Pearl Harbor

6:45 A.M.

Dec 7, 1941

The U.S. destroyer Ward, which had not been able to find the very small, submarine reported by the Condor, moves in for the attack. The Ward’s captain, Lt. William W. Outerbridge, has been in command for only two days. He orders men to start firing. The first shot misses and the second strikes the submarine at the waterline. The submarine flips over and appears. The Ward makes sure it is sinking by dropping “a full pattern of depth charges.” http://www.erikanderson.net/pearlharbor/timeline.ht

6:53 A.M.

Dec 7, 1941

From the Ward to the 14th Naval Headquarters, at Pearl Harbor Naval Station: “We have dropped depth charges upon sub operating in defensive sea area.” After this message was sent, almost right after they received it, another message came in saying: “We have attacked, fired upon, and dropped depth charges upon submarine operating in defensive sea area.” http://my.execpc.com/~dschaaf/timeline.html

6:10 A.M.

Dec 7, 1941

In flight, Comdr. Mitsuo Fuchida, leading the air attack on Pearl Harbor, sees how rocky the waves are getting and notices the airplanes rolling on the carrier in the water. Crewmen were clinging onto the airplanes as the waves rocked the carrier back and forth. First wave of planes go out including 183 fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes. The pilots confirm navigation by using a Honolulu radio station. http://my.execpc.com/~dschaaf/timeline.html

7:15 A.M.

Dec 7, 1941

The Ward sent a message out saying that they attacked an unidentified submarine. By code, they decoded the message then phrased it differently incase it got into wrong hands, it would not assisst the enemy in any way. Adm. Husband E. Kimmel has said to have received many unidentified submarine attacks before, so he decided to wait to verify the sub. http://www.erikanderson.net/pearlharbor/timeline.html

7:20 A.M.

Dec 7, 1941

An Army soldier 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 away. The lieutenant believes that the radar had picked up a flight of U.S. B-17 bombers heading from California to Hawaii. For security reasons, he cannot tell this to the radar operators. All he says is don’t worry about it. http://my.execpc.com/~dschaaf/timeline.html

7:33 A.M.

Dec 7, 1941

U.S. code breakers has broke the Japanese diplomatic code by phrasing the coded messge they received differently. General George C. Marshall believe this to be a threat from the Japanese and sent a message to Lt. Gen. Walter C. Short, commander of U.S. Army forces in Hawaii. Because atmospheric static blacks out communications with Hawaii, Marsha http://my.execpc.com/~dschaaf/timeline.html

7:40 A.M.

Dec 7, 1941

Planes in the first wave take off from the Japanese carriers, 49 high-altitude bombers, 51 dive-bombers, 40 torpedo planes, 43 fighters. They fly through clouds, wondering if Pearl Harbor will be visible.
Then, as they near Oahu, the attack commander hears a Honolulu weather report saying “clouds mostly over the mountains. Visibility good.” The clouds break. The fliers see a long white line of coast Oahu’s Kakuku Point. http://www.erikanderson.net/pearlharbor/timeline.html

7:49 A.M.

Dec 7, 1941

Air-attack commander Mitsuo Fuchida, looked out on Pearl Harbor and saw that there were no aircraft carriers which was what the Japanese had planned to attack. He orders his telegraph operator to tap out to, to, to: attack.
Though not meant to have a double meaning, to ra is read by some of the pilots as tora which means tiger. And according to a Japanese saying, “A tiger goes out and returns without failing." http://www.erikanderson.net/pearlharbor/timeline.html

8:10 A.M.

Dec 7, 1941

An AP bomb, dropped by a high-altitude bomber, pierces the forward deck of the USS Arizona, setting off more than a million pounds (450,000 kilograms) of gunpowder, creating a huge fireball, and killing 1,177 men. A sailor on the torpedoed battleship Nevada sees the Arizona jump at least 15 or 20 feet upward in the water and sort of break in two. In nine minutes the Arizona is on the bottom of the harbor. http://my.execpc.com/~dschaaf/timeline.html

9:30 A.M.

Dec 7, 1941

A bomb blows off the bow of the destroyer Shaw; pieces of the ship rain down half a mile away. A photo of the spectacular explosion becomes one of the best known images of December 7, 1941. Repair workers are on the job immediately. The Shaw eventually gets a new bow and is back in action by July 1942. Except for the Arizona, Utah, and Oklahoma, every ship sunk or damaged on December 7 will sail again. http://www.erikanderson.net/pearlharbor/timeline.html

10:00 A.M.

Dec 7, 1941

The first wave of Japanese airplanes that came to attack Pearl Harbor, returned back to the carrier, 190 miles north of O'ahu. http://www.erikanderson.net/pearlharbor/timeline.html

3:42 A.M.

Dec 7, 1941

The minesweeper, Condor is on patrol less than two miles off the entrance to Pearl Harbor. The officer of the deck sees something about fifty yards ahead off the port bow. He asks a sailor what he makes of the object. the sailor replies that it is a periscope. And there aren’t supposed to be any subs in the area. The Condor sends a moorse code light message to the destroyer Ward: “Sighted submerged submarine on westerly course, speed 9 knots.” http://www.erikanderson.net/pearlharbor/timeline.h

7:02 A.M.

Dec 7, 1941

The Army’s Opana Mobile Radar Station is one of six radar stations on Oahu. Radar is a new defense tool in Hawaii; the system has been working and been used for less than a month. One of the two soldiers 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 aircrafts on a bearing for Oahu. The privates call the Fort Shafter information center, the base of the radar network. http://my.execpc.com/~dschaaf/ti