![]() Doris ‘Dorie’ Miller, a Messman Third Class, was on board the USS West Virginia when it was hit by torpedoes. They were to prove vital in the coming Pacific Campaign.Īlthough the attack was a complete surprise, many American servicemen were able to fight back. ![]() Many of these ships were repaired and fought in later battles, and, crucially all three of the Pacific Fleet’s aircraft carriers were not at Pearl Harbor during the attack and so escaped damage. Within two hours, 21 US warships had been sunk or damaged, 188 aircraft destroyed and 2,403 American servicemen and women killed. This devastating attack was followed an hour later by a second wave of 163 Japanese aircraft. Minutes later, the Arizona exploded after a bomb hit its gunpowder stores, sinking the ship and killing 1,177 of its crew. In the first five minutes of the attack, four battleships were hit, including the USS Oklahoma and the USS Arizona. This first attack wave began bombing the hangars and parked aircraft of the island’s airfields while at the same time launching torpedoes against the US warships moored in the harbour. Their intention was to destroy and damage as much of the US Pacific Fleet as possible, before it could respond to Japanese operations taking place on the same day against British, Dutch and US territories in southeast Asia. On the morning of 7 December 1941, at 7.48am local time, 177 aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the United States Naval base at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.
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