PEARL HARBOR FACTS

1. The Japanese got the idea for the attack from a book by Hector Bywater, a British naval authority. “1931:  The Great Pacific War” describes a surprise attack on the Pacific Fleet, followed by attacks on Guam and the Philippines.  Another inspiration was the British attack on the Italian fleet at anchor at Taranto.
2. America actually fired the first shot. Part of the Japanese attack was five midget submarines were to sneak into the harbor.  The periscope of one was spotted by a minesweeper and the destroyer USS Ward opened fire and sank the sub.  This was at 6:37, more than one hour before the air attack.  Unfortunately, no alert was sounded.  Four of the five midget subs were lost.  Kazuo Sakamaki attempted to blow up his disabled sub.  When he swam underneath to see why the explosive did not go off, he passed out.  His body  washed ashore and he was taken captive.  He was the first Japanese prisoner of war held by the U.S.
3. Besides the midget sub sunk in the harbor, another warning came via radar. A new experimental set was being tried out and it picked up the Japanese planes coming in.  When it was reported to headquarters, the officer assumed they had picked up incoming B-17s arriving from the U.S. and did not sound the alert.
4. There were two waves of attackers. The first arrived at 7:55 and the second at 8:50.  The planes came from six aircraft carriers stationed 230 miles to the north.  There were three types of planes –  dive bombers, torpedo planes, and fighters.
5. The first attack was led by Mitsuo Fuchida. He radioed “Tora! Tora! Tora!” (“Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!”) to Admiral Nagumo to indicate surprise had been attained.
6. The Japanese destroyed 188 planes on the ground and damaged another 159. This was made easy because the planes had been lined up on the airfields to discourage sabotage.  Also, anti-aircraft guns had been locked up for the same reason. 
7. The battleships were also lined up like sitting ducks on “Battleship Row”. All eight were sunk or severely damaged.  The worst sinking was the USS Arizona.  A bomb landed in its ammunition locker and blew the ship up.  1,177 sailors were killed, almost half of the total dead.  This included 23 sets of brothers.  The highest ranked death was Rear Admiral Isaac Kidd of the Arizona.  The Oklahoma turned upside down, trapping many sailors.  Some were rescued by cutting through the hull, but many were doomed.
8. All the other battleships were repaired and returned to action. These were the Maryland, Nevada, Tennessee, California, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.  The Arizona still rests at the bottom of the harbor.  Even today, oil seeps to the surface.
9. 2,403 Americans were killed. 68 were civilians.  1,178 were wounded, which is remarkable because in battles usually the number of wounded outnumber the number of dead.  The Japanese lost 65 as 29 planes were shot down.
10. Seven of the Japanese planes were shot down by George Welch and Kenneth Taylor (the inspirations for Rafe and Danny in the movie “Pearl Harbor”). They received the Distinguished Service Cross.  Welch was denied the Medal of Honor because he took off without permission!
11. It could, and should, have been much worse. The Japanese did not target the oil tanks, the repair yards, and the submarine base.  And luckily, the aircraft carriers were not in the harbor at the time.  The cautious Admiral Nagumo decided not to launch a third attack that might have hit those targets and extended America’s comeback.  

https://www.pearlharbortours.com/blog/facts-about-pearl-harbor/

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/588543/pearl-harbor-facts

https://pearlharborwarbirds.com/interesting-pearl-harbor-facts/

https://www.govx.com/blog/253/10-facts-about-the-attack-on-pearl-harbor-you-may-not-know

https://facts.net/history/historical-events/pearl-harbor-facts/