BATTLESHIP ROW: Captured Japanese film shows Ford Island from the attacker's point of view, in the opening minutes. A torpedo plane can be seen veering to the right of the water geyser in top center, after hitting the Oklahoma. Moments later, another torpedo tore a huge hole in the Arizona. Over 1,200 men were killed or trapped below by one bomb that hit the forward magazine; they lie entombed in the memorial made of the wreck. Seven of America's most powerful battleships were either sunk or seriously damaged, three light cruisers and three destroyers damaged beyond repair and 2,335 servicemen and 68 civilians were killed. But Pearl Harbor remained viable because they neglected to knock out the power station, fuel depot and repair stations-and three crucial aircraft carriers were safely at sea. The architect of the strategy, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, wrote on his flagship in Hiroshima Bay:
What I have achieved
Is less than a grand slam.

AIR DISASTER: Navy planes burn on the ground. Half of all of Pearl Harbor's aircraft were destroyed, many of them within minutes. Very few Army, Navy or Marine planes got into the air. Altogether, the U.S. lost 188 fighter planes, bombers and patrol aircraft, a greater relative loss than the ship sinkings. None of the U.S. anti-aircraft batteries had ready ammunition when the attack began.

THE WEST VIRGINIA: She was hit hard by two bombs and six or seven torpedoes. Crew discipline and prompt action limited deaths to 105 (including Captain Mervyn S. Bennion) out of 1,541 on board. Only five died on the Tennessee, just behind, which was hit by two bombs. Both were repaired and eventually rejoined the Pacific Fleet.

Copyright © 1998 by Harold Evans