Editing Attack on Pearl Harbor (section)

===First wave composition===
[[File:Pearlmap1.png|thumb|The Japanese attacked in two waves. The first wave was detected by [[United States Army]] [[radar]] at {{convert|136|nmi|km|0}}, but was misidentified as [[United States Army Air Forces]] [[bombers]] arriving from the American mainland.<br />'''Top:''' {{nowrap|A: Ford Island NAS.}} {{nowrap|B: Hickam Field.}} {{nowrap|C: Bellows Field.}} {{nowrap|D: Wheeler Field.}} {{nowrap|E: Kaneohe NAS.}} {{nowrap|F: Ewa MCAS.}} {{nowrap|R-1: Opana Radar Station.}} {{nowrap|R-2: Kawailoa RS.}} {{nowrap|R-3: Kaaawa RS.}} {{nowrap|G: Kahuku.}} {{nowrap|H: Haleiwa.}} {{nowrap|I: Wahiawa.}} {{nowrap|J: Kaneohe.}} {{nowrap|K: Honolulu.}} {{nowrap|0: B-17s from mainland.}} {{nowrap|1: First strike group.}} {{nowrap|1-1: Level bombers.}} {{nowrap|1–2: Torpedo bombers.}} {{nowrap|1–3: Dive bombers.}} {{nowrap|2: Second strike group.}} {{nowrap|2-1: Level bombers.}} {{nowrap|2-1F: Fighters.}} {{nowrap|2-2: Dive bombers.}}<br />'''Bottom:''' {{nowrap|A: Wake Island.}} {{nowrap|B: Midway Islands.}} {{nowrap|C: Johnston Island.}} {{nowrap|D: Hawaii.}} {{nowrap|D-1: Oahu.}} {{nowrap|1: {{USS|Lexington|CV-2|2}}.}} {{nowrap|2: {{USS|Enterprise|CV-6|2}}.}} {{nowrap|3: First Air Fleet.}}]]
[[File:Pearlmap2.png|thumb|{{legend inline|#E1E1E1|City}} {{legend inline|#4E583F|Army base}} {{legend inline|#808080|Navy base}}<br />'''Attacked targets:''' {{nowrap|1: {{USS|California|BB-44|6}}.}} {{nowrap|2: {{USS|Maryland|BB-46|6}}.}} {{nowrap|3: {{USS|Oklahoma|BB-37|6}}.}} {{nowrap|4: {{USS|Tennessee|BB-43|6}}.}} {{nowrap|5: {{USS|West Virginia|BB-48|6}}.}} {{nowrap|6: {{USS|Arizona|BB-39|6}}.}} {{nowrap|7: {{USS|Nevada|BB-36|6}}.}} {{nowrap|8: {{USS|Pennsylvania|BB-38|6}}.}} {{nowrap|9: [[Ford Island|Ford Island NAS]].}} {{nowrap|10: [[Hickam Air Force Base|Hickam field]].}}<br />'''Ignored infrastructure targets:''' {{nowrap|A: Oil storage tanks.}} {{nowrap|B: CINCPAC headquarters building.}} {{nowrap|C: Submarine base.}} {{nowrap|D: Navy Yard.}}]]
The first attack wave of 183 airplanes, led by Commander [[Mitsuo Fuchida]], was launched north of Oahu.<ref>{{Harvnb|Fuchida|2011|loc=chs. 19, 20}}</ref> Six airplanes failed to launch due to technical difficulties.<ref name="DiGiulian OOB" /> The first wave included three groups of airplanes:{{refn|The Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor, Planning and Execution. First wave: 189 planes, 50 Kates w/bombs, 40 Kates with torpedoes, 54 Vals, 45 Zekes Second wave: 171 planes, 54 Kates w/bombs, 81 Vals, 36 Zekes. The Combat Air Patrol over the carriers alternated 18 plane shifts every two hours, with 18 more ready for takeoff on the flight decks and an additional 18 ready on hangar decks.<ref name="IJN">{{cite web |title=Aircraft Attack Organization |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/USSBS/PTO-Campaigns/USSBS-PTO-2.html#appendix3 |publisher=Ibiblio.org |access-date=July 17, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623081726/http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/USSBS/PTO-Campaigns/USSBS-PTO-2.html |archive-date=June 23, 2011}}</ref>|group=nb}}

