Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt. Today we take time to remember the events of December 7, 1941 in this special edition.




On November 19, 1941, Japanese diplomats were set monitor the news and weather broadcast from Tokyo. The diplomats always listened in on the broadcast. But that Friday’s broadcast was to be a little different. When it came time, the weather report was given, "East Wind, Rain." Those three words were to put the Empire of Japan on a collision course with the United States. You see, those simple words, "East Wind, Rain" had a secret meaning. Those three words meant war with the United States.

Planning for a carrier strike on Pearl Harbor started early in the spring of 1941 under the watchful eye of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto and Captain Minoru Genda. Kido Butai, or Mobile Striking Force, would be tasked with delivering the attack on the US’s Pacific Base. Under command of Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo, the Mobile Striking Force was made up of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s six fleet carriers, the Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Zuikaku and Shokaku.

By the time Emperor Hirohito gave his approval for the attack on November 5, the airmen of Kido Butai had honed their skills to a fine edge. On November 26, the Mobile Striking Force with its escorts sailed for its date with destiny. A day earlier, fleet submarines I-16, I-18, I-20, I-22, and I-24 each carrying a Type A midget submarine sailed for Pearl. On December 2, 1941, the coded message, Niitakayama Nobore (“Climb Mount Niitaka“), arrived on Nagumo’s flagship. The Admiral then opened a set of top secret documents which confirmed that Japan would be going to war with the United States, Britain, and Holland. It also gave a date for the opening of hostilities, December 8th (the 7th on the Pearl Harbor side of the International Date Line).

0100 hours on December 7, 1941, the five I-boats arrived 10 nautical miles off the mouth of Pearl Harbor and launched their charges. At 03:42 the minesweeper USS Condor spotted a midget submarine periscope southwest of the Pearl Harbor entrance buoy and alerted the destroyer USS Ward.

0458 - The minesweeper USS Crossbill and USS Condor enter Pearl Harbor. The defective submarine net remains open.

0600 - 200 miles south of Oahu the carrier USS Enterprise launches 18 aircraft to scout ahead, then to land at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor. Estimated Time Arrival (ETA) 0800.

0600 - The pride of the Japanese Combined Fleet was 230 miles north of Oahu, Hawaii. For the next hour and fifteen minutes, a total of some 360 planes were launched from the Japanese carriers in three waves.



0630 - The USS Ward is again notified of a submarine sighting, this time by the supply ship ANTARES off the entrance to Pearl Harbor. A PBY (a Navy patrol plane) is dispatched to the scene.

0645 - The Ward, having not found the submarine spotted by the USS Condor, sites a second submarine attempting to enter the harbor. The Ward’s commanding officer, Lt. William Outerbridge orders his men to commence firing. The first shot misses. The second shot strikes the submarine at the waterline. The submarine heels and appears to slow and sink. To assure the kill, Outerbridge orders a full pattern of depth charges dropped.



0653 - Lt. Outerbridge sends the first of two messages to Pearl Harbor. “We have attacked fired upon and dropped depth charges upon a submarine operation in defensive sea area.”

0702 - Privates Lockhard and Elliott of Opana Radar Station pick up what appears to be a flight of unidentified aircraft bearing in 132 miles north of Oahu.



0710 - Elliott phones the information in to Fort Shafter. The only person present at the Information Center is Lt. Tyler, having begun his on-the-job training Dec. 3. The conversation lasts ten minutes.

0715 - The decision to wait for verification on the Ward’s report of attacking a submarine is made.

0720 - Lt. Tyler feels certain that the unidentified planes are B-17s scheduled to arrive from the mainland and instructs Opana station to shut down. Privates Elliott and Lockhard, however, continue to plot the incoming flight.

0733 - President Roosevelt and General Marshall learn from a decoded Japanese message that Japanese negotiators in Washington are to break off talks. Believing that this may mean war, Gen. Marshall sends a warning to Gen. Short in Hawaii. Due to atmospheric static, Army communication with Hawaii is blacked out. The message is sent out by commercial telegraph. It will reach Gen. Short’s headquarters at 1145.

