Special: Remembering Pearl Harbor

Pilots,

December 7^th 1941 is one of those dates that is deeply engraved in the collective consciousness of many people all around the world. The tragic events of Pearl Harbor that took place that day have been remembered and reflected upon ever since, and will continue to capture our attention for many generations to come. Today we want to pay tribute to the men and women involved in this historic moment by telling you a bit of their story, and follow it up with a special in the game.

This weekend in World of Warplanes you can look forward to the following bonuses and boosts:

30% discount on the credit price for the following planes:

Curtiss P-36 Hawk

Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk

North American P-51A Mustang

Brewster F2A Buffalo

Grumman F4F Wildcat

Chance-Vought F4U-1 Corsair

Mitsubishi A6M1 Reisen

Mitsubishi A6M2 Reisen

Mitsubishi A6M5 Reisen

Pick out your favourite American or Japanese fighter and save more credits the higher up the tier ladder you go!

30% increase on credit earnings on all of the above planes

Your commitment to honouring history will be rewarded with extra credits for pilots who fly these iconic fighters this weekend!

The special runs from Friday 6^th December 07:00 until Monday 9^th December 06:30 CET (GMT +1).

The surprise Japanese attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor is one of the best-known incidents of World War II. Here we examine what really happened in December 7^th 1941.

Pearl Harbor is a lagoon harbour on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. The shallow entrance provided a natural defence – large ships were unable to cross.

Satellite image of Pearl Harbor showing the natural ‘lagoon harbour’

After the Hawaiian kingdom was overthrown and the islands were annexed by the United States, the harbour officially became a naval base in 1899. A period of intense development followed, including the dredging and widening of the channel to allow access for larger ships.

By the end of the 1930s, despite attempts by the US to remain neutral it was no secret as to which side of the European conflict they favoured. After war broke out, they supplied numerous vehicles to Britain and its allies under the lend-lease programme.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Japan was getting restless. They invaded and conquered Manchuria and later signed the Tripartite Pact, which made Japan a formal member of the Axis alliance with Germany and Italy.

Despite the deterioration in relations between the US and Japan, the US authorities didn’t believe that Japan would initiate conflict. They certainly didn’t expect Japan to launch a surprise attack before formally declaring war, and they never imagined that the attack would come on Pearl Harbor.

On Saturday, 6^th December, US President Franklin Roosevelt made an appeal to Japan for peace, but there was no reply. The Americans intercepted coded messages from Japan that implied that an attack would take place in Southeast Asia.

On Sunday 7^th December (8^th December in Japan), six Japanese aircraft carriers with 423 planes moved into position about 370 km from Oahu. At 6am, the first wave of 183 planes takes off - a mixture of bombers and A6M ‘Zero’ fighters. They began to arrive just after 7am and were detected by Pearl Harbor’s radar. However, the report was dismissed by officers, who believed them to be some B-17 bombers that were expected to arrive. Meanwhile, the second wave of planes took off from the Japanese carriers.

Japanese fighter planes (A6M Zero) taking off to Pearl Harbor

The first strike took the Pearl Harbor base completely by surprise. The first wave targeted the infrastructure (airfields and battleships), while the second went for other ships and facilities. Eight battleships were damaged, five of which were sunk completely. Ten smaller ships were also damaged or lost, along with 188 aircraft. However, the attack failed to hit the prime targets, three major US aircraft carriers normally based at Pearl Harbour, which were out of the port at the time.

In total, over 1,000 people were wounded and 2,000 were killed. Half of the casualties were on the USS Arizona, which exploded when a bomb penetrated the forward magazine. The Japanese lost just 27 planes and five midget submarines.

The destruction of the USS Arizona

The Japanese declaration of war against the USA was finally received at 2:30 pm, several hours after the attack began. The other Axis nations, Germany and Italy, soon followed with their declarations.

Although the attack was hugely successful for the Japanese, it ultimately failed to provide the strategic advantage that they had hoped for. Much of the damage at Pearl Harbor was soon repaired and in the end, only three battleships were lost for good (including the Arizona). The Japanese attack failed to disrupt America’s participation in the war and actually provided impetus for the US to modernise its equipment. It also rallied the population, who until then had been wary of joining the war.

The sinking of the USS California

Remember Pearl Harbor as you fly out on Pacific this weekend, Pilots!