with bombs. This became a standard Japa-
nese aerial tactic of World War II, proving
highly effective. In 1939, Fuchida served
aboard the carrier Akagi,one of the Imperial
Japanese Navy’s crack ships, as a squadron
leader. After two more years of intense train-
ing and inspired leadership, he was singled
out by Genda, now a leading staff officer, to
lead a possible attack against American naval
installations at Pearl Harbor.
The United States and Japan had been at
cross-purposes since the Marco Polo Bridge
incident of 1937, which triggered a Japanese
invasion of China. Tensions were exacerbated
in 1941 when Japanese troops occupied
Southeast Asia following the defeat of France
by Nazi Germany. President Franklin D. Roo-
sevelt consequently imposed an economic
embargo against Japan until its forces were
withdrawn from the continent. This the gov-
ernment of Prime Minister Hideki Tojowas
unwilling to do, even in the face of coercion.
Because Japan, as an insular nation, was com-
pletely dependent on foreign sources for sup-
plies of raw materials, the Japanese High
Command decided to fight the United States
and Great Britain rather than see the country
slowly throttled. The failure of last-minute ne-
gotiations in November 1941 was the last
straw, and a decision was made for Japanese
naval forces to attack and destroy the Ameri-
can fleet at Pearl Harbor.
The ensuing attack was the product of
meticulous training, planning, and attention to
detail. Virtually nothing was overlooked. Spe-
cial armor-piercing bombs were developed
from 16-inch battleship shells, and the torpe-
does sported special tailfins that allowed them
to run in shallow water. In mid-November, six
carriers—with 370 aircraft—and attendant ves-
sels under Adm. Chuichi Nagumosecretly
slipped out of Hokkaido and steamed east. On
December 7, 1941, Fuchida climbed aboard his
Nakajima B5N2 bomber and led the first wave
of 184 aircraft. En route, his radio picked up
jazz music broadcast from Honolulu station
KGMB, and he followed the beam to the target.
Arriving over Pearl Harbor at dawn, he was sur-
prised but pleased to find the American fleet at
anchor and utterly defenseless. Fuchida then
issued his famous call sign “Tora, Tora, Tora!”
(Tiger, Tiger, Tiger!), announcing his attack to
Nagumo, indicating that surprise was achieved.
The Japanese onslaught, fiercely and pro-
fessionally delivered, cost the United States
four battleships sunk and another four se-
verely damaged. It also lost 200 aircraft, and
2,300 were killed or wounded. Japanese losses
amounted to only 29 aircraft and crews shot
down. But while tactically successful, this as-
tutely planned and executed maneuver failed
in one critical respect: The American aircraft
carriers had not been hit. This gave the United
States a small but very real ability to fight back
at a later date. Neither were the repair facilities
at Pearl Harbor seriously damaged by the first
two waves. After landing back on theAkagi,
Fuchida became alarmed that the cautious
Nagumo refused to launch a third strike. De-
spite continuing protests from both him and
Genda, the Japanese armada turned westward
and headed back home in triumph. Fuchida
was then summoned to make a personal report
of the attack to the emperor himself.
Pausing only for a brief refit, the Japanese
carriers next steamed southward to continue
their raids. In January 1942, Fuchida took part
in a devastating attack against Port Darwin,
Australia, that sank several Allied vessels and
destroyed 18 aircraft. In a subsequent move
against Sulawesi, however, his plane was shot
down and he spent three days in the jungle
before being rescued. Fuchida then accompa-
nied Nagumo into the Indian Ocean, where on
April 4, 1942, his planes sank the British
heavy cruisers HMS Dorsetshireand Corn-
wallin a brief action. Five days later he led a
heavy strike against British naval installations
at Triconmalee, Sri Lanka, which also sank
the carrier HMS Hermes.Subsequent maneu-
vering brought Japanese task forces into the
Coral Sea region, where on May 7, 1942, they
fought a smaller American force to a draw,
with heavy losses to both sides. Fuchida was
by then suffering from a stomach ailment,
however, and missed the fighting. The bat-FUCHIDA, MITSUO