M2spicer's Blog: History: Attack On Pearl Harbour, U.S. VS Hiroshima And Nagasaki 1945

Attack On Pearl Harbour

* Date: December 7, 1941.

* Location: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, U.S.

* Result/Aftermath:

Japanese major tactical victory.

U.S. declaration of war on the Empire of Japan.

Germany and Italy declare war on the United States.

United States declares war on Germany.

United States declares war on Italy.

Entrance of the United States of America into World War II.

* Commanders and leaders:

U.S.: Husband E. Kimmel, Walter Short.

Japan: Chuichi Nagumo, Isoroku Yamamoto.

* Casualties and losses.

U.S.

2 battleships totally lost.
2 battleships sunk and recovered.
3 battleships damaged.
1 battleship grounded.
2 other ships sunk.
3 cruisers damaged.
3 destroyers damaged.
3 other ships damaged.
188 aircraft destroyed.
159 aircraft damaged.
2,403 killed.
1,178 wounded.

Japan.
4 midget submarines sunk.
1 midget submarine grounded.
29 aircraft destroyed.
64 killed.
1 captured.

The attack on Pearl Harbor, also known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor, was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, in the United States Territory of Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II. Japan intended the attack as a preventive action to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan planned in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. Over the next seven hours there were coordinated Japanese attacks on the U.S.-held Philippines, Guam and Wake Island and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The attack commenced at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time. The base was attacked by 353 Japanese fighter planes, bombers, and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four sunk. All but Arizona were later raised, and six were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one mine layer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded. Important base installations such as the power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not attacked. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 64 servicemen killed. One Japanese sailor, Kazuo Sakamaki, was captured.

The attack took place before any formal declaration of war was made by Japan, but this was not Admiral Yamamoto's intention. He originally stipulated that the attack should not commence until thirty minutes after Japan had informed the United States that peace negotiations were at an end. The Japanese tried to uphold the conventions of war while still achieving surprise, but the attack began before the notice could be delivered. Tokyo transmitted the 5000-word notification (commonly called the "14-Part Message" ) in two blocks to the Japanese Embassy in Washington, but transcribing the message took too long for the Japanese ambassador to deliver it in time. (In fact, U.S. code breakers had already deciphered and translated most of the message hours before he was scheduled to deliver it.) The final part of the "14 Part Message" is sometimes described as a declaration of war. While it neither declared war nor severed diplomatic relations, it was viewed by a number of senior U.S government and military officials as a very strong indicator that negotiations were likely to be terminated and that war might break out at any moment. A declaration of war was printed on the front page of Japan's newspapers in the evening edition of December 8, but not delivered to the U.S. government until the day after the attack.

source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor?_e_pi_=7%2CPAGE_ID10%2C6077065849

The Japanese attacked in two waves. The first wave was detected by U.S. Army radar at 136 nautical miles (252 km), but was misidentified as USAAF bombers arriving from the American mainland.

The first attack wave of 183 planes was launched north of Oahu, led by Commander Mitsuo Fuchida. Six planes failed to launch due to technical difficulties. It included:

*. 1st Group(targets: battleships and aircraft carriers).

*. 49 Nakajima B5N Kate bombers armed with 800 kg (1760 lb) armor-piercing bombs, organized in four sections (1 failed to launch).

*. 40 B5N bombers armed with Type 91 torpedoes, also in four sections.

*. 2nd Group (targets:Ford island and wheeler Field)

*. 51 Val dive bombers armed with 550 lb (249 kg) general-purpose bombs (3 failed to launch).

*. 3rd Group (targets: aircraft at Ford Island, Hickam Field, Wheeler Field, Barber's Point, Kaneohe)

*. 43 Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" fighters for air control and strafing (2 failed to launch).

Second wave composition.

The second wave consisted of 171 planes: 54 B5Ns, 81 D3As, and 36 A6Ms, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Shigekazu Shimazaki. Four planes failed to launch because of technical difficulties. This wave and its targets comprised:

*. 1st Group– 54 B5Ns armed with 550 lb (249 kg) and 132 lb (60 kg) general-purpose bombs.

*. 27 B5Ns – aircraft and hangars on Kaneohe, Ford Island, and Barbers Point.

*. 27 B5Ns – hangars and aircraft on Hickam Field.

*. 2nd Group(targets: aircraft carriers and cruisers).

*. 78 D3As armed with 550 lb (249 kg) general-purpose bombs, in four sections (3 aborted).

*.3rd Group– (targets: aircraft at Ford Island, Hickam Field, Wheeler Field, Barber's Point, Kaneohe).

*.35 A6Ms for defense and strafing (1 aborted)The second wave was divided into three groups. One was tasked to attack Kāneʻohe, the rest Pearl Harbor proper. The separate sections arrived at the attack point almost simultaneously from several directions.

Arizona during the attack

A Japanese Mitsubishi A6M2 "Zero"fighter airplane of the second wave takes off from the aircraft carrier Akagion the morning of December 7, 1941

Zeroes of the second wave preparing to take off from Shōkakufor Pearl Harbor

Battleship USS West Virginia took two aerial bombs, both duds, and seven torpedo hits, one of which may have come from a midget submarine

A heavy toll: In a flooded drydock the destroyer Cassin lies partly submerged, leaning against another destroyer. All eight battleships were damaged, with four sunk

Sign me up: Young men line up to volunteer at a Navy Recruiting station, Boston, Massachusetts, the day after the Pearl Harbor attacks

Crowds flock to the White House seeking news on the day of the attacks

USS Arizona: Seen in 2002, the battleship rests beneath the sea, visible from above and to visitors who come to pay their respect to the dead

Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the declaration of war against Japan and later German and Italy on the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor

Before and after the hit. The USS Oklahoma was hit with nine torpedoes in the assault, which caused the boat to tip over and capsize - trapping many inside

Japanese bomber pilots receive their orders on board an aircraft carrier prior to commencing their mission of bombing Pearl Harbour

Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Date: August 6 and August 9, 1945.

Location: Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Empire of Japan.

* Casualties and losses:

U.S.
20 U.S., Dutch, British prisoners of war killed.

Japan.

Hiroshima:
*. 20,000+ soldiers killed.

*. 70,000 – 146,000 civilians killed.

Nagasaki:

*. 39,000 – 80,000 killed.

Total: 129,000 – 246,000+ killed.

The United States dropped nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, during the final stage of World War II. The two bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history.
On August 6, the U.S. dropped a uranium gun-type atomic bomb (Little Boy) on Hiroshima. American President Harry S. Truman called for Japan's surrender 16 hours later, warning them to "expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth." Three days later, on August 9, the U.S. dropped a plutonium implosions-type bomb (Fat Man) on the city of Nagasaki. Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects of the atomic bombings killed 90,000–146,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000–80,000 in Nagasaki; roughly half of the deaths in each city occurred on the first day. During the following months, large numbers died from the effect of burns, radiation sickness, and other injuries, compounded by illness and malnutrition. In both cities, most of the dead were civilians, although Hiroshima had a sizable military garrison.

U.S. Army poster prepares the public for the invasion of Japan after ending war on Germany and Italy.

The targets.

Japanese radar operators detected a small number of incoming US planes (one of which carried the nuclear bombs to be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki), but decided not to intercept them as the small number of planes were not seen as a threat.

Cockpit of Enola gay.

*. About 12 cyanide pills were kept in the cockpit of the Enola Gay (plane carrying A-bomb), and pilots were instructed to take them if the mission was compromised during the bombing of Hiroshima.

*. Only 3 of the 12 people on board the Enola Gay actually knew the real purpose of their mission to Hiroshima.

86-year-old Sumiteru Taniguchi was just 16 years old when the bomb devastated his city.
Sumiteru's body still bears the scars of the horrific attack. Speaking to the Associated Press, he recalled how he was out on his job as a delivery boy when he was thrown from his bicycle by the blast. Stunned, he wandered in a daze for three days, unable to process the event or his injuries. He was conscious that he could feel fabric-like rags hanging from his back, he later found out that it was his flesh-ripped from his body and dangling from his shoulders. Sumeriteru's back was badly damaged, requiring him to lie on his stomach for 21 months in hospital. He was taken to a hospital, where he lay on his stomach for 21 months whilst the wounds on his arms and back were tended to.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/nagasaki-hiroshima-70-anniversary-atom-bomb-survivor-show-effects-of-nuclear-10446573.html

Brighter than a thousand suns: Eyes that have seen a nuclear blast. That's what surviving victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These eyes have seen a nuclear blast and it’s been the last thing they’ve seen. After the image of that bright flash of light, there has been nothing. The girl lived in Hiroshima when war criminals threw an atomic bomb on the civilians there. The photo was taken in 1963 so the girl lived with her corneas burned for at least 18 years.