Sunrise over Oahu
The First Lull
By 0630 it is clear that the torpedo attack is over. Air defense headquarters is reporting that a large force is 45 minutes out and approaching at medium altitude. Admiral Bloch, commander of the Hawaiian naval district, orders the Neosho moved, and 2 tugs and the Oglala assist Commander John Philips in moving her to the Middle Loch where all three vessels continue to assist her in dealing with her fires. This tremendous feat of seaman ship would earn Commander Philips a Medal of Honor and Navy Crosses were awarded to several of her crew as well as the commanders of the other vessels and Admiral Furlong who oversees the operation aboard his flagship.
At this point, the Ward reports attacking and sinking an enemy submarine right at the harbor entrance, and Admiral Richardson is forced to reconsider a sortie. He orders the seaplane tenders to move to the East Loch. The Maryland, California, and West Virginia, all undamaged, are sent to Carrier Row while the destroyer Dewey is ordered to move with them as a roving ship to provide extra AA coverage in case of another torpedo attack. All four ships are still in motion when the Second Wave reaches their target. The destroyers Henley, Patterson, and Ralph Talbot also move to the East Loch to provide additional AA support to the undamaged battleships and are also still moving as the Japanese aircraft approach. This leaves only the Arizona, Nevada, and Tennessee along with the Vestal (which is sinking) and the Dobbin (which is barely afloat) at Battleship Row.
Second Wave
0700 hours Fire in the Sky
The Japanese manage to form up by the time they are approaching the coast as visibility has improved and the morning light is now sufficient to enable safe formation flying. They have been spotted by radar and General McConnell vectors all of his P40s to hit them as they cross the coast. He sends the P36 squadrons to provide point defense, one to orbit over Diamond Head and the other to orbit over Barbers Point so that they can be committed against any formations that get through.
The American P40 squadrons have climbed to 14,000 feet by the time the Japanese formations begin crossing the coast. The Japanese are in a single massive formation, with the Val Dive bombers in the lead and the level bombers arranged by squadrons behind them. The bombers are at 10,000 feet and accelerating toward their attack speed. Providing cover are 18 Zeroes as the Kaneohe raid attack has been canceled because of the delays in launching. Another 42 Zeroes are above and behind the bombers to provide high cover at 12,000 feet. McConnell orders the 18th Pursuit Group to attack the enemy fighter escort while the 15th Pursuit Group goes for the bombers.
The Americans have studied the recommendations made by Chennault both in person and in writing, and attempt to make their first pass count. The Zeroes spot the approaching Americans and are climbing to meet them as the American fighters make their dives. The two American fighter groups score 9 kills as the Zero proves to be terribly vulnerable to the .50 caliber machine gun. The P40B and P40C has two in the nose, plus 4 .30 caliber machine guns on the wings. However many of the American pilots, while very experienced, and indeed in many cases even more experienced than their opponents, are still green and open fire at too great a range and fail to take into account the rapid closing rate. Thrilled by their success, the American aggressiveness soon turns into a mistake when the P40 pilots attempt to dogfight the Zero and learn that the Japanese is not to be trifled with in a dogfight.
However the 47th Pursuit has an open field while the other American squadrons keep the Zeros busy, and they rip into the 21 level bombers from the Zuikaku which has the mission of attacking Ewa Field. Lieutenant Ken Taylor is the high scoring pilot, shooting down 4, while his wingman George Welch gets 2 more and in all the 47th shoots down 13 of the Kates and force the rest to jettison their bombs and run for the coast as nearly all the rest are damaged to one degree or another. The 47th escapes with only 2 planes damaged by return fire.
Meanwhile the other 5 American squadrons learn the hard way that Chennault's lessons are to be heeded. Although they end up shooting down a total of 15 Zeros (including the aircraft shot down in the first pass) the Americans lose 11 P40s shot down and another 16 are damaged and the none of the rest manage to penetrate the fighter cover to engage any other bombers. However the Japanese pilots are lost forever while 6 American pilots manage to successfully bail out. The Japanese learn that the P40 is practically invulnerable to their rifle caliber machine guns and they do not have enough 20 mm ammunition for a long fight.
As the Japanese push through, McConnell makes a serious mistake and commits both of his P36 squadrons to defend Wheeler Field and both squadrons reach the 21 Kates from the Shokaku after the other 50 Kates and 6 Vals have split off to proceed toward Pearl Harbor. It is later learned that the radar operator at Fort Shafter lost them briefly in a radar shadow created by the mountains. By the time he discovers his error the formations have split.
For the 21 Japanese bombers attacking Wheeler Field, this is a costly disaster for them. The Americans attack with 24 P36 Hawks and while they have half the firepower of the P40 and are slower, they are plenty fast enough to fight a Kate. Lieutenant Gabreski leads the scoring, getting 2 in his first pass, but 9 are shot down by the American fighters, most of the others suffer damage from Army flak guns, and while 36 bombs hit the base and several hangers are set afire and over 25 aircraft are destroyed in hangers or on the ramp, it is hardly worth the cost. Particularly when the Hawks make another pass and shoot down 8 more of them. Only a single Kate makes it back to the Shokaku and is written off on landing, the rest are lost in combat directly or ditch on the way.
