based at Wheeler Field.
- 0740: The twenty-five Warhawks receive permission to engage the forty-nine high-altitude bombers, fifty-one dive-bombers, forty torpedo planes, forty-one fighters they spot flying through clouds northwest of Kakuku Point. In a monumental stroke of good luck, the Japanese pilots who had been flying in a cloud bank, fail to spot the Americans until they emerge.
- 0742: Twenty-five American fighters engage the Japanese planes. They tear through the lines of fighter escorts and strike at the vulnerable bombers.
- 0745: Fighters around Oahu roar into the clear, sunny skies. By this time, there are nearly seventy American fighters in the air. More are being readied at Wheeler, Hickam, Haleiwa, and Bellows. Admiral Kimmell finally orders the navy to battle stations.
- 0801: The Japanese first airwave is torn to shreds by nearly one hundred American fighters. During the attack, the Japanese have lost nearly 110 of their 180 planes. The American losses include nineteen P-40 Warhawks and six F4F Wildcats. With US fighters massing in northwestern Hawaii, Air-attack commander Mitsuo Fuchida is forced to order the Japanese strike force to turn around.
- 0839: With Japanese forces returning to their carriers, the American fighters land at their respective airfields to rearm and refuel. A twenty plane combat air patrol continues to run a race-track pattern over Oahu. Meanwhile, the second Japanese air wave claws into the sky.
- 0854: The second attack wave hits. They meet stiff resistance from ground fire but catch nearly fifteen P-40’s on the ground at Wheeler. The 35 Japanese fighters fend off the American air patrol and penetrate to Pearl Harbor itself. Bombers attack the navy yard dry dock and hit the battleship USS Pennsylvania. Another bomber hits oil tanks between the destroyers USS Cassin and USS Downes. Onboard ammunition explodes, and the Cassin rolls off her blocks and into the Downes. They will be the only naval losses of the day.
- 0930: The Japanese strike force turns for home but finds itself confronted by over 100 US fighters. The force is virtually annihilated in its return to the carriers. Of the 167 planes of the second air wave, only 21 make it back to the carriers.
- 1000: Japanese commanders cancel the third attack wave. They reason that it is too risky and the planes are needed to defend the carrier fleet.
- 1200: The Japanese carriers turn for home, their mission a failure.
American Losses: 41 P-40 Warhawks. 16 F4F Wildcats. 1 Battleship. 2 Destroyers. Total killed: 441.
Japanese Losses: 246 planes. Total Killed: 519.
Now what will happen? Will Kimmell be replaced for delaying the reaction? Will Germany still declare war?
