MARINE SCIENCE

(HS40)
BASIC NAVIGATION
AND SEAMANSHIP
(SL10403)
FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND NATURAL RESOURCES
ASSIGNMENT 1 MARITIME DISASTER
TITLE : ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOUR

Name

Wydia Farhain Fredelina Wilfredo

Matric no.

BS14110932

Lecturer

Dr. Pushpa M. Palaniappan

Date of Submission

29th May 2015

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2.0

TASK
Write a report about maritime disaster, its consequences, and ways to
prevent it.

INTRODUCTION

A maritime disaster is defined as an event, which involves a ship or ships

and can be related to military action. Because of the nature of maritime travel,
there is usually substantial loss of life. According to Oxford dictionary, the word
disaster carries the meaning of an unexpected event, or a natural catastrophe
that causes great damage or kills a lot of people. 1 Thus, in other words maritime
disaster is an occurrence or an accident which happens at sea and often involves
the loss of lives.
The date 7th of December 1941 is marked as one of the worst days in the
United States history. The US president then, President Franklin Roosevelt called
the day as a date which will live in infamy. The Pearl Harbour, a naval base
situated in Hawaii, was bombarded and attacked by the empire of Japan. The
sneak attack resulted in many casualties of not only the navy officers, but also
locals as the bombs also affected the people nearby. It also sank a total of twelve
ships, damaging nine, besides completely destroying the USS Arizona and
capsized the USS Oklahoma; both are battleships.
There were no warnings or alerts given to the people in Pearl Harbour. No
one expected the ambush, just as the navy base was ill-prepared and taken by
surprise by the Japanese troops. The attack indicated that the World War II has
begun in the Pacific region. The main objective of the attacks was to paralyse the
US navy and air fleet as much as possible.
In this assignment however, more will be discussed on the battleships USS
Arizona, and battleship USS Oklahoma rather than the whole Battleship Row
involved in the Pearl Harbour attack.

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A SUMMARY ON THE ATTACK OF PEARL HARBOUR

The tragic day took place in the port of Pearl Harbour. It was just like any
other faithful Sunday morning. Everyone went on with their day doing their daily
routines, including the navy men.
1

Oxfords Advanced Learners Dictionary; disaster definition; retrieved from:

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/learner/disaster (online)

The Japanese empire wanted to expand their territory and power just as
other European countries. However they do this by forcing themselves into the
Indo-China region. Concerned over Japans ambitions, the United States,
Netherlands and Great Britain froze Japanese assets in their countries and cut off
90% of raw material supplies required by Japan for war production. 2
The Japan counteracts by planning an attack on the United States, which
was the last thing anyone would thought they do. They also specifically chose to
attack Pearl Harbour, where the US least thought would be since for one thing,
Hawaii and Japan is 4000 miles apart, making it inconvenient for the Japanese to
enter without getting seen under the radar. Secondly, the American military
leaders did not suspect any attacks on their own soil, plus Pearl Harbour was
practically undefended. However, it was known by the Japanese that the Pacific
fleet moored there almost every other week, making Pearl Harbour a highly
irresistible target.
The Japanese trained for at least 7 months before going forward with the
attack. Their main objective was to neutralise the Pacific fleet, this is to make
sure the US does not interfere with their conquest for power.
On the 7th of December 1941, at about 0749 hour, about 360 Japanese
planes filled the sky over Pearl Harbour and bombs start to be dropped. At that
time, the Army Defence unit was under the command of Lt. General Walter Short.
A last minute warning was sent to him from the headquarters in Washington
D.C., however the message only reached General Short hours after the attack. It
was already too late.
The attack managed to destroy 18 American vessels and up to 300
airplanes. As for the total casualties, 2500 men were killed and more than 1000
were badly injured. This included 8 battleships: USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, USS
Nevada, USS California, USS West Virginia, USS Tennessee, USS Maryland, and
USS Pennsylvania.
A total of two waves of attacks were done by the Japanese. However, they
did not succeed in fully paralysing the Pacific fleet. This is because most fuel
storage tanks, maintenance areas, destroyers and submarines were not
targeted. The very next day, on the 8 th of December 1941, President Franklin
Roosevelt declared war, after two long years of conflicts.

Pictures during the attacks on Pearl Harbour:

Pearl Harbor Oahu. Why was Pearl Harbour Attacked?. Retrieved from:
https://www.pearlharboroahu.com/attack.htm (2013)

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USS ARIZONA

The battleship USS Arizona has served the United States Navy with pride
and excellence during its years of service, which started form 1916 until 1941.
She was a Pennsylvania-class of super-dreadnaught battleship with a total
length of 185m, and a speed reaching 21 knots. She was also the final resting
place of many of her crewmen, who were killed during the Pearl Harbour attack.
During the attack, her raid off alarm went off at about 0755hour and she
went to general headquarters soon thereafter.
Quoting Marine Corporal E. Nightingale who was aboard the USS Arizona
on that faithful morning, At approximately eight oclock on the morning of
December 7 1941, I was leaving the breakfast table when the ships siren for air
defence sounded. Having no anti-aircraft battle station, I paid little attention to
it. Suddenly I heard an explosion. I ran to the port door leading to the
quarterdeck and saw a bomb strike a barge of some sort alongside the USS
Nevada. The marine color guard came in at this point saying we were being
attacked. I could hear machine gun fire. 3
3

Attack at Pearl Harbour, 1941. EyeWitness to History. retrieved from:

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/pearl.htm (1997)

The battleship was hit by a total of eight bombs. The last bomb hit in the
vicinity of Turret II, penetrating the armoured deck which is near the ammunition
magazines located in the forward section of the ship. A few seconds after the last
hit, the forward magazines exploded, collapsing the vessel downwards and
forward. The explosion took the lives of 1177 crewmen, more than half of the
total casualties of the attack.
A memorial was built to honour those who died in the attack, situated on
top of the wreckage of the ship herself. Visitors can only access the memorial by
boat, where they will straddle over the wreckage of Arizona, but avoid touching
her.