The Japanese attempt to neutralize the American fighter force has been a disaster. Of 42 bombers and 60 fighters, they have lost 33 bombers and 15 fighters and critically for the Japanese Naval Air Force, all of those air crew. Damage to Wheeler Field is serious but it is far from knocked out, and while 29 P40 and 4 Hawks are out of the fight (11 permanently, the rest for at least a day), the Americans still have 20 P36 and 47 P40s that remain available and they will be rearmed, refueled and ready for the next wave. Of course these are actual losses. The Japanese pilots claim 30 kills, and damage to 20 more, making the same inflated claims that pilots always do. The Americans claim 90 kills, certain that they completely destroyed the Shokaku and Zuikaku groups and ravaged the Japanese fighters and as gun cameras are not installed yet, and it will take days to find the wreckage of the aircraft shot down, many of those claims stand.
But while this disaster has cost the Japanese dearly, it has cleared the way for the Pearl Harbor attack force of 50 level bombers and 6 dive bombers and there are no fighters standing in their way.
0715 Hours: A rain of bombs
The Japanese level bombers fly just above the crest line of the Koo Lau Mountains and make their turn approaching the harbor at McGrew Point lined up on Battleship Row. The dive bombers then break off and begin their dive on the Fleet Headquarters building.
This target was the most difficult for Genda and Yamamoto to justify to themselves but the decision was made late in the planning that the best way to reduce the effectiveness of the American battle fleet was to hit their command center and communications facilities at the fleet headquarters building. While not aimed specifically at Admiral Richardson, his death would not be an unfortunate result. Of greater importance is temporarily paralyzing the American ability to coordinate their naval forces that are not at Pearl Harbor. The 6 Val Dive Bombers push over into their attack into a wall of fire from ships and Army flak guns who are also shooting at the far bigger target flying straight and level at 10,000 fleet toward Battleship Row. The dive bombers manage to get all 6 of their bombs on or near the target, and 3 bombs hit the building directly while 3 others land just in front of it. The building has most of the upper part of it destroyed, although the basement (and the critical decoding and intelligence office) are barely touched. However, Admirals Richardson and Pye are observing the approach of the level bombers through a window when a 250 kg bomb lands a mere 40 feet from that window, killing Admiral Richardson instantly and leaving Admiral Pye critically wounded (and missing his left arm). Losses to staff are also heavy and the Fleet Signals office is all but wiped out. Only 4 of the Japanese bombers escape as flak catches them as they pull out of their dives, and of the rest, all are damaged to varying degrees but manage to make it back to their ship.
Battleship Row
The Japanese have 50 level bombers, and leading the attack is Commander Fuchida. As he surveys the port for damage he is appalled to discover that there are 3 undamaged battleships at Carrier Row and the flak is too intense to risk more than one bomb run. He orders half of the force to focus on the Nevada and the rest to focus on the Arizona and a total of 50 bombs are dropped in a very tight group. Flak downs 6 of the bombers as they release or just after, and nearly all of the remaining aircraft take at least some damage, but results are exactly as expected, or so is claimed later. Of 50 bombs dropped, 11 hit a target. Of these 1 goes through every deck of the Dobbin including her engine room and detonates in the mud below the ship, breaking her back and sending her to the bottom within a few minutes. The Vestal is hit by two bombs, both of which plunge all the way through her and both of these bombs are disappointing from the Japanese perspective. The hurried weapons program that produced them was flawed, and nearly half of the bombs have serious problems that result either in low order detonations or complete failure to detonate at all. The Vestal is lucky as both of these bombs are duds. However, a near miss close alongside the Vestal results in exactly the result desired as it detonates normally, and yet more flooding hurries her to the harbor bottom. The Tennessee, which was just getting underway and as yet not seriously damaged aside from debris and fire damage from the explosion of the Hull, is hit twice. The first is a dud which nevertheless wrecks a 14 inch gun in her aft most turret, rendering that gun inoperable. The second bomb detonates in her stern, wrecking the steering compartment, the rudder and both screws, and brings her to a rapid halt.
However the Nevada and the Arizona are the far worst hit. Japanese planners had estimated a 24% chance of getting a hit in an engineering space, and a 20% chance of a magazine hit. These estimates turn out to be right on the money. Of 6 bombs, each battleship takes 3 hits. The Nevada suffers a low order explosion in the ships galley that wipes out an entire damage control team, while another bomb smashes her forward most turret but the low order explosion kills only the crewmen there but does no other damage. The final hit penetrates into her forward boiler room, detonating there and wiping out that space and several nearby compartments as well as letting in water that her crew is nevertheless able to stop although at this point several hundred tons of water has entered the ship and she will need months of repairs.
It is the Arizona however that suffers the fatal blow. One bomb hits her and breaks up after breaking the number 3 turret ring. Another penetrates her after engine room and fails to explode. However the fatal blow occurs when a bomb penetrates her forward magazine that starts a fire that 45 seconds later results in that magazine detonating and killing nearly 1,000 men in an instant.
The surviving Japanese aircraft break for home, and with the American fighters still rearming and refueling, they get away. A total of 8 aircraft are lost to flak during the attack, a result only possible because of the destruction of the Ewa and Wheeler Field attack forces. However, one battleship has been destroyed, and two others are knocked out of action for months at least. A fleet auxiliary has also been sunk as has a destroyer, and personnel casualties are very severe aboard the Arizona and very high aboard the Nevada, Vestal, Dobbin and Tennessee. Indeed this attack has resulted in the most casualties of the day as over 1,500 men are dead or missing never to be found among all the ships and at the base. Fleet headquarters is shattered, and communications are down until something can be restored. Among the dead are Admiral Richardson and Rear Admiral Kidd, and Admiral Pye is out of action as well. Admiral Bloch is senior officer present and takes command upon hearing the news while he is aboard the tug Ontario overseeing the movement of the battleships around Carrier Row.