*'''1st Group''' (targets: battleships and aircraft carriers)<ref name="navsource-ijnaf">{{Harvnb|Yarnell|2003}}</ref>
**49 [[Nakajima B5N]] ''Kate'' bombers armed with 800{{nbh}}kg (1760{{spaces}}lb) [[armor-piercing bomb]]s, organized in four sections (one failed to launch)
**40 B5N bombers armed with [[Type 91 torpedo]]es, also in four sections
*'''2nd Group''' – (targets: [[Ford Island]] and [[Wheeler Field]])
**51 [[Aichi D3A]] ''Val'' dive bombers armed with {{cvt|550|lb|kg|0}} [[general-purpose bomb]]s (3 failed to launch)
*'''3rd Group''' – (targets: aircraft at Ford Island, Hickam Field, Wheeler Field, Barber's Point, Kaneohe)
**43 [[Mitsubishi A6M Zero|Mitsubishi A6M "Zero"]] fighters for air control and [[strafe|strafing]]<ref name="IJN" /> (2 failed to launch)

As the first wave approached Oahu, it was [[Radar warning of Pearl Harbor attack|detected]] by United States Army [[SCR-270 radar]] positioned at [[Opana Radar Site|Opana Point]] near the island's northern tip. This post had been in training mode for months, but was not yet operational.<ref>{{harvnb|Prange|Goldstein|Dillon|1981|pp=730–731}}. "'Short mishandled radar{{spaces}}...' In his (Short's) words '...{{spaces}}more for training than any idea it would be real'".</ref> The operators, Privates George Elliot Jr. and [[Joseph Lockard]], reported a target to Private [[Joseph P. McDonald]], a private stationed at [[Fort Shafter]]'s Intercept Center near Pearl Harbor.<ref>{{Harvnb|Evans|1998|p=309}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |mode=cs2 |author=<!--Staff, no by-line--> |date=December 6, 2013 |title=Son recounts father's day during bombing of Pearl Harbor |newspaper=New Haven Register |url=https://www.nhregister.com/connecticut/article/Son-recounts-father-s-day-during-bombing-of-11416239.php |access-date=December 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817215302/https://www.nhregister.com/connecticut/article/Son-recounts-father-s-day-during-bombing-of-11416239.php |archive-date=August 17, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |mode=cs2 |title=Testimony of Joseph P. McDonald, Technician Fourth-Class; 580th Aircraft Warning |series=Proceedings of Army Pearl Harbor Board |pages=2121–2123 |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/myths/radar/mcdonald_1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421035329/http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/myths/radar/mcdonald_1.html |archive-date=April 21, 2021 |url-status=live |via=iBiblio.org}}</ref> Lieutenant [[Kermit A. Tyler]], a newly assigned officer at the thinly manned Intercept Center, presumed it was the scheduled arrival of six [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17]] bombers from California. The Japanese planes were approaching from a direction very close (only a few degrees difference) to the bombers,<ref>{{Harvnb|Prange|Goldstein|Dillon|1988|p=98}}</ref> and while the operators had never seen a formation as large on radar, they neglected to tell Tyler of its size.<ref name="prange501">{{harvnb|Prange|Goldstein|Dillon|1981|pp=500–501}}</ref> Tyler, for security reasons, could not tell the operators of the six B-17s that were due (even though it was widely known).<ref name="prange501"/>

As the first wave approached Oahu, they encountered and shot down several American aircraft. At least one of these radioed a somewhat incoherent warning. Other warnings from ships off the harbor entrance were still being processed or awaiting confirmation when the Japanese air assault began at 7:48{{spaces}}a.m. Hawaiian time<ref name="Prange 1941, p.174">{{harvnb|Prange|Goldstein|Dillon|1988|p=174}}</ref> (3:18{{spaces}}a.m. December 8 [[Japanese Standard Time]], as kept by ships of the ''Kido Butai''),<ref>{{Harvnb|Symonds|2011|p=218}}</ref> with the attack on Kaneohe. A total of 353<ref name="parillo288"/> Japanese planes reached Oahu in two waves. Slow, vulnerable torpedo bombers led the first wave, exploiting the first moments of surprise to attack the most important ships present (the battleships), while dive bombers attacked American [[Military airbase|air bases]] across Oahu, starting with [[Hickam Field]], the largest, and [[Wheeler Field]], the main United States Army Air Forces fighter base. The 171 planes in the second wave attacked the Army Air Forces' [[Bellows Field]], near Kaneohe on the windward side of the island, and Ford Island. The only aerial opposition came from a handful of [[P-36 Hawk]]s, [[P-40 Warhawk]]s and some [[SBD Dauntless]] dive bombers from the carrier {{USS|Enterprise|CV-6|2}}.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}{{refn|In the twenty-five sorties flown, USAF Historical Study No.85 credits six pilots with ten planes destroyed: 1st Lieutenant Lewis M. Sanders (P-36) and 2nd Lieutenants Philip M Rasmussen (P-36), Gordon H. Sterling Jr. (P-36, [[killed in action]]), Harry W. Brown (P-36), [[Kenneth M. Taylor]] (P-40, 2), and [[George Welch (pilot)|George S. Welch]] (P-40, 4). Three of the P-36 kills were not verified by the Japanese and may have been shot down by naval [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft]] fire.<ref>{{cite report |author=Office of Air Force History |date=1978 |title=USAF Credits for the Destruction of Enemy Aircraft, World War II |series=USAF Historical Study |volume=85 |id={{DTIC|ADA542272}} |publisher=Alfred F. Simpson Historical Research Center |location=Montgomery, AL}}
</ref>{{pages needed|date=January 2024}}|group=nb}}

