Events related to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Japanese crewmen shout. Japanese planes take off from deck of an aircraft carrier. Japanese planes drop bombs on Pearl Harbor. USS Arizona explodes. Ship burns in the harbor. Thick black smoke rises from the burning ships. View of wrecked U.S. aircraft. (World War II period).
Opening scenes show formations of World War 2 Japanese Mitsubishi G3M bombers in flight. Slate reads: "Pearl Harbor December 7,1941." U.S. B-17 bombers are parked on an airfield. Ships and facilities are seen at the Pearl Harbor Naval station in Hawaii. Views of Japanese Mitsubishi G3M bombers flying in formation above clouds. Explosions and fire destroying aircraft and facilities at the Ford Island Naval Air Station. The USS Arizona burning and filling the air with heavy black smoke as she lists and sinks from bombing. Subsequent views of the destruction wrought by the bombing.
Japanese propaganda film during World War II, aimed at American audiences. Japanese narrator speaking in accented English. Air attacks over Hawaii: Name of Countries shown over map. Map shows Hawaii as a target. Japanese fleet at sea on the way to Hawaii. Japanese ship commanding officers confer. Japanese pilots ready on flight decks receiving final instructions and then boarding Japanese aircraft including Aichi D3A "Val" dive bombers and Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers. Bombers take off from flight decks. Japanese planes in flight over host Japanese carriers, on the way to bomb American targets. Bombers attacking Luke Field and targets on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Views of Pearl Harbor attacks from the air, in cameras mounted on Japanese aircraft. On screen text: "US pacific fleet annihilated". Pearl Harbor is bombed. Explosions over targets. Smoke rises from targets. Narrator tallies American losses of battleship, airplanes, hangars, and human casualties. Japanese ships at sea. Narrator boasts that the retreat of America and Britain from East Asia is imminent.
View of the sunken Battleship USS West Virginia (BB-48) and the damaged USS Tennessee (BB-43) on Battleship row, Pearl Harbor, several days after the December 7, 1941 attack. A small dory heads toward them. Change of scene shows the USS California (BB-44) listing to port, with tugboat at starboard. She displays the Navy ensign and her deck is filled with sailors and other workers. View from boat (unseen) circling the sunken USS West Virginia. A destroyed OS2U Kingfisher Floatplane near the stern. The ship sunk, but level in the water. A sunken ship being refloated (World War II period).
Scenes filmed from attacking Japanese aircraft during the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. View from Japanese aircraft strafing and bombing U.S. aircraft and hangars on the ground at Ford Island. Japanese Nakajima B5N (Kate) tail number 229, seen flying past the camera plane. Smoke rising from the ground below. White plumes erupt from torpedoes striking U.S. ships on opposite side of Ford Island. Japanese-captioned still photographs: Of heavy black smoke rising from bombed fuel tanks; Of a torpedo hitting the USS West Virginia; of other ships on battleship row, including the USS Nevada, Arizona, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Maryland, and California. (World War II period).
Attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii by the Japanese Navy on December 7, 1941, as filmed from the deck of U.S. Navy Hospital Ship, USS Solace (AH-5). Ships docked at Pearl Harbor. Several small launches speed across the calm harbor. Suddenly a bomb bursts in the water, behind one of the launches. Several U.S. SBD Dauntless and F4F aircraft, from the USS Enterprise, fly over the deck of the Hospital Ship, with their landing gear down (to land at Ford Island). U.S. Navy ship USS Nevada (BB-36) leaves the harbor at high speed, throwing up a bow wave. Japanese aircraft bomb U.S. Navy ship USS Arizona (BB-39) docked. The ship explodes and sinks. A large smoke column rises from the explosion. (This image has been reversed. From the perspective of the USS Solace, the Arizona should be pointing to the right, not to the left.) Anti aircraft firing from U.S. Navy ships fills air with black Flak puffs. Various ships burn. (World War II period).