SUNDAY IN HELL: PEARL HARBOR MINUTE BY MINUTE






A powerful and surprising new history published beginning 11 November 2011 in e-book and print-on-demand forms.

Effective 1 April 2014, Open Road Integrated Media purchased E-Reads and now manages the approximate 1,200 titles E-Reads held, including Sunday in Hell, Pearl Harbor Minute by Minute.


Photograph Gallery

Photograph Credits Guide

Bill McWilliams Links

Chapter 5 Photos

Chapter 6 Photos

Chapter 7 Photos



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Chapter 5: AIR RAID, PEARL HARBOR. THIS IS NOT DRILL



Japanese Commander Mitsuo Fuchida, Air Strike Mission Leader. NPSAM



Japanese Aircraft Deployment, First Attack. USAF



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SS Cynthia Olson, first American flag-bearing merchantman sunk by
the Japanese in World War II, a victim of submarine I-26. UDML



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Imperial Japanese Submarine I-26. IJN



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Sailors attempt to save a burning PBY at Naval Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, during the Japanese air raid. This plane was set afire by strafing in the initial phase of the attack
and was sunk in the second attack. Note dog observing the work. NPSAM



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Sailors fight to save another burning PBY in front of a hangar. Raiders
virtually destroyed 30 of 33 long range patrol aircraft at Kaneohe. NA



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Bellows Field Diagram. USAF



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A lone Japanese fighter, piloted by Lieutenant Tadashi Kaneko, strafed this
line of tents at Bellows Field during the first wave attack on Oahu. USAF



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Japanese Navy Type 99 carrier dive bomber (Val) in action during attack. A
fearsome sight when viewed from the receiving end of its bomb delivery. NA



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Planes and hangars burning at Wheeler Army Air Field, Oahu, soon after
it was attacked in the morning of 7 December 1941. View toward
the southwest as seen from a Japanese Navy plane. NHHC



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View toward the northeast as seen probably from a Japanese Val dive bomber. Dive bombers attacked hangars and other buildings generally on a west to east axis parallel with the ramp, while fighters attacked generally north to south and south to north parallel with fighters lined up wing tip to wing tip on the ramp. NA



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Six P-40s in formation, based at Wheeler Field. The morning of 7 December there were three P-40s and four P-36s deployed for training exercises at Haleiwa Field, a small auxiliary strip on the northwest coast of Oahu. After the Japanese attack began, Army Air Force Lieutenants George S. Welch and Kenneth Taylor drove hurriedly nine minutes from the Wheeler Officer's Club to Haleiwa Field. Having telephoned ahead before leaving Wheeler, they found their two P-40s armed and waiting, propellers turning. They scrambled into the air and began a series of fierce attacks on the raiders. P-40s photographed 1 August 1941. USAF



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Photograph of abandoned Haleiwa Field, the only airfield
the Japanese failed to attack during the raid. USAF



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Hangar burning from dive bomb and strafing attacks at
Naval Air Station Pearl Harbor, on Ford Island. NA



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The wreckage of Captain Raymond T. Swenson's B-17C, Serial No. 40-2074, which burned in two after landing, following a Japanese fighter's airborne machine gun attack that hit its flare storage box. Flight surgeon, Lieutenant William R. Schick was aboard Swenson's aircraft, and with the crew members, escaped, was running to take cover, only to be fatally wounded by a ricocheting machine gun bullet from a strafing Japanese fighter. NA



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The US Flag flies over Hickam Field during the attack on Pearl Harbor and other major targets on Oahu. Note the burning consolidated barracks buildings
in the background, struck during the second wave attacks. NPSAM



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Mooring Mast Field, the Marine Corps Air Station on Oahu. Photographed 13 February 1941. The mooring mast was to have been used in the Navy's airship program prior to its cancellation. Marine aviation units based at the field used the Mooring Mast for their control tower. USMCHC



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Burning aircraft on the ramp, Mooring Mast Field at Ewa following devastating
first wave strafing attacks by 18 Japanese fighters. USMCHC



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Burning Marine utility aircraft set on fire by strafing Japanese fighters and dive bombers
at Ewa. Dive bombers that released all the bombs on Wheeler Field were also
targeted against Ewa for follow-on strafing attacks. USMCHC



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To the left is a heavily damaged Marine F4F fighter while in the background
fires consume other aircraft on the Mooring Mast Field ramp. USMCHC



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Chapter 6: Inferno, Carnage, and Valor: Attack on the Pacific Fleet



Diagram of ships in the harbor.



