Ford Island Naval Air Station Hit
The first of the Japanese bombs to fall during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands on December 7, 1941, hit Ford Island Naval Air Station. The first bomb to fall, aimed at Catalinas at the southern end of the station, not only missed the air station itself but also Ford Island. The others didn't miss.
The sudden attack on the air station, witnessed by both the minelayer-headquarters vessel Oglala and the battleship West Virginia, immediately caused confusion for the Americans. The Oglala sent out orders for all ships to sortie. The West Virginia, believing there had been an explosion on board the California, gave orders for rescue parties to head for the battle force flagship. Within seconds of this compound confusion, personnel of both ships realized the truth of the situation.
Helena Hit, Oglala Sunk
Soon after, bombs were dropped on the Utah and the Raleigh, with another bomber flying across Ford Island and aiming his torpedo at ships lying in the berth that was normally occupied by the flagship Pennsylvania. However, that particular day the Oglala and the Helena were docked there instead. The torpedo ran under the Oglala and hit the Helena, causing one engine room and one boiler room to flood on the Helena.
This resulted in the Oglala, being old and having been commissioned in to the US Navy twenty-four years to that very day as well as lacking watertight doors and bulkheads, splitting open her hull due to the pressure wave from the hit on the Helena. In two-hours the Oglala had capsized and sunk to the bottom.
Death Aboard the Utah
The Utah, having been hit by two torpedoes, capsized. Sixty-four of her officers and men went to their deaths aboard this ship.
California, Oklahoma, West Virginia Doomed
By 0800, 8:00 am, the battleships, California, Oklahoma, and West Virginia had been hit and were in desperate trouble. The Oklahoma, in quick succession, was hit by three torpedoes. Nearly instantly, she began to heel over and the order went out to abandon her. But trouble for the Oklahoma and her crew was far from over.
Bombing Pearl Harbor: A Day of Infamy continues with The USS Arizona: A Memorial for all Times.
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