ATtACK TIMELINE
0342 Mine sweeper Condor sees periscope in restricted area near harbor entrance and radios USS Ward to investigate.
0600 Adm. Nagumo delays launch of first wave because of high waves rough sea.
0615 183 aircraft off six carriers are launched.
0620 200 miles west of Oahu, USS Enterprise launches 18 SBDs on a routine scout mission. They land at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor.
0637 USN PBY on patrol sights submarine and drops smoke pot. USS Ward views sub tower and opens fire. Second shell hits sub; PBY completes circle and drops depth charges on target; hits conning tower; air attack by PBY follows.
0653 Ward’s commander, Capt. Outerbridge, sends message to Bishop Point radio station: “We have attacked, fired on and dropped depth charges on submarine operating in defensive sea area.” The PBY sent a coded transmission about the sinking to PatWingOne, and PatWingTwo monitored the signal.
0702 Signal Corps Privates Lockhard and Elliott of Opana Radar Station pick up flight of unidentified aircraft bearing in 132 miles north of Oahu. Private Elliott phones switchboard operator Joseph McDonald at Information Center, Ft. Shafter.
0715 USS Ward’s message is delivered to duty officer, 14th Naval District; Japanese launch second wave of 168 planes.
0720 Joseph McDonald finds an Air Corps officer at the Information Center calls Opana and connects Lt. Tyler to Private Joe Lockard, who describes the large flight picked up on radar and is told not to worry about it. Tyler remembered that when the civilian radio is on all night, U.S. aircraft arrive from the mainland the next morning.
0735 Recon E13A1 (later coded Jake by the Allies) from cruiser Chikuma reports main fleet in Pearl Harbor.
0740 Cmdr. Fuchida fires flares to signal attack formation.
0749 Cmdr. Fuchida radios “To” code for attack; all pilots to begin assault on military bases on Oahu.
0751 Zuikaku D3A and escort attack Wheeler Field.
0751 Shokaku fighters strafe a civilian plane in their flight path.
0752 Fuchida radios “To-Ra” to Akagi and to D3A leader Takahashi: “Surprise achieved.” Takahashi does not alter his D3A mission and hits Pearl before torpedo planes.
0753 Shokaku and Zuikaku Zeros hit
Kaneohe Naval Air Station, and Hiryu Zeros hit Ewa Mooring Mast Field.
0754 Akagi Zeros shoot down a civilian plane in their flight path.
0755 The attack on Pearl Harbor begins with Takahashi’s D3A bombs on NAS on Ford Island and at Hickam Field.
0756 First torpedo drops hit USS Utah and USS Raleigh.
0757 First torpedo hits Battleship Row. The torpedo strike lasts 11 minutes.
0805 High-level bombers begin their run down Battleship Row.
0810 USS Arizona explodes.
0812 “Radio Pearl” sends message to Washington D.C.: “Hostilities with Japan commenced with air raid on Pearl Harbor.”
0815 KGMB interrupts music with second call ordering all military personnel to report for duty.
0820 A dozen B-17s from the mainland reach Oahu after a 14-hour flight, and 18 SBDs from USS Enterprise arrive over Oahu; both flights are caught between enemy and friendly fire.
0830 Final drop by circling high-level bombers miss USS Nevada. First wave begins to retreat to the carriers and strafes airfields.
0835 Tanker Neosho moves from Ford Island mooring.
0839 Several ships sight a midget sub in the harbor and they fire—USS Monaghan sub.
0850 Second wave arrives east of Oahu. Lt. Cmdr. Shimazaki signals “To” code for attack.
0854 Attack run begins over Kaneohe NAS.
0905 Lt. Egusa begins the dive-bomber attack on the ships in the Harbor.
0930 USS Shaw explodes; USS Nevada completes a sortie short of the main channel; bombers focus to sink it and block the channel. Japanese second wave strafes airfields to ensure a safe departure.