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Photograph taken from a Japanese plane during the torpedo attack on ships moored on both sides of Ford Island. View looks about east, with the supply depot, submarine base and fuel tank farm in the right center distance, in the first moments of the attack. Note the absence of flak bursts, an indicator of complete tactical surprise, though ships' crews were manning battle stations and were en route to guns. A torpedo has just hit the battleship West Virginia on the far side of Ford Island (center). Other battleships moored nearby are (from left): Nevada, Arizona, Tennessee (inboard of West Virginia), Oklahoma (torpedoed and listing) alongside Maryland, and California. On the near side of Ford Island, to the left, are light cruisers Detroit and Raleigh, target and training ship Utah and seaplane tender TAngeer. Raleigh and Utah have been torpedoed, and Utah is listing sharply to port. In the lower left is the seaplane tender Curtiss. Japanese planes are visible in the right center (over Ford Island) and over the Navy Yard at right. Japanese writing in the lower right states that the photograph was reproduced by authorization of the Navy Ministry. NPSAM



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Torpedo planes attack 'Battleship Row' at about 0800 on 7 December, seen from a Japanese aircraft. Ships are, from lower left to right: Nevada (BB-36) with flag raised at stern; Arizona (BB-39) with Vestal (AR-4) outboard; Tennessee (BB-43) with West Virginia (BB-48) outboard; Maryland (BB-46) with Oklahoma (BB-37) outboard; Neosho (AO-23) and California (BB-44). West Virginia, Oklahoma and California have been torpedoed, as marked by ripples and spreading oil, and the first two are listing to port. Torpedo drop splashes and running tracks are visible at left and center. White smoke in the distance is from Hickam Field, where dive bombers are attacking. Grey smoke in the center middle distance is from the torpedoed cruiser Helena (CL-50), at the Navy Yard's 1010 dock. Japanese writing in lower right states that the image was reproduced by authorization of the Navy Ministry. NPSAM



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The overturned Oklahoma (right) and Maryland (left) In the background white smoke rises from West Virginia as her fires are brought under control after the attack. Arizona burns fiercely in the background. Note that rescue operations are underway on the upturned hull of Oklahoma and the main deck of Maryland. NPSAM



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This image is of Captain Mervyn S. Bennion. He was the Captain of the West Virginia.
He was born on May 5, 1887 in Vernon, Utah, and attended the US Naval
Academy. He posthumously received the Medal of Honor. NPSAM



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Doris Miller, Mess Attendant 2nd Class, USS West Virginia, just after being presented
the Navy Cross by Admiral Nimitz, aboard the carrier Enterprise. NPSAM



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This photo taken from a Japanese bomber nearly 10,000 feet above Battleship Row shows an exploding bomb on the Arizona"s starboard side near the quarterdeck (aft starboard) after glancing off the face plate on the #4 turret. It was the bomb that briefly knocked Lieutenant Commander Samuel G. Fuqua unconscious. Arizona is the second battleship from the bottom of the image, forward of Nevada, with the smaller repair ship Vestal moored to Arizona"s port side, toward the harbor's main channel. NA



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Arizona"s forward magazine violently explodes after she was struck by a 1,765-pound, Japanese armor-piercing bomb. At far right is the mainmast of Oklahoma, heeled over to port approximately 40 degrees, toward capsizing. Slightly to the left of Oklahoma are the forward turrets of Tennessee, with the rest of that ship oscured by the blast from Arizona"s explosion. At far left is the bow of the repair ship Vestal, moored eight feet outboard of Arizona. NA



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The shattered Arizona burns fiercely after her forward magazines have exploded, and Vestal
has already moved away under her own power. Note collapsed foremast. NPSAM



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Target ship Utah (AG-16) underway in 1939. Her conversion to a target ship, which
included a radio-control apparatus, was carried out at the Norfolk Navy Yard
and she was recommissioned at Norfolk on 1 April 1932. NPSAM



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Utah undergoing refit at the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 18 August 1941. During the ensuing overhaul, Utah received repairs and alterations designed to make her a more effective gunnery training ship. The alterations included the addition of 5-inch/38-caliber guns in single mounts with gun shields-similar to those fitted on the more modern types of destroyers then in service. NPSAM



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The target ship Utah (AG-16) torpedoed by Japanese aircraft, listing heavily to port, about to part her mooring lines and capsize off the west side of Ford Island, during the attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. Photographed from seaplane tender TAngeer (AV-8), moored astern of Utah. Note colors half-raised over fantail, boats nearby, and sheds covering Utah"s after guns. NA



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The cruiser Raleigh (CL-7) is kept afloat by a barge lashed alongside, after she was damaged by a
Japanese torpedo and a bomb, 7 December 1941. The barge has salvage pontoons YSP-14
and YSP-13 on board. The hull of capsized Utah is visible astern of Raleigh. NA



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View from Pier 1010, looking toward the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard's drydocks, with the destroyer Shaw (DD-373) -- in floating drydock YFD-2 -- and Nevada burning at right, 7 December 1941. In the foreground is the capsized minelayer Oglala (CM-4), with the cruiser Helena (CL-50) further down the pier, at left. Beyond Helena is Drydock Number One, with the battleship Pennsylvania (BB-38) and the burning destroyers Cassin (DD-372) and Downes (DD-375). NA



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The 3,746-ton minelayer Oglala (CM=4), built for civilian use in 1907, and purchased by the
Navy in 1917, became the Fleet's principal minelayer into the 1940s. Photographed
alongside the Pearl Harbor Supply Depot, 17 September 1941. NA



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Chapter 7: 'Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition..."



