logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2021
45m 14s

155 - Pearl Harbor

Angus Wallace
About this episode

7th December 2021 marks the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States of America into the Second World War.

On the morning of 7th December 1941, just before 8am the Japanese launched their attack on the US naval base of Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The Japanese planned the attack as a first strike to cripple the US fleet in the Pacific and prevent America from intervening in other Japanese Pacific Operations. From six Imperial Japanese Aircraft carriers, over 350 planes flew in two waves attacked the American base. Eight US Navy battleships would be damaged, four sunk, along with other cruisers and destroyers. Crucially, one element of the US Pacific fleet escaped the preemptive strike. The American Aircraft Carriers were all absent from Pearl Harbor on the day of the attack.

Roosevelt would proclaim the 7th December 1941 as a ‘date that would live in infamy’.

Joining me to discuss the attack on Pearl Harbor is Mark Stille.

Mark is a naval historian who is prolific in his studies on the naval war in the Pacific. He has written Tora! Tora! Tora!: Pearl Harbor 1941 for Osprey and has two new books out looking at the whole of the US Naval Campaign in the Pacific The United States Navy in WWII: From Pearl Harbor to Okinawa and Pacific Carrier War: Carrier Combat from Pearl Harbor to Okinawa.

Patreon: patreon.com/ww2podcast

Up next
Oct 1
279 - The Vistula-Oder Offensive 1945
By January 1945, the war in Europe neared its final phase. In the west, the Allies had repelled the Ardennes offensive. In the east, the Red Army prepared the Vistula–Oder offensive, a huge strike that pushed German forces out of Poland. The Soviet advance carried them to the ver ... Show More
48m 44s
Sep 22
278 - The Maginot Line
The Maginot Line was one of the most ambitious defensive projects of the 1930s. Built along France’s eastern border, this vast system of underground forts, tunnels, and bunkers included hospitals, kitchens, telephone exchanges, electric railways, and turrets that could rise from ... Show More
50m 20s
Sep 8
276 - The Malay Regiment
In this episode of the WW2 Podcast, we explore the remarkable history of the Malay Regiment during the Second World War. Formed in the 1930s as an experiment with just 25 local recruits, the regiment quickly grew into a respected fighting force. By the time of the Japanese invasi ... Show More
1h 2m
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2020
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
On 7 December 1941, Japan launched a surprise strike on the American naval base, Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii. Thousands of American servicemen were killed or injured in the attack, which severely damaged the US Pacific Fleet. The next day, President Franklin Roosevelt declared war on ... Show More
8m 58s
Aug 2020
Episode 13 : Pearl Harbor : l’entrée en guerre des États-Unis.
Le 7 décembre 1941, sans déclaration de guerre, le Japon lance une attaque aéronavale contre la flotte américaine du Pacifique basée à Pearl Harbor dans l’archipel des îles Hawaï. Son but : empêcher les Américains de contrecarrer la politique expansionniste du Japon en Asie du Su ... Show More
29m 53s
Dec 2023
Attack on Pearl Harbor
December 7th is the anniversary of the attack on the Pearl Harbor naval base in 1941, which thrust the United States into World War II. Join us as we learn more about the details of the attack by the Empire of Japan, the aftermath, and the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Oahu, Hawaii. � ... Show More
8m 16s
Jun 2022
The Battle of Midway
On the 4th of June 1942, the US Navy took on the might of Japan's Imperial Navy in the battle of Midway. It was America's Trafalgar! At the end of the fighting devastating losses had been inflicted on the Japanese and the entire strategic position in the Pacific was upended in fa ... Show More
49m 25s
Aug 2023
The WW2 Pacific Theatre of January-May 1942: When Japan Was Omnipotent and America Was a Fearful Underdog
After the devastating Japanese blows of December 1941, the Allies found themselves reeling with defeat everywhere in the Pacific. Although stripped of his battleships and outnumbered 10:3 in carriers, the US Navy commander-in-chief Admiral Ernest J. King decided to hit back at Ja ... Show More
40m 40s
Dec 2021
Pearl Harbor: 80 Years Later
On 7 December 1941, Imperial Japan launched an attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor. In this episode 80 years later, James speaks to Adrian Kerrison, a curator at the Imperial War Museums. Adrian takes us through the events of that day, the motives behind the attack and it ... Show More
22m 56s
Apr 2022
Pearl Harbor, Part 1 of 3
On December 7th 1941, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, changed the course of the Second World War. Forcing the United States into a conflict they were reluctant to enter, the attack killed over 2,500 people. But was it an act of aggression, or desperation? How did the ... Show More
49m 11s
Sep 2023
The Battle of Midway
On the 4th of June 1942, the US Navy took on the might of Japan's Imperial Navy in the battle of Midway. It was America's Trafalgar! At the end of the fighting devastating losses had been inflicted on the Japanese and the entire strategic position in the Pacific was upended in fa ... Show More
47m 35s