VT-8 Research Paper

The U.S. fleet spotted the enemy ships first, but the report did not make it to Admiral Kinkaid until later. Around 0655 both fleets had positive sighting and the Japanese where the first to get their strike force up and moving. The U.S. fleet followed. Around 0840 opposing strike forces passed sight of each other. Shortly after this the aircraft to attack the ships. The Chikuma cruiser was hit on a second wave with two 1,000 lb bombs and took heavy damage. Causing the cruiser to move out of the battle. About 0910 a Japanese bomber hit the Hornet’s flight deck piercing three decks. Within minutes two more large bombs hit leaving the Hornet dead and burning. During this time other ships were damaged by aircraft and ship guns. Taking heavy to light damage. With the Hornet out of action and the Enterprise damaged badly. At 1135 Kinkaid made the decision to pull the Enterprise and her escort ships out of the battle area. Recovering what aircraft they could the U.S. fleet pulled out of the engagement. Leaving the Hornet behind. From 1140 to 1400 the Japanese ships recovered the few aircraft and then moved for follow-up strikes. At that time the Admiral Kondo moved toward the last known position of the U.S. fleet. The last wave from the Japanese hit the Hornet when in tow from the Northampton around 1520. At that point the ship was sinking fast and the crew started to

By the early morning of December 7, 1941 the Japanese Naval force led by Admiral Nagumo had parked his fleet of 6 aircraft carriers 230 nautical miles off the north coast of the Hawaiian Islands completely undetected. The fleet had approximately 423 aircraft with a final destination of Pearl Harbor. At 600 a.m. the first wave of 180 aircraft were launch to attach the sleeping Hawaiian bay. At 702 a.m. an Army radar station sights the aircraft inbound and report to their direct officer who is aware of a squadron of B-17’s due in from the west coast and write off the sighting am friendly forces. This was the first of many mistakes that would become evident within the hour.

One of the main reasons as to why many sailors died after being torpedoed was not being

On December 7, 1941, two waves of Japanese air fleets bombed the United States naval base known as Pearl Harbor. They destroyed and damaged eleven US battle ships, one hundred

Ford Island had been hit bomb and torpedoes. One of the ships the USS Arizona was

On December 7, 1941, early in the morning Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. Nobody expected this. Japanese planes destroyed approximately 20 American naval vessels, and nearly 300 airplanes. 2000 American people were killed, and more than 100 injured.

when the ship was hit by two out of six torpedoes fired by the I-58, a japanese submarine. He

December 7th, 1941. Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. 353 Japanese air force bombers attacked the closet American naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The Japanese destroyed over 19 aircraft carriers, 188 attack airplanes and killing over 2,000 americans resulting in one of the greatest and deadliest sneak attack on American soil ever.

PEARL HARBOUR INTRODUCTION: As World War 1 came to an end and the war was nearly over, Germany suffered greatly and lost major industries and land. This humiliation gave rise to a great rising power led by it's dictators. The invasion of European lands by Hitler who was opposing the treaty invaded Poland in 1939. The Allies issued an ultimatum that Hitler remove his troops under the threat of war.

During her first battle in August of 1942, the Japanese gathered powerful forces at the Battle of the Eastern Solomon’s, to destroy the American ships. The USS North Carolina was guarding the carrier USS Enterprise when dive bombers began fiercely attacking the ship. The Battleship’s

After the attack, damage occurred on eight of the United States’ Navy battleships, death came to 2,403 American’s, and the wounded numbers rose to 1,178. The United States was infuriated and wanted retaliation against the Japanese immediately. This would not be an easy task since all of the naval assets had be disabled. The president of the United States and all of the highest-ranking officers of the time could not seem to figure out how to make an attack on Japan. The idea of Army bombers flying off naval ships came to light when a submariner named CPT Francis Cowell saw some army bomber aircraft practicing at a naval landing strip. CPT Cowell passed the idea of army bombers taking off from a navy ship to General Happ Arnold who quickly realized that this could be the key to their predicament. This concept was so crazy for its time and the high-ranking officials could only think of one man that would be able accomplish such a task and that was Jimmy Doolittle. Jimmy gathered 79 volunteers to begin training for “extreme” short-field takeoffs however; Jimmy never told his men what their mission would be. All of the volunteers knew how great of a pilot Jimmy Doolittle was and they never second-guessed their decision to be a part of Jimmy’s master plan. The pilots used a highly modified Mitchell B-25 bomber specifically designed by Jimmy Doolittle

Skimming low above the rooftops of Tokyo, the crew of the North American Aviation B-25B No. 40-2292 didn’t have time to climb to 1500 feet, the minimum distance considered safe for bombing. First Lieutenant Travis Hoover leveled off at 900 feet and bombardier 1LT Richard “Bud” Miller manually released his bombs, 3-500 lb. demolition bombs and 1 incendiary cluster. It was impossible to see the results of the bombing from the flight deck or from the “Greenhouse,” Miller’s position in the nose. The flight engineer, observing from his dorsal turret, reported that he could see the results. "Yes, Sir," he reported to Hoover. "All four hit close together and there's smoke all over the area. We got it all right!" With that, Richard E. Miller, bombardier in Crew #2 of Doolittle’s Tokyo Raiders, earned his

Furthermore, “on October 31, 1941 the Reuben James, a United States destroyer, was torpedoed by a German U-boat” (Bailey and Ryan 205). Reuben James was one of a group of five United States destroyers who was escorting a convoy of forty-four ships. Reuben James was the first American naval vessel to be lost by enemy action in this battle. Only forty-five of the one hundred and sixty men on board survived the battle (Bailey and Ryan 205).

Our engines start up, and send a slight jolt throughout the ship. Off in the distance, I spot three enemy battleships, two cruisers, and a carrier in the center. We are now in a fight for survival as we leave the decimated island behind us. I continue to fire the gun at the enemy fleet. Another shell hits us right in the stern, damaging the rudders. I look back at our once beautiful island; she is filled with craters and dead sailors. She is lost to the Japanese Imperial

Unfortunately, the officer on duty ignored the warning. Had he not, the attack on Pearl Harbor could have been less severe, if not countered completely. In addition, the task of almost the entirety of the air defense of Pearl Harbor fell upon the United States Navy and the United States Air Corp, despite the 16th Coast Artillery Regiment having eighty-two 3-inch anti-aircraft guns, twenty 37 mm anti-aircraft guns, and one hundred and nine .50 caliber anti-aircraft machine guns. The Army Air Corp’s P-36 and P-40 pursuit planes were the main deterrent to enemy aircraft, unfortunately, this was the target of the Japanese Naval Fleet (Anti-aircraft). At the end of the attack, only a few P-36’s were able to escape the barrage of bullets and bombs, and managed to destroy ten of the Japanese Zero’s, while the 16th Coast Artillery Regiment brought down six.