0735 - A reconnaissance plane from the cruiser CHIKUMA reports that the main fleet is in Pearl Harbor.

0740 - The first wave of Japanese aircraft, 49 high altitude bombers, 51 dive bombers, 40 torpedo bombers and 43 fighters near Oahu’s Kakuku Point. Visibility is good.

0749 - Cmdr Mitsuo Fuchida, leading the first wave, orders his telegraph operator in his Kate bomber to send the message to the first wave “to, to, to”, attack. He then orders the operator to send the following message to Vice Adm. Nagumo: “to ra, to ra, to ra”, surprise attack achieved. Though not meant to have a double meaning, some of Fuchida’s pilots read the second message as “tora” or tiger.

0755 - The coordinated attack of the first wave begins as dive bombers hit Kaneohe, Ford Island, Hickam, Bellows, Wheeler, and Ewa Fields in an attempt to control the skies above Pearl Harbor by destroying the US aircraft on the ground. Most of the US aircraft are destroyed.

0755 - Aerial torpedo planes begin their run on ships in Pearl Harbor. Along Battleship Row, Battlewagons feel the sting of the newly perfected torpedoes specifically designed for the shallow waters of Pearl Harbor. At 1010 dock violent explosions rock the light cruiser HELENA on her starboard side crippling both her and minelayer OGLALA moored beside her.

0755 – At least six torpedoes hit the USS West Virginia. She sinks and settles on the harbor bottom. Of her 105 fatalities are 3 sailors who were trapped in a compartment below the waterline. Marks on a calendar show that they survived until Dec. 23 when their air ran out.



0755 – Two torpedoes strike the USS California along with two bomb hits. 98 officers and enlisted men die.

0755 – The USS Oklahoma is hit by no less than five torpedoes, capsizing her.



0755 – The USS Utah, now a target ship is mistaken for a carrier and is hit by two torpedoes and capsizes. At least 54 men die on board.

0755 – Cmdr Logan Ramsey, after watching what he believes is a reckless US pilot, sees a bomb drop from the plane. Ramsey runs to the radio room at the Command Center on Ford Island and issues the famous message “Air raid on Pearl Harbor X This is no drill” sent to all ships and bases.

0800 – A flight of 12 B-17 bombers land on Oahu while dodging Japanese fighters and US antiaircraft fire.

0802 - Machine guns on the battleship NEVADA open fire on torpedo planes approaching her port beam. Two planes are hit. The USS Nevada is struck by a torpedo while also hit by aerial bombs.

0805 - The repair ship VESTAL, moored outboard of battleship ARIZONA, opens fire. Admiral Kimmel arrives at CINCPAC headquarters. The battleship CALIFORNIA receives a second torpedo "portside at frame 110"; prompt action directed by Ensign Edgar M. Fain prevents the ship from capsizing. High-level bombers begin their run on Battleship Row.

0808 - KGMB radio interrupts music calling for: "All Army, Navy, and Marine personnel to report to duty." High-level bombers unleash armor-piercing, delayed-action bombs from an altitude of 10,000 feet, scoring hits on battleships.

0810 – The USS Arizona is hit by an armor piercing bomb on the forward deck setting off more than one million pounds of gunpowder killing 1,177 men including Adm. Issac Kidd who was directing anti-aircraft fire on board at the time.



0815 - KGMB interrupts music with the second call ordering all military personnel to report for duty.

0817 – Looking to escape the carnage of the harbor, the destroyer USS Helm leaves the channel heading to open water. She sights a Japanese sub snagged on a reef and fires but misses. The sub, Ha-19, breaks free only to be snagged again. The crew of the sub decides to abandon the sub. One man drowns while the other is washed ashore to become the US’s first prisoner of war.

0825 - Using a Browning Automatic Rifle, Lt. Stephen Saltzman and Sgt. Lowell Klatt shoot down an enemy plane making a strafing run on Schofield Barracks.

0826 - The Honolulu Fire Department responds to a call for assistance from Hickam Field. Three firemen are killed and six are wounded.

0830 - The third call goes out for the military via local radio stations.

