WW II Pacific, Dec 7, 1941Aircraft at Pearl Harbor

United States Aircraft USAAC: Hawaiian Air Force (7th AF)

Hickam Air Base

33 Douglas B-18 Bolo 2-engine standard bomber, 193612 Boeing B-17D Flying Fortress 4-engine heavy bomber, 193913 Douglas A-20A Havoc 2-engine attack/light bomber, 19402 Douglas C-33 (DC-2) 2-engine freighter Wheeler Air Base

6 Boeing P-26A Peashooter open cockpit pursuit, 19346 Boeing P-26B Peashooter open cockpit pursuit, 193539 Curtiss P-36A Mohawk pursuit, 193787 Curtiss P-40B Tomahawk pursuit, 194011 Curtiss P-40C Kittyhawk pursuit, 19413 Martin B-12 2-engine medium bomber, 19343 Grumman OAF-9 Goose observation amphibian2 Douglas BT-2 biplane basic trainer2 North American AT-6 Texan advanced trainer1 Seversky AT-12A Guardsman, advance trainer Five Mohawks engaged Zeros, flaming two, with the loss of one P-36. Bellows Air Field

6 North American O-47B observation plane2 Stinson O-49 Vigilant L-1 observation plane Two P-40's on training at Bellows attempted to take off and were shot down beforegaining altitude. Other pilots were killed on the ground. 1 Martin B-12 - Reader's his Dad was there. May have been one of the Wheeler planes. Haleiwa Air Field

2 Curtiss P-36 Mohawk pursuit8 Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk pursuit The only unattacked air field launched at least 3 P-40's and 1 P-36 on seven sortiesand claimed 7-8 Japanese diver bombers with the loss of the P-36 to anti-aircraft fire.

On the 7th of December 1941, there were 223 army aircraft based in Hawaii.

Airplane Total Destroyed Damaged Combat Ready

B-17 D 12 4 4 4

B-18 A 33 12 10 11

A-20 A 12 2 5 5

P-40 C 12 5 5 2

P-40 B 87 37 25 25

P-36 A 39 4 19 16

P-26 14 0 0 14

Total 223 64 82 77

Twelve USAAC B-17 bombers arrived during the attack. (B-17C and B-17E) They wereunarmed, stripped for the overseas journey to Philippines. One was destroyed, threeothers badly damaged. One B-24A (prototype Liberator) intended for a secret photo mission is seldomreported; it was destroyed in the attack. Four to nine Curtiss A-12 Shrike single-engine, light bombers (1932) still remained inservice in Hawaii : 2- Hickam, 2- Wheeler, others-?.

Marine Corp :

Ewa Marine Corp Air Station (pronounced e'vee)

11 Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighter8 Vought SB2U-3 Vindicator scout/bomber20 Douglas SBD-1 Dauntless scout/dive-bomber, 19403 Douglas SBD-2 Dauntless scout/dive-bomber, 19412 Grumman J2F-4 Duck utility floatplane, amphibian1 Lockheed JO-2 Electra Junior, six seat transport1 Sikorsky JRS-1 Twin-engine, 18 passage flying boat2 Douglas R3D-2 (DC-5) 2-engine paratroop transport1 North American SNJ-3 Texan advanced trainer

Midway NAS

18 Vought SB2U-3 Vindicator scout/bomber

Wake NAS

12 Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighter, just delivered by Enterprise.

U S Navy:

Naval Base Defense Air ForcePearl Harbor (Ford Island) Naval Air Station

19 Grumman J2F Duck single engine utility amphibian9 Sikorsky JRS 18 passenger amphibian flying boat2 Consolidated PBY-1 Catalina patrol bomber, flying boat, 1936

Puunene (Lahaina Roads) NAS4 Beech JRB 2-engine utility4 Northrop BT-1 torpedo bomber (or Douglas basic) trainer1 Grumman JRF Goose, 2-engine amphibian1 Grumman J2F Duck, utility floatplane, amphibian

Kaneohe NAS 1 Vought OS2U Kingfisher amphibian36 Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina patrol bomber, flying boat, amphibian, 1939 *

Pearl Harbor (Ford Island) NAS

15 Consolidated PBY-3 Catalina scout bomber, flying boat, 193718 Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina scout bomber, flying boat, amphibian, 1939 *

* The apparently large number of Catalina w ere not available for scouting. Tw o squadrons had arrived 23 Nov 41

for training w hile in transit to outlying islands and new crew s w ere being trained by the few experienced crew s.

USN Air Battle ForcePearl Harbor (Ford Island) NAS (spares, repairs, replacement, and training)8 Brewster F2A-3 Buffalo fighter, 19395 Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighter, 19405 Grumman F4F-3A Wildcat fighter, 19413 Douglas SBD-2 Dauntless scout/dive-bomber, 1941

SBD scout bombers from Enterprise arrived during the attack. They had flown aheadof the returning task force that had just reinforced Wake Island. About five were lost toJapanese or ground fire and an equal number damaged.

Fleet float planes, normally 2 for a cruiser and 4 per BB, are not shown. These weretypically Curtiss SOC Seagull or the newer Vought OS2U Kingfisher. Japanese photosof battleship row show planes aboard CA, OK, WV. There were probably 20-30floatplanes ashore that are not included in landbase counts.

