The
December 7, 1941 Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor plunged the U.S.
into World War II. It was a sleepy Sunday morning at Pearl Harbor in
Hawaii when out of the wispy grey clouds and cerulean sky came the whine
of engines and the roar of explosions. Ford Island and the ships moored
around it were the focus of the attack - specifically the huge
battlships along "Battleship Row." The first bomb strikes were on the
Patrol Plane base at the southern tip of the island, while the first
torpedoes struck the training ship Utah on the western side and the
battleships Oklahoma and West Virginia on the eastern side, in
Battleship Row.
Here
a Nakajima B5N2 Type 97 "Kate" (used as both torpedo bombers and as
here, level bombers) is shown approaching Ford Island in company with
more Kates and Val dive bombers. The red tail aircraft is that of the
attack leader, Commander Fuchida. Moments before he had radioed the
infamous attack call "Tora Tora Tora," meaning that complete surprise
had been achieved.
