The Attack on Pearl Harbor: Impact on the Pacific FleetAt dawn on December 7, 1941, more than half of the United States Pacific Fleet, approximately 150 vessels and service craft, lay at anchor or alongside piers in Pearl Harbor. All but one of the Pacific Fleet's battleships were in port that morning, most of them moored to quays flanking Ford Island. By 10:00 a.m., the tranquil Sunday calm had been shattered. Twenty-one vessels lay sunk or damaged, the fighting backbone of the fleet apparently broken. Smoke from burning planes and hangars filled the sky, while oil from sinking ships clogged the harbor. Death was everywhere. The fleet in Pearl Harbor, the focus of the attack, suffered the greatest loss: almost half the total casualties occurred when the USS Arizona exploded. U.S. Army, Navy, Army Air Force, and Marine Corps facilities across the length and breadth of Oahu, from Kaneohe to Haleiwa to Malakole, bore their share of death and destruction. Hickam, Wheeler, and Bellows Army Air Fields lost 217 men and 77 aircraft. Naval Air Stations at Ford Island and Kaneohe lost 19 men. Pacific Fleet naval aircraft losses in total were 92. At Ewa Marine Corps Air Station, four men were killed and 33 aircraft were destroyed. Civilians from Waikiki to Pearl City were killed by exploding anti-aircraft munitions (friendly fire). The links below are for pages that list military personnel who either died as a result of the attack or were killed later that day in the performance of their duties. Military CasualtiesThe below links are for pages that list military personnel who either died as a result of the attack or were killed later that day in the performance of their duties.US Navy casualties US Marine Corps casualties US Army casualties US Army Air Forces casualties |
Last updated: September 20, 2024