The USS Arizona was a Pennsylvania-class battleship that was larger and better armed than previous navy vessels 1 A DAY OF INFAMY T he wake-up call sounded in the still air at 5 30 on Sunday morning December 7 1941 and the crew members of the battleship USS Arizona tumbled from their hammocks Spirits were high After coming back from maneuvers on Friday the battleship had taken on 1 5 million gallons 5 7 million L of oil for a scheduled trip to the West Coast of the United States 1 Pearl Harbor Hawaii was beautiful but it was a long way from home and the crew was looking forward to being reunited with family and friends 5 Chapter
The ship also carried 180,000 gallons 680,000 L of aviation fuel for the scouting planes it carried and 1 million pounds 454,000 kg of gunpowder 2 The crew was prepared if an attack came at sea on the journey across the Pacific Ocean Out at Sea At 5 50 a m as the USS Arizona crew prepared for the day Japanese warships were approximately 220 miles 350 km north of Oahu 3 Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto commander in chief of the Combined Fleet of Japan had devised a plan to cripple the US armed forces leaving Japan free to expand into the South Pacific Six aircraft carriers plus destroyers tankers two battleships and three submarines prepared to attack The weather was less than favorable the sea was choppy and heavy clouds made for poor visibility Mitsuo Fuchida After World War II 1939 1945 Mitsuo Fuchida cooperated with the Americans during interrogations and provided valuable information about the attack on Pearl Harbor He became an author writing books about the Japanese military experience during the war After converting to Christianity he toured the United States and other parts of the world as a missionary in the 1950s At 6 10 a m the carriers turned into the wind for the airplanes to take off A total of 183 bombers fighters and torpedo planes roared from the decks and joined in formation behind Commander Mitsuo Fuchida leader of the attack that was headed for 6
Mini-Bio Isoroku Yamamoto Commander in Chief of the Combined Fleet of Japan Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto 1884 1943 head of the Japanese navy conceived and planned the attack on Pearl Harbor He was a brilliant strategist and realized Japan could not hope to win a war with the United States unless its forces could first weaken the naval defenses in the Pacific If a war went longer than a year he told the Japanese prime minister they did not have a chance of winning The United States had vast natural resources and labor that could produce weapons if the nation needed to fight Yamamoto’s plan a surprise attack using aircraft carriers to launch bombers torpedo carriers and fighter planes on Pearl Harbor was a success but he was not sure the victory would last He wrote I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with terrible resolve 4 He was right Seven months later at the Battle of Midway the tide of the war turned in the United States favor Admiral Yamamoto was killed in 1943 when his airplane was shot down by US forces 7