In the first-wave attack, about eight of the forty-nine 800{{nbh}}kg (1760{{spaces}}lb) armor-piercing bombs dropped hit their intended battleship targets. At least two of those bombs broke up on impact, another detonated before penetrating an unarmored deck, and one was a dud. Thirteen of the forty torpedoes hit battleships, while four hit other ships.{{sfn|Hone|1977}} Men aboard the ships awoke to the sounds of alarms, bombs exploding, and gunfire, prompting them to dress as they ran to [[General quarters|General Quarters]] stations. (The famous message "Air raid Pearl Harbor. This is not<!--sic--> drill."{{refn|Odd though it may sound, "not" is correct, in keeping with standard Navy telegraphic practice. This was confirmed by Beloite and Beloite after years of research and debate.|group=nb}} was sent from the headquarters of Patrol Wing Two, the first senior Hawaiian command to respond.) American servicemen were caught unprepared by the attack. Ammunition lockers were locked, aircraft parked wingtip to wingtip in the open to prevent sabotage,<ref name="parillo293">{{Harvnb|Parillo|2006|p=293}}</ref> guns unmanned (none of the Navy's [[5"/38 caliber gun|5"/38s]], only a quarter of its machine guns, and only four of 31 Army batteries got in action).<ref name="parillo293" /> Despite this low [[Alert state|alert status]], many American military personnel responded effectively during the attack.{{refn|The gunners that did get in action scored most of the victories against Japanese aircraft that morning, including the first of the attack by {{USS|Tautog|SS-199|2}}, and [[Dorie Miller]]'s [[Navy Cross]]-worthy effort. Miller was an African-American cook aboard ''West Virginia'' who took over an unattended [[anti-aircraft gun]] on which he had no training. He was the first African-American sailor to be awarded the [[Navy Cross]].<ref name="navyfaq57">{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/biographies-list/bios-m/miller-doris.html |title=Miller, Doris |website=Naval History and Heritage Command |date=June 6, 2017 |access-date=February 8, 2018 |archive-date=May 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511152931/https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/biographies-list/bios-m/miller-doris.html |url-status=live }}</ref>|group=nb}} Ensign [[Joseph K. Taussig Jr.|Joseph Taussig Jr.]], aboard {{USS|Nevada|BB-36|2}}, commanded the ship's antiaircraft guns and was severely wounded but remained at his post. Lieutenant Commander F. J. Thomas commanded ''Nevada'' in the captain's absence and got her underway until the ship was grounded at 9:10{{spaces}}a.m.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bonner|1996|p=105}}</ref> One of the destroyers, {{USS|Aylwin|DD-355|2}}, got underway with only four officers aboard, all ensigns, none with more than a year's sea duty; she operated at sea for 36 hours before her commanding officer managed to get back aboard.<ref>{{Harvnb|DANFS ''Aylwin''}}</ref> Captain [[Mervyn Bennion]], commanding {{USS|West Virginia|BB-48|2}}, led his men until he was cut down by fragments from a bomb which hit {{USS|Tennessee|BB-43|2}}, moored alongside.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biographical Sketch of Mervyn S. Bennion |url=https://www.usswestvirginia.org/stories/story.php?id=10 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |website=USSWestVirginia.org |archive-date=May 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529125155/https://www.usswestvirginia.org/stories/story.php?id=10 |url-status=live}}</ref>