50 Insane Facts About Pearl Harbor Nobody Told You

December 7, 1941, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a day that will live in infamy. Most people know a story of Japan perpetrating a sneak attack upon the U.S., who had no warning that an attack on Hawaii might take place. However, the actual events went somewhat differently. Get ready for a tale of bureaucratic stalling and incompetence, endless missed opportunities, and a lack of communication so epic, it rivals the most dysfunctional of reality show couples. Here are 50 insane facts about Pearl Harbor that nobody told you!

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[steveolive]

#12: Taylor and Welch's commanding officer was either an idiot or insecure for blocking the award for the heroic actions of these two pilots who seized the initiative.

[Aabergm]

Who else thinks that commanding officer denying a commendation due to not waiting for orders was a prat and clearly had a grudge.

[markcortez]

#26 it’s partly wrong because the aircraft weren’t necessarily just parked in the middle of the runway to be on stand by but because the aircraft belonging to the U.S. Army Air Corps parked in groups as defense against possible saboteurs at Hickam, Wheeler, and Bellows airfields. Getting them away from fence lines because a good portion of the Hawaiian population was Japanese or of Japanese descent

[jaxmike]

23 is not entirely correct either. Arizona was primarily destroyed from a single bomb, almost certainly dropped from one of the high altitude bombers, that penetrated then detonated in the magazine. This caused a massive explosion that basically destroyed the ship. If I recall, the USS Arizona was actually protected by a maintenance ship from torpedoes at the time of the attack. Having the maintenance ship on one side and the shore on the other.

[Skipper.]

Another interesting fact. Malaya was attacked by the Japanese before pearl harbour but due to the international date line, Malaya was attacked on the 8th of December and pearl harbour attacked on the 7th of December.

[jeffdanelek]

Number 23 is wrong. The Arizona was moored inboard to the repair ship Vestal and so was protected from torpedoes. (Later examination of the wreck further confirmed that the ship never took a torpedo hit.) It also exploded not because of the fuel it had on board--which would have been contained in tanks scattered around the vessel and not prone to explode--but because it was hit by a bomb dropped from a high level bomber that detonated in her forward powder room below turret two. The explosion tore the ship in two and killed over 1100 sailors in just a few seconds. I'm surprised this well established fact was so completely missed and badly shakes my confidence in the validity of these videos.

[davidt]

The funny thing about Yamamoto was he was INCREDIBLY punctual. So we knew exactly where he was going to be while in the air. If he would have left 15 minutes earlier or later he had a high chance of survival.

[keving]

Not to be THAT guy, but your entry correcting the contents of FDR's Date of Infamy speech is NOT "a date THAT will live in infamy" it's actually "a date WHICH will live in infamy.".
One of my pet peeves is when people correct grammar or quotes, incorrectly.

[enterprisespatton]

17:17 fun additional fact: one of the men Joe George saved was Donald Stratton. Stratton would survive the attack and eventually the war. In 2016, he released his memoir “All the Gallent Men” in which he give extensive testimony on George’s heroic actions. He would also be critical In having George’s be posthumously awarded the bronze star (he’s not eligible for the Medal of Honor due him disobeying a direct order, from what I heard)
Stratton died 2020 and was the third to the last survivor of the USS Arizona (Lou Conter is now the last survivor)

[michaeldobson]

"Absolute incompetence" is certainly a trait shared by politicians around the world. One of the great tragedies of military engagements is the incompetence of civilian leadership.

[gowensbach]

My dad was there. He had told me he was off that day and was getting ready to go to town with his cousin, when someone ran in and exclaimed the Japanese were attacking, which at first he didn’t believe. Not until he heard the explosions.

[joewilson]

My father was a radioman on the battleship Pennsylvania during the attack. It was the flagship of the fleet and the sister ship of the Arizona.

[MeLancer]

Thanks for sharing. When the attack on Pearl Harbor began, my dad was aboard his ship the Light Cruiser USS Raleigh CL-7 December 7, 1941 when the attack began. Raleigh was hit by an aerial torpedo almost instantly. The Raleigh crew fought fires and repaired a breach in the hull in an effort to keep her afloat. An hour later, Raleigh was hit again, this time by an armor piercing bomb that barely missed an ammo magazine. Damages to Raleigh were repaired in a timely manner and Raleigh went on to serve in the Pacific Ocean for the duration of WW2.
I was on patrol aboard my ship USS Brister DER 327 on New Britain in 1964 when an islander told me about Adm. Yamamoto during the war.

[ShaunFVG]

Admiral Yamamoto considered the attack a failure due to not taking the carriers out. That was the big detail that he noted as the most important thing. Due to the carriers and facilities at pearl harbor being operational, US industry kicked into high gear and japan learned about FAFO lol

[ryabow]

9:52 interesting note about the USS Ward, she sank exactly three years after the attack on Pearl. after being hit by a kamikaze, she was abandon, and was scuttled by the USS O'Brien. the CO of the O'Brien at the time, William Outerbridge, had been the CO of the Ward when the they fired those first shots of the war.

[michaeltelson]

The P-36 Hawks were considered obsolete and were parked along the edge of the fields and were relatively untouched. Future ace Harry Brown shot down one Japanese aircraft. Gabby Gabreski of 56th FG fame, also flew that day but on the second patrols. Several Japanese aircraft were shot down by these older planes.
Harry Brown became a test pilot for North America Aircraft after the war. He was test flying the F-86 Sabre over Nevada and is the pilot that took the F-86 into a dive that was uncredited breaking the sound barrier the day before Yeager in the X-1.

[nicksmith]

You need to check your facts. It's the USS Utah that is still there and was not Able to be raised. not the USS Oklahoma

[bige]

7:56 the Japanese embassy didn't delay on delivering the declaration of war. The emperor kept adding certain terms causing it to be late getting sent to the embassy. The ambassador told them he needed it by 1130 so he has time to decipher it before delivery. He didn't get it until after noon, so they were unable to decipher it fast enough for the 1 o'clock delivery.

[Thomo-kebz]

#46 3:00. It was the Royal Navy fleet air arm that attacked the Italian fleet at Taranto… not the Royal Air Force.

[michaeltelson]

The attack on Taranto was by Fairey Swordfish biplane torpedo bombers, not AVRO Anson reconnaissance and training aircraft as depicted in the animation. The Swordfish pilots were vigorously trained in night combat.