On Sunday December 7, 1941 the free
world had been stunned into disbelief by the treacherous Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor. Giving no formal declaration of war,
the devastating Japanese assault on the headquarters of the US
Pacific Fleet had left over two thousand American servicemen
dead, most of her battleships destroyed or
damaged, and the remains of nearly 200 American aircraft lay
in tatters. America reeled from the shock and sheer incredulity.
But for Admiral Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial
Japanese Navy, and architect of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the
success of victory had left a bitter taste. The main targets
of his carefully orchestrated plan had been the US carriers but,
as fate would have it, they were all at sea. Yamamoto knew in
his heart that
he would have to face those carriers one day, and when he did
they would be the platform upon which America would unleash her
full power against him. He commented “I would rather you
made your appraisal after seeing what the enemy does, since it
is certain that, angered and outraged, he will soon launch a
determined counter attack.” He was correct. At 12.30 the
following day President Roosevelt began his address to Congress,
calling for the declaration of war on Japan. By 4.10pm America
was at formally war, and five thousand miles away the first of
the carriers, the USS Enterprise, was returning to Pearl Harbor.
Richard Taylor’s new painting ‘The Sleeping Giant Awakes’
portrays the scene as the Enterprise slips through the shallow
outer channels towards Ford Island and the smoldering ruins that
had been the Pacific Fleet. As ships still burn and the stench
of destruction hangs in the air, ever alert F4F-3A Wildcats of
VF-6 fly an air patrol overhead. Throughout the night the carrier
will refuel and re-arm, the fires of the still burning Arizona
lighting the night sky. At dawn she will return to sea with a
steel resolve and a new mission, to avenge Pearl Harbor. |