Aerial view of the USS Arizona Memorial

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USS OKLAHOMA

USS
Oklahoma
was one of the battleships involved in the Pearl Harbour attack. It was a Nevadaclass battleship. She was assigned for patrols and exercises which based in Pearl
Harbour by the end of 1937. She only returned to the mainland twice; once to
get anti-aircraft guns and armour added to her superstructure, and the other to
get her armour replaced at San Pedro.
The USS Oklahoma was 178m in length, and was able to reach a speed of
21 knots. She carried a total crew of 1398 during the surprise attack.
The Oklahoma losses were high because the dreadnought capsized after it
was hit by 5 torpedoes, before she rolled over on her port side. She was hit by
three torpedoes almost immediately after the attack started, making her starting
to turn into her port side.
Many of the sailors were trapped inside, with only 32 crewmen were
rescued by shipyard workers and sailors. They were freed by cutting holes in the
hull. However, many more were perished from the explosions and flooding of the
vessel.
Most of her crews remained in the fight, moving on to USS Maryland and
aid in her anti-aircraft welfare. Some of her sailors who died in action later had
vessels named after them. For example, the USS Austin was named after Chief
Carpenter John Arnold Justin.

Model of USS Oklahoma

USS

Oklahoma being salvaged

In July 1942, the salvaging of USS Oklahoma was commenced and took a
little under 8 months to complete. The overturning and righting of the hull
required 21 derricks. Although the initial plan was to salvage the ship, her scraps
were eventually removed and sold.
A memorial for the 429 lives of the crew members that were killed during
the attack was dedicated on Ford Island, close to where The Oklahoma was once
moored.

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CONSEQUENCES

The attack on Pearl Harbour has led to the loss of almost 2500 lives; half
of it was from the explosion that happened in the USS Arizona. Besides killing a
lot of people, it also angered the Americans and has led to war. As we know, the
World War II has consumed a lot of budgets and taken a lot of lives.
Apart from that, the damages that the attack has caused includes the
decommission of two battleships, namely USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma as
they could no longer be salvaged and used. Although the vessels were granted
battle stars for their services.
Memorials were also built to honour the fallen victims. Moreover, the
disastrous day has taught the world to always be on watch when facing an
opponent and to never be as greedy as the Japanese Empire was for power that
they were willing to kill in order to achieve their ambitions.

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PREVENTIVE MEASURES THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN TAKEN

As we all know, the Japanese tried to neutralise the Americans Pacific

fleet in order to make sure the United States do not interfere with their conquest

for power. But all they did was angered the US instead of reaching their
objectives.
From this event, we should be reminded that greed does not give us good
outcomes. Due to the Japanese Empires greed for power, they have caused a
huge amount of loss of lives. They were willing to kill innocent people and
civilians in order to achieve their ambition to conquer the world. This should be a
lesson for us all to not repeat the mistakes of our ancestors, but learn from them
instead.
Apart from that, we must not overlook any possibilities of attack, like the
US Armys did. They thought Japan would never consider attacking Pearl
Harbour, but little do they know that the Pearl Harbour was an irresistible target
as they were totally unprepared for war.
Besides that, we should never underestimate our opponents. The Japanese
army had been spying the Oahu coasts for about a year, memorising the US
Navys movements and mooring schedules of the vessels. This shows how
determined the Japan army were to carry out their mission, while the US
government had no clue on what was coming at all. The US underestimated
Japans will power, which costs them huge damage and killed a lot of lives.
Other than that, we should never assume things without making sure of
our assumption or get solid evidence that our assumption is true. Before the
attack, the navy saw a lot of planes suddenly entering the Pearl Harbour skyline,
but they only assumed that those were their own planes, going back to their
base near Ford Island.

Also, the communication between the mainland and Oahu should have
been better. Their weak communication resulted in the navy not receiving the
last minute warning at all, although a mere 10 minutes would be more than
enough for the marines to get prepared for war and take their places. But they
also received two early warnings, which were then ignored.

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CONCLUSION

In conclusion, we are aware that war during that time was inevitable. The
United States were already on the verge of joining the war, but if only their

communication unit was more efficient, they could have salvaged more lives by
giving out that last minute warning.
We also have learnt that war brings no good to the human race, instead it
only damages our things and kill our own species. Japans greed for power has
resulted in them being selfish and heartless, killing people without any remorse.
Apart from that, the ships that were damaged needed a lot of costs to
repair them. This causes a great lost to the government and time consuming for
the US Navy as they need to wait for the vessels to be fixed in order to train on
it.

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REFERENCES

Oxfords Advanced Learners Dictionary; disaster definition;

retrieved

from: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/learner/disaster (online)

Pearl Harbor Oahu. Why was Pearl Harbour Attacked?. Retrieved from:
https://www.pearlharboroahu.com/attack.htm (2013)

Attack at Pearl Harbour, 1941. EyeWitness to History. retrieved from:

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/pearl.htm (1997)
United States History. Pearl Harbour Attack. retrieved from: http://www.u-

s-history.com/pages/h1649.html
James Burbeck. Pearl Harbour: A World War II Summary. Retrieved from:

http://www.wtj.com/articles/pearl_harbor/index_03.htm (2013)
USS
Arizona.org.
USS
Arizona
Statistics.
Retrieved
http://www.ussarizona.org/website/history/uss-arizona-statistics

from:

National

Park

Service.

History

&

Culture.

http://www.nps.gov/valr/learn/historyculture/index.htm

Retrieved

from: