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A look at Japanese aviator Mitsuo Fuchida, the leader of the first wave of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.
- The Mystery of The Flares
- The Two Plans
- Problems with The Commander’s Account
- A Technological Issue?
- The Decision’S Consequences
The Japanese had two plans ready for the attack on the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor: one if they achieved “surprise,” and another for “no surprise.” The officer responsible for ordering the correct plan was Commander Fuchida, the first-wave strike’s tactical commander. While approaching the targets he was to observe, decide, and communicate which ...
Is there any way to prove Fuchida intended to use the no-surprise plan from the outset? In the surprise plan, the first-wave attack group would fly south from the carriers and make landfall over the northern tip of Oahu. They would then fly south as a single mass over the center of the island, peeling off fighters and dive bombers along the way to ...
The first inconsistency in Fuchida’s story comes from Fuchida himself. According to his testimony, the strike group began by flying south toward Oahu. At landfall, clouds were obscuring their path, so he turned the formation west to parallel the coast. He fired one flare, and the torpedo bombers left the formation; he fired the second flare, and th...
By mid-1941 the Japanese had their carrier aircraft retrofitted with voice radios, which were difficult to use and only fully installed a few months before the attack. Voice communications could have sorted out which attack plan to execute if it had been included in the plan, but instead the attack planners opted to use flares. Why flares were used...
Recall that Fuchida claimed, after “grinding his teeth in rage” at Takahashi, “he realized that the error made no practical difference.” Was he correct? In the no-surprise attack plan, the dive bombers that were to attack the Ford Island airfield were to go in first. Their attack was expected to distract the Americans away from the torpedo bombers’...
Mitsuo Fuchida (淵田 美津雄, Fuchida Mitsuo, 3 December 1902 – 30 May 1976) was a Japanese captain [1] in the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service and a bomber observer in the Imperial Japanese Navy before and during World War II. He is perhaps best known for leading the first wave of air attacks on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.
Dec 7, 2017 · A few months later, the two were preaching to crowds together—Mitsuo Fuchida, the lead pilot at Pearl Harbor and Jacob DeShazer, the Doolittle Raid bombardier. They brought to thousands the message of God’s sacrificial love for all people and the power of Jesus Christ to bring forgiveness from sin.
Dec 3, 2020 · Mitsuo Fuchida's Fascinating Life Story Winds From Pearl Harbor to the Pulpit. Once one of America's most noted enemies, Fuchida converted to Christianity in later years and spent decades preaching across the United States. By Robert Walsh | Published Dec 3, 2020. Photo Credit: Alchetron.
Mar 18, 2013 · Mitsuo Fuchida, Japanese Commander at Pearl Harbor. March 18, 2013. by Randy Miller. Commander Mitsuo Fuchida led the first wave of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was the pilot who famously sent the signal Tora, Tora, Tora, the code words that they had achieved complete surprise.
On 7 Dec 1941, in command of all attacking aircraft over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, United States, Mitsuo Fuchida flew a Type 97 Model 3 torpedo bomber with the first attack wave as an air observer. He flew down the eastern coast of the island of Oahu, then turned west into the harbor.