Cruiser New Orleans (CA-32) underway during exercises in Hawaiian waters, 8 July 1942. The words and actions of her chaplain and crew, and other ships' crew members who voluntarily
came aboard her during the Japanese attack, later inspired an entire nation. NA



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The submarine Narwhal (SS-167) defending against Japanese raiders. In the background is the cruiser St. Louis (CL-49) getting underway during the Japanese second wave's attack. Note the probable Japanese fighter aircraft in the distance, appearing to be directly above the Narwhal image. NHHC



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Downed Val dive bomber, photographed by Staff Sergeant Lee Embree who was in B-17E (Serial No. 41-2408) inbound to Hickam Field the morning of the attack. Note the two additional Vals circling the crash site, above and to the right of the smoke column. NA



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Battleship California (BB-44) The view is from the southeastern side of Ford Island, looking northeasterly, with California (BB-44) in right center, listing to port after being hit
by Japanese aerial torpedoes and bombs early in the attack. NHHC



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The destroyer Monaghan (DD-354) rammed, depth charged and sank a Japanese midget submarine in the Middle Loch, the morning of 7 December 1941.
Off Mare Island Navy Yard, 17 February 1942. NA



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Seaplane tender TAngeer (AV-8), anchored off Mare Island Navy Yard, circa, August 1941. NA



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The seaplane tender Curtiss (AV-4) and repair ship Medusa (AR-1) photographed from the deck of the TAngeer (AV-8). Medusa is on the right. Curtiss, has just been struck by a crashing Japanese Val dive bomber, hit by AA fire while flying low, just east of TAngeer, over the western edge of Ford Island. The pilot started an immediate right turn toward the Curtiss, apparently intent on a final, suicidal attack on the ship. The timbers in the water are from the capsized target ship Utah (AG-16), which had capsized at her berth, astern of TAngeer. NHHC



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Seaplane tender Curtiss (AV-4), photographed soon after completion in 1940. NHHC



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The repair ship Vestal beached on Aiea shoal, Pearl Harbor, after the Japanese raid. She
is listing from damage caused by two bombs that hit her during the attack. NA



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View of 'Battleship Row' as probably seen by the crew of the Nevada when she steamed down the main channel during the Japanese raid. West Virginia is at the right sunk alongside Tennessee, with oil fires shrouding them both. The capsized Oklahoma is at the left, alongside Maryland. Crewmen on the latter's stern are using firehouses to try to push burning oil away from their ship. NPSAM



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Battleship Nevada (BB-36) headed down channel past the Navy Yard's 1010 Dock, under Japanese air attack during her sortie from Battleship Row. Photographed from Ford Island. Small ship in the lower right is the seaplane tender Avocet (AVP-4). Note fuel tank 'farm' in the left center distance, beyond the Submarine Base. NHHC



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Photograph Credits Guide


HA - Hawaii State Archives

IJN - Imperial Japanese Navy

MNC - Matson Navigation Company

NA - National Archives

NAPAR - National Archives Pacific Alaska Region

NAPR - National Archives Pacific Region

NNAM - National Naval Aviation Museum Collection

NPSAM - National Park Service, Arizona Memorial

NPSSFHMML - National Park Service, San Francisco Maritime Museum and National Historical Park Library

NHHC - Naval History and Heritage Command

SFAMC - San Francisco Airport Museum Collection, gift of United Airlines

SFHC - San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library

UDML - University of Detroit Mercy Library, Photographic digital image from the Fr. Edward J. Dowling, S.J. Marine Historical Collection

UHHL - University of Hawaii, Hamilton Library Archives and Special Collections

PAAR/UMLSCF - Pan American World Airways, Inc. Records, Special Collections, University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, Florida

USAF - US Air Force

USAFM - US Air Force Museum

USA - US Army

USAMHI - U.S. Army Military History Institute, World War II Signal Corps Photograph Collection

USMASC - USMC Archives and Special Collections, Jordan Collection

USMCHC - US Marine Corps History Center

USN - US Navy

Borders' Collection - Robert Lee and Mary Joleen Border


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