S. west coast. At 7:15 a.m., a second attack wave of 167 planes took off from the Japanese carriers and headed for Pearl Harbor. At 7:53 the Japanese started to attack Pearl Harbor with planes, 51 dive bombers, 40 torpedo bombers, 50 high level bombers, and 43 zero bombers. A few minutes before 8 AM on Sunday, December 7, 1941, Japanese carrier-based airplanes struck Pearl Harbor. In a raid lasting less than two hours, they sank or seriously damaged eight battleships and 13 other naval vessels. The U.S. authorities had broken the Japanese diplomatic code and knew an attack was imminent. A warning had been sent from Washington, but because of delays in transmission, it arrived after the raid had begun. In one stroke, the Japanese navy scored a brilliant success "and assured the Axis defeat in World War II. The casualty list included 2,335 servicemen and 68 civilians killed, with 1,178 wounded. Included were 1,104 men aboard the Battleship USS Arizona, killed after a 1,760-pound air bomb penetrated into the forward magazine causing catastrophic explosions. .
The Americans were taken completely by surprise. The first wave of attacks targeted airfields and battleships. The second wave targeted other ships and shipyard facilities. The air raid lasted until 9:45 a.m. Eight battleships were damaged, with five sunk. Three light cruisers, three destroyers and three smaller vessels were lost along with 188 aircraft. The Japanese lost 27 planes and five midget submarines which attempted to penetrate the inner harbor and launch torpedoes. .
Soon after the attack, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed a commission of inquiry to determine whether negligence had contributed to the success of the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor. The commission's report found the naval and army commanders of the Hawaiian area, Rear Admiral Husband E. Kimmel and Major General Walter C. Short, guilty of "derelictions of duty- and "errors of judgment-; the two men were subsequently retired.
