On December 8, 1941, the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was a flurry of activity. The previous day’s attack by the Japanese had left more than 2400 dead, and nearly 1300 wounded. Eight battleships had been damaged in the attack, four of them resting on Pearl Harbor’s shallow bottom. Seven smaller warships were sunk or damaged and nearly 200 aircraft were destroyed. But still up and running was the naval base’s shipyard, power station, and maintenance sheds. These last had…
