12/7/41 Pearl 1800 hours

The primitive radar reported a massive formation of aircraft at about one hundred miles out, heading for Pearl. The fighter strips were alerted and planes made ready to meet the threat. They wouldn’t take off until about 1840 so they would be in a position to attack the Japanese but would have sufficient fuel to stay in the air. The island had two hundred fighters to oppose the Japanese air fleet which was now estimated at just about two hundred fifty planes. The fighters from the carriers were escorting the Catlaina’s and were not available for defense of the islands. The bombers and torpedo planes from the carriers were serviced with fuel to allow them to take off for protection but there were insufficient ground crews to handle the arming. The flight crews worked to arm the guns, nobody wanted to take off without machine gun bullets for defense. With no bombs to take, the gas tanks were full to the brim. When the Japanese force was confirmed, these planes took off and flew south, out of harms way as did any other aircraft that could get off the ground. A flight of B-17’s that had taken off from the mainland and flown to Pearl had landed early in the morning. Their crews had worked all day to get them refueled and ready to fly, just in case they were needed. They had not been ready to go with the Catlaina’s, now they were taking off to head south, out of harms way. Their day of battle would come.

The battle was joined when the Japanese were about thirty miles north of the islands. Over one hundred of the American fighters were obsolete and were no match for the Japanese planes. The action reports were confused but later evaluations would show that over forty five of these old planes were shot down by the attacking the bombers and torpedo planes. All but ten of the remaining fifty five obsolete planes were shot down by the fighters. The ten that escaped were damaged and landed at the nearest field which in some cases was in fact literally a field rather than an airport. Forty two of the pilots were killed, three more were seriously injured and would never fly again. The other hundred fighters were newer models which were more of a match for the Japanese planes. They were able to shoot down forty five of the bombers and all of the fighters but not before the majority of the bombers were over their targets. The bombs rained down on targets all over the islands. The floating dry dock that had been occupied by the Pennsylvania was destroyed and a bomb hit the main gasoline storage at Hickem field. A worse disaster was to hit the Navy. The word of the bombers had caused the Utah and Ogala to try to leave port. At least in open water they would have a chance. The Utah got just past the middle of the channel when two torpedoes hit, sinking it in the channel and effectively blocking it. The trapped Ogala tried to turn but was hit by torpedoes fired from within the harbor. Only three of the midget subs made it. They had done more damage with their six torpedoes than had any other group. They blocked the harbor entrance. The Ward was preparing to slip its moorings when it was hit by a torpedo. It sunk into the mud with its stack sticking out of the water. Not a single vessel in the harbor escaped undamaged.