10 Interesting Pearl Harbor Facts

The first of many Pearl Harbor facts, some new information discovered in the last year or so, is that on the morning of December 7th, 1941, the Wickes-class destroyer USS Ward attacked and sank a Ko-hyoteki-class midget submarine near the entrance to the harbor, making it not only the first shot fired on that day, but the first official American shots in the War. The Japanese sub’s periscope was spotted above the water by the minesweeper Condor, which alerted the crew of the Ward, who opened fire on the intruder.

Coming in from all directions. The defenders had no idea which direction they should fire. Wave-after-wave planes arrived targeting airplanes, ships, buildings, and storage areas.

Dive bombers, fighters, torpedo bombers, and high-level bombers blanketed the sky dropping their deadly payloads across the island of Oahu. The two waves of aircraft enacted a heavy toll on their targets, namely battleship row.

On December 8, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Congress approved Roosevelt’s declaration of war. The US declared war on Japan.

Three days later, Japanese allies Germany and Italy declared war against the United States. More than two years after the start of the conflict, the United States had finally entered World War II.

The Japanese forces had planned to use their submarines for a number of different tasks before, during, and after the Pearl Harbor attack. Prior to the Japanese bombers and fighter planes arriving from their aircraft carriers to the north, these submarines were to scout and penetrate the defenses of the harbor. Once the attack from the air started, they were to release their torpedos at prime targets and escape back out the channel.

After the attack, these submarines were to station themselves in pre-designated spots of the islands to pick-up any pilots who couldn’t make it back to their carriers due to fuel or mechanical issues. One such pilot landed on Niihau (a small Hawaiian island near Kauai). Unfortunately for that Japanese pilot, his submarine had long left it’s position, stranding him there.

In the surprise attack on ‘Battleship Row’ on December 7th, the Arizona and Oklahoma were the only ships damaged beyond repair by bombs or torpedo hits. Of the 2,026 American sailors and marines killed in the attack, 1,606 had been aboard these two ships.

Three more battleships (the California, West Virginia and Nevada) sank upright in the shallow water of the harbor. They were salvaged, and while many vessels did not return to the battlefield for several years, most suffered repairable damage. The Battleship Missouri is now anchored there.

A wonderful USS Arizona fact that honors the survivors is that they have the option to join their lost comrades and make ship their final resting place. Crew members who served onboard the USS Arizona during the attack may choose to have their ashes deposited by divers beneath one of the sunken Arizona’s gun turrets.

Roughly 44 Arizona survivors have chosen this option. Other military survivors can choose to have their ashes scattered wherever their ship was located during the attacks.

Japanʻs naval forces depended on the United States for the supply of natural and industrial resources (namely, oil) without which its forces would be significantly impaired. This led to Japan to target South-east Asia, rich in minerals and oil. While they knew that such an invasion would lead to war against America, Japan decided to destroy America’s Pacific Fleet to prevent American interference in its plan to access resources of countries in South-east Asia, which Japan called “Southern Resource Area”.

This was the primary reason behind the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Japan concentrated on just destroying battleships of the US Navy as it thought that the Pacific fleet battles would be decided on them. This proved to be wrong.

Had Japan focused the attack beyond the fleet and targeted navy repair yards, oil tank farms, submarine base, and old headquarters building it could have inflicted far greater damage. Because the plan was made to focus on battleships, American aircraft carriers were untouched by the attack (they were out at sea). This led to America being able to rebuild quickly and ultimately reverse the Japanese advance after the setbacks of early 1942.

Admiral Hara Tadaichi summed up the Japanese result by saying, “We won a great tactical victory at Pearl Harbor and thereby lost the war.”

The day before the attacks, the USS Arizona took on a full load of fuel, nearly 1.5 million gallons. Much of that fuel helped ignite the explosion and subsequent fires that destroyed the ships, but amazingly, some fuel continues to seep out of the wreckage.

According to the History Channel, the Arizona “continues to spill up to 9 quarts of oil into the harbor each day.” This adds to the emotional gravity of this memorial and those visiting often refer to this phenomenon as the “tears of the Arizona” or “black tears.”