USAAC Aircraft Types

Bombers

Martin B-12. Twin engine, dual cockpit, medium bomber designed in 1932 andentered service in 1934 as B-10, 117 built for the U.S. and over 200 for export. FirstUS bomber to fight in Pacific was flown by Dutch. B-12 had larger engines with 32 built.Three remained at Wheeler Field.Douglas B-18 Bolo. Twin-engine design was a militarized DC-2 airliner. Evaluated inAug 1935, ordered into production, Jan 1936 for 133 aircraft with follow up orders in1937-38 of 217 aircraft. This was the standard Air Corp bomber; 33 were with the 7thAF were at Pearl Harbor. They were phased into reconnaissance work when replacedby B-17 for combat duty.Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Four engine heavy bomber designed in 1934, flew July

1935, delivered 13 prototypes started Aug 1937. Delivery started for an order of 39 onJune 1939. B-17B order for 38 flew July 1940 with 20 sent to U.K. Twenty-some basedat Pearl harbor were ordered to the Philippines. Twelve B-17's remained based at

Pearl Harbor for long range sea defense. [story] An estimated 200 were required toadequately protect the approaches to Hawaii. A squadron of twelve unarmed B-17'swere staging through Pearl Harbor for the Philippines and landing to refuel during theattack. B-17's were a key element in MacAuthur's defense plans ; however, he did notallow the 35 he had to make an early strike on Formosa and most units were destroyedon the ground by aircraft attacking from Formosa. It was soon discovered thathorizontal bombers could seldom hit a moving warship, but provided a long rangereconnaissance and attack role through the Pacific War. 13,000 were built, mostly forETA.

Consolidated B-24 Liberator. This second generation heavy bomber first flew year-

end 1939. Several hundred were in British service as LB-30 for long range transportand anti-sub service by Coastal Command in 1941. One prototype, intended for a

secret photo mission, was destroyed in the attack on Pearl Harbor. [story] Theproduction model, B-24D entered AAF service in June 1942 in North Africa. 19,000were built in all variants including the Navy PB4Y and the single tailed PB4Y-2Privateer where a crewman was the last to die in the war..

Attack Bomber

Douglas A-20 Havoc (Boston). This twin engine light bomber was originally

designed in 1936 and an upgraded version flew Aug 1939 with 100 ordered by theFrench for delivery by year-end with 12 attacking German columns when the war beganin Europe. A squadron of twelve were at Hickam Air Base and made the first bombersortie in an attempt to find the Japanese fleet. Over 7,000 were built.

FightersBoeing P-26 Peashooter. Designed in 1932 as the air force's first all metal fighter,

open cockpit, fixed landing gear. 126 built. Out of service by 1940. 26 AAC units soldto Philippines in 1941.Seversky P-35 Guardsman. Delivery of 77 started July 1937. 48 were in thePhilippines and only 8 remained at the end of the second day. This design lead to theRepublic P-43 Lancerr with turbocharger with 272 ordered in 1940.Curtiss P-36 Mohawk. First modern design for the USAAC fighter; all metal, closed

cockpit, retractable landing gear with radial engine. Designed 1935. 210 delivered in1937. Popular export. Five of 39 in training unit flew at Pearl Harbor, credited with twozeros.Bell P-39 Airacobra (P-400) designed for ground attack, it was a nimble low level

fighter and among the first to arrive at Guadalcanal. Became famous as a panzer killerin Russia.Curtiss P-40 Warhawk series developed from the P-36 with a larger, in-line engine.524 ordered in Aug 1939 with 200 delivered to UK Apr 1940 and US delivery in May.UK ordered 930 more; China ordered 100 of which 90 served with the Flying Tigers.Sept 1940 UK ordered 1,500. Superior to enemy fighters of 1941 except the Zero andMesserschmitt. Pearl Harbor had a hundred. A total of 15,000 were built. See more ofAAF fighters

Air Force Name Evolution:

Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps, 1907 - 1914 Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, 1914 – May 20, 1918 Army Air Service, U.S. Army, 1918 to 2 July 1926 Army Air Corps, 1926 - 20 June 1941 AAC then became the combat arm of the AAF till 1947 Army Air Force, 1941 - 18 September 1947 U. S. Air Force, 1947 - today.

See Naval Aircraft.

Other Aircraft, In Transit :

2 Dutch PBY-5 Catalina's from the factory to Soerabaya, Java. Numbers Y68

(destroyed) and Y69 (repaired).

Japanese Aircraft

Distribution of the attacking planes :

Carrier A6M Zero

B5N Kate

D3A Val

Total

Akagi 18 27 18 63

Kagai 18 27 27 72

Soryu 18 18 18 54

Hiryu 18 18 18 54

Shokaku 18 27 27 72

Zuikaku 18 27 27 72

Total 108 144 135 387

w/spares (126 162 153 441)

Three aircraft of each type on each carrier were carried disassembled as spares, a total of54 spare aircraft. Combat air patrols were flown over the fleet by 48 Zeros. Six scouting seaplanes from the cruisers flew reconnaissance over Pearl Harbor and the seasurrounding the attacking fleet. Tone and Chikuma were specifically designed as seaplanecarrying, heavy cruisers. See Naval Aircraft. Full discussion of planes engaged on both sides : Order of Battle

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