Japanese war crimes
The U.S. officially classified all 3,649 military and civilian casualties and destruction of military property at Pearl Harbor as non-combatants as there was no state of war between the U.S. and Japan when the attack occurred. Joseph B. Keenan, the chief prosecutor in the Tokyo Trials, says that the attack on Pearl Harbor not only happened without a declaration of war but was also a treacherous and deceitful act. In fact, Japan and the U.S. were still negotiating for a possible peace agreement which kept U.S. officials very distracted when Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor. Keenan explained the definition of a war of aggression and the criminality of the attack on Pearl Harbor:
Enterprise Air Group
On 7 December 1941, eighteen SBD Dauntless scout bombers of squadrons VS-6 and VB-6 arrived over Pearl Harbor during the attack and, although surprised, immediately went into action in defense of the naval base. Scouting Six lost six planes during the attack, and Bombing Six lost one, killing eight airmen and wounding two others. Later that evening, six VF-6 Wildcats attempted to land at Ford Island, but five were accidentally shot down by friendly anti-aircraft fire, killing three pilots and wounding two others. "Enterprise"’s air group carried out search missions to locate the Japanese carrier task force that attacked Pearl Harbor, but was unable to locate that force. "Enterprise" aircraft did sink a Japanese submarine on 10 December, but was unable to relieve the U.S. Marine garrison on Wake Island which fell to the Japanese.