December 07, 2008

Not Forgotten: Pearl Harbor


On December 7th, 1941 the Japanese launched a surprise attack against the U.S. Forces stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. By planning the attack on a Sunday, Japanese commander Admiral Nagumo hoped to catch the entire fleet at Pearl Harbor, but the aircraft carriers and one of the battleships were not in port.

When it was over, the U.S. losses were:
US Navy: 2,008 KIA, 710 WIA
US Army: 218 KIA, 364 WIA
USMC: 109 KIA, 69 WIA
Civilians: 68 KIA, 35 WIA
TOTAL: 2,403 KIA, 1,178 WIA.
Battleships at Pearl Harbor, December 7th:
USS Arizona - Total loss when a bomb hit her magazine; 1,177 lost
USS Oklahoma - Total loss when she capsized and sunk in the harbor; 429 lost
USS California - Sunk at her berth.
USS West Virginia - Sunk at her berth.
USS Nevada - Beached to prevent sinking.
USS Pennsylvania - Light damage
USS Maryland - Light damage
USS Tennessee - Light damage
USS Utah - Sunk
The USS Arizona sank in nine minutes and burned for over two days.
There were 1.4 million gallons of fuel on the USS Arizona when she sank.
Over 60 years later, approximately two quarts of oil a day still surface from the ship.
Pearl Harbor Survivors refer to the oil droplets as “black tears.”
There were 37 sets of brothers assigned to the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941.

The majority of the USS Arizona’s crew members went down with the ship: 1,177 perished, 337 survived.
This was the greatest loss of life on any U.S. warship in American history.

No comments: