Ocean Shock: The Battle of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Navy

Author: Lin Renhua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-08-01
Features: On December 7, 1941 (Hawaii time, Sunday), Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands without declaring war. Before the attack, the Japanese Navy conducted meticulous planning and preparation in extreme secrecy. In mid-November, a vanguard force of 27 submarines infiltrated the Hawaiian waters in advance, tasked with reconnaissance, surveillance, and intercepting the U.S. fleet. On November 26, the main force—a fleet of 6 aircraft carriers and 400 carrier-based aircraft—departed along the northern route, which was less traveled in winter and farther in distance, adopting measures such as radio silence to move stealthily toward Pearl Harbor on Oahu. On the morning of December 7, Japanese carrier-based aircraft launched two waves of fierce attacks on Pearl Harbor. The first wave consisted of 189 aircraft, beginning the attack at 7:55 a.m.; the second wave comprised 171 aircraft, starting at 8:55 a.m. The entire attack lasted about two hours. The U.S. military misjudged Japan's strategic intentions and movements, and its Pacific Fleet was poorly prepared, suffering heavy losses. All eight battleships and over 10 other major warships moored in Pearl Harbor were either destroyed or damaged, with 232 aircraft lost and 3,681 personnel killed or wounded. Japan's losses were minimal—only 29 aircraft, 1 submarine, and 5 mini-submarines—yet it severely damaged the U.S. Pacific Fleet, seized naval supremacy in the Pacific, and created conditions for Japan's southern advance to occupy the Philippines, Malaya, and the Dutch East Indies. The next day, the U.S. declared war on Japan, marking the outbreak of the Pacific War. This book is a readable account of Japan's 1941 surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, introducing the key planners of the operation, the details of the raid, its consequences, and its impact on the warring nations during World War II.