0835 - The tanker NEOSHO, half-loaded with high-octane aviation fuel, moves clear of Battleship Row and oil tanks on Ford Island. Damage is reported in the city. Police warn civilians to leave the streets and return to their homes.

0839 – In an attempt to “get out of that damn harbor as fast as possible”, the USS Monaghan receives a signal from another ship that it has sighted a submarine. The Monaghan attacks at top speed, hitting the submarine with gunfire and then ramming it. To be sure of the sinking, the destroyer also drops depth charges.

0850 – The USS Nevada makes steam and gets underway. With Japanese planes from the second wave, the captain of the Nevada decides to beach her off of Hospital Point rather than risk being sunk in the channel.



0850 - Lt. Commander Shimazaki orders the deployment of the second wave over military bases on Oahu.

0854 – The second wave of Japanese aircraft, 35 Zekes, 78 Vals and 54 high altitude Kates, arrive over Pearl Harbor and are met with heavy AA fire. Bombers attack the drydock facilities hitting the USS Pennsylvania with one bomb as another falls between the destroyers USS Cassin and USS Downes. Their fuel oil tanks are ruptured and the ammunition onboard the Cassin explodes. Bombs also hit the USS Raleigh, which was torpedoed in the first wave. The crew fights to prevent her from capsizing.



0900 - The crew of the Dutch liner JAGERSFONTEIN opens up with her guns, the first Allies to join the fight. Radios throughout the island crack out urgent messages: "Get off roads and stay off, Don't block traffic...Stay at home...This is the real McCoy!"

0930 – A bomb blows the bow off the USS Shaw, sending pieces of the stricken ship flying for half a mile.



1000 – The first wave arrives back on carriers, 190 miles north of Oahu.

1005 - Governor Poindexter calls local papers announcing a state of emergency for the entire Territory of Hawaii.

1030 - The Mayor's Major Disaster Council meets at city hall. Reports from local hospitals pour in listing civilian casualties.

1030 – The wounded begin to pour into the hospitals, overflowing them. Many buildings are converted into make-shift hospitals to handle the casualties. The death toll rises to 2,390.

1100 - Commander Fuchida circles over Pearl Harbor, assesses damage then returns to carrier task force. News of the "sneak attack" is broadcast to the American public via radio bulletins, with many popular Sunday afternoon entertainment programs being interrupted. All schools on Oahu are ordered to close.

1115 - A State of Emergency is announced over the radio by the Governor 1142 - Local stations go off the air as per orders by the Army. General Short confers with the Governor regarding martial law.

1146 - The first report of many false sightings of enemy troops landing on Oahu is received. In Washington, the last part of the Japanese message, stating that diplomatic relations with the U.S. are to be severed, is decoded at approximately 9 a.m. About an hour later another Japanese message is intercepted. It instructs the Japanese embassy to deliver the main message to the Americans at 1 p.m. The Americans realize this time corresponds with early morning in Pearl Harbor, which is several hours behind. The U.S. War Department then sends out an alert but uses commercial telegraph because radio contact with Hawaii is broken. Delay results in the alert arriving at headquarters in Oahu around noon time (Hawaii time) four hours after the attack has already begun.

1210 - U.S. planes fly north in a search for the enemy with negative results.

1230 - Honolulu police raid the Japanese embassy and find them burning documents. A blackout to begin at night is ordered by the Army.

1300 - Commander Fuchida lands on board the carrier AKAGI. Discussion follows with Admiral Nagumo and staff concerning the feasibility of launching a third wave.

1330 - Signal flags on the carrier AKAGI orders the Japanese task force to withdraw. The territorial director of civil defense orders a blackout every night until further notice.

1458 - Tadao Fuchikami delivers a message from Washington regarding the ultimatum from Japan to be given at 1300 Washington time, which is decoded and given to General Short. "Just what significance the hour set may have we do not know, but be on the alert accordingly."

1625 - Governor Poindexter signs a Proclamation declaring martial law to be put into effect.

In the following 44 months of war in the Pacific, all but two of the Japanese ships to participate in the Pearl Harbor attack will be sunk at the hands of the United States Navy.