The disaster of 7th December
183 fighter jets arriving from six Japanese aircraft carriers present in the Pacific Ocean started firing on Pearl Harbor. Japanese torpedo bombers, dive bombers and fighter jets destroyed 188 American fighter and bomber jets parked at Heald Field, Wheeler Field and Ford Island within the first few minutes.
The world saw a working aircraft for the first time
These were working planes, which had come there with the purpose of killing the American soldiers themselves. It was then that the world came face to face with this word Kamakaji for the first time. In fact, those fighter jets that flew from Japan did not have enough fuel to return safely. Therefore, in the end they used the planes as weapons and directly hit the American aircraft carrier.
The planes on these aircraft carriers were stuck to each other, none could fly. In just 90 minutes the back of the American army was broken. But the real disaster was on the Navy. Eight big warships were standing on ‘Battleship Row’. Japanese torpedo planes targeted them. First of all, four torpedoes hit USS Oklahoma. The huge warship overturned due to this attack. The screams of 429 sailors trapped in the water were sky high. The rescue operation continued for several hours, but 429 soldiers died there.
This is the biggest attack in American history.
Then came the most terrifying moment… At 8:10 in the morning, an 1,800-pound bomb hit the ammunition store of the USS Arizona. The entire aircraft carrier exploded. The flames rose hundreds of feet high. 1,177 sailors and officers were martyred in an instant.
Overall, out of eight warships, four were sunk, the rest were badly damaged. 21 ships were damaged. The US Navy fleet was destroyed in a moment. Japan launched two major attacks continuously at a short interval of time. The second wave of attacks consisted of 170 aircraft arriving at 8:50. They targeted the remaining targets. A total of 2,403 Americans were killed, 1,178 were injured, including civilians.
Why did Japan attack America?
Japan wanted to expand in Asia, while America had stopped the supply of oil and steel to the Axis powers i.e. Germany, Italy and Japan. Japanese commanders thought that if the Pearl Harbor fleet was destroyed, the United States would be unable to respond for months. But they were proved wrong. America’s three aircraft carriers were at sea, so they were saved. Pearl Harbor woke up America. At the end of the war, Japan had to face Hiroshima-Nagasaki.
Will history repeat itself in 2026?
After the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in the American attack, when the IRGC commander is saying that ‘We are ready for a 6-month war, the new missiles have not been used yet’, and drone-missiles are being rained on American bases, then memories of Pearl Harbor are coming alive. USS Gerald R. in the Persian Gulf Carrier groups like Ford are under attack. Just as Japan attacked without warning in 1941, today Iran’s ‘surprise strikes’ are surprising America.