No sooner had these words been spoken when torpedo planes and dive-bombers began raining explosives on the warships clustered in the section of the harbor known as Battleship Row. As many sailors began running for their battle stations and suddenly realized the attacking planes were Japanese, many were bewildered. First reactions were typified by that of a seaman aboard the destroyer Monaghan. "Hell," he quipped, "I didn't even know they were sore at us!" He was but one of many startled American sailors who scrambled to mount a defense but found themselves hindered by deafening noise, smoke, flames, and mass confusion. The Japanese attackers roamed at will, spreading a wave of destruction.

The assault on the ships could be seen for miles. Edwin T. Layton, chief intelligence officer of the Pacific fleet, watched it in horror as he raced in...