val Fleet that was not on the Ocean floor was drifting helplessly. "It [the Arizona] sank like an earthquake had struck it," a survivor remarked, 1 200 of his crew mates died. US troops returned from church or brunch to defend as best they could. Fighting until they drowned or were crushed by exploding debris, sailors, fliers and anti-aircraft gunners fought heroically to save their doomed naval base. By reason of the attack occurring in what Americans thought was peace time, much of the ammunition was locked away, leaving the defending US troops with little defense. In the end, the US had eight battleships, three cruisers and a large number of smaller vessels sink or rendered out of use. The Japanese lost 30 planes and five submarines. Although the destruction was not total, Japanese foremost naval strategist, Yamamoto, found the result better than he had anticipated . Military records state that the attack sank or destroyed 6 ships, all of which were raised and rebuilt , except for the Arizona, Oklahoma and Utah . US casualties included 2 500 as well as over 1 000 wounded. The Japanese lost less than 30 aircraft and about 55 men. Unharmed or salvageable from the attack were land installation, power stations, all submarines and stores of gasoline. The gasoline enabled shipyards to repair all the salvageable ships. Primary targets for the Japanese were the US carriers Saratoga, Lexington and Enterprise. They weighed 33 000, 33 000 and 19 000 tones respectively. The carriers were out of port at the time of the bombing, performing deep sea maneuvers, thereby eluding the attack. The USS Enterpise was later present at the battle of Midway Island on June 4-6, 1942 The bombing of Pearl Harbor can be seen as a turning point in the war. Essentially, the war had been of mainly European involvement, now it took a global turn. The bombing prompted a US declaration of war on the following day, as well as great American shock and outrage tempered by...
