Attack at Pearl Harbor, 1941 December seventh, 1941: the
surprise was complete. The attacking planes came in two waves;
the first hit its target at 7:53 AM, the second at 8:55. By 9:55
it was all over. By 1:00 PM the carriers that launched the
planes from 274 miles off the coast of Oahu were heading back to
Japan. Behind them they left chaos, 2,403 dead, 188 destroyed
planes and a crippled Pacific Fleet that included 8 damaged or
destroyed battleships. In one stroke the Japanese action
silenced the debate that had divided Americans ever since the
German defeat of France left England alone in the fight against
the Nazi terror. the attack, 1942 Approximately three hours
later, Japanese planes began a day-long attack on American
facilities in the Philippines. (Because the islands are located
across the International Dateline, the local Philippine time was
just after 5 AM on December 8.) Farther to the west, the
Japanese struck at Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand in a
coordinated attempt to use surprise in order