This week in history

December 7, 1941, Japanese Naval aircraft attacked the United States Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The first official word of the attack came from Admiral Kimmel, Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. It was a quickly worded dispatch, “AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”

More than 2,300 were killed. Extensive damage occurred across the naval base. U.S.S. Arizona destroyed; the Oklahoma capsized. Twelve ships sunk or beached. Nine other vessels damaged. Hundreds of aircraft lost.

Less than a half year later, on April 18, 1942, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle, a flight of 16 B-25B’s, launched from the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Hornet, flew to Tokyo, Japan and bombed specific targets. The raid had great psychological effects, raising moral in the United States. It created some fear and doubt in Japan.

Source(s): Library of Congress

Compiled by Bob Valen