Secrets of the Unknown: Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, le monde s'embrase(fr)

Hawaii, Pacific Ocean. In this heavenly place, one of the most memorable battles of the Second World War took place 80 years ago. On December 7, 1941, at 7:53 am, a Japanese air squadron struck the American fleet which anchored in the waters of Pearl Harbor. The United States were struck at the heart of their defensive system and entered the conflict the very next day. How Pearl Harbor changed the face of World War II and therefore the face of the world? What are the diplomatic undersides of Pearl Harbor? Was the attack really a surprise attack? Is it really a Japanese victory?

Pearl Harbor: Waking The Sleeping Giant(en)

On the morning of December 7, 1941, aircraft and midget submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy began a surprise attack on the U.S. Despite long standing assertions that this attack could have been predicted and prevented by the U.S. military, the U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor appeared to be utterly unprepared. This is the story of the attack that drew the U.S. into World War II. This exclusively licensed series contains a plethora of compelling images and film footage from before and after this historic battle.

National Geographic: Untold Stories of World War II(en)

Showcases 3 major events during World War 2 involving both the Europeans & Pacific conflicts. The Raids to destroy Nazi Germany's heavy water production based in Norway, plus the final desperate act to deny them what had already been stockpiled. The Japanese midget submarines role and participation in the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. What they achieved plus what was their ultimate fate. The attacks on United States warships in the Pacific late in World War 2 by the Japanese Kamikaze and Okha Squadrons. The Kamikaze attacks were in whatever planes the Japanese forces were able to gather. The Okha attacks were made in specially built flying bombs that were towed by larger and usually slower aircraft that were not suitable for fighter work.

Sleeping Tigers: The Asahi Baseball Story(en)

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, all persons of Japanese descent in Canada were sent to internment camps. The former Asahi members survived by playing ball. Their passion was contagious and soon other players joined in, among them RCMP officials and local townspeople. As a result, the games helped break down racial and cultural barriers.

History and Memory: For Akiko and Takashige(en)

This film is a poetic composition of recorded history and non-recorded memory. Filmmaker Rea Tajiri’s family was among the 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans who were imprisoned in internment camps after the attack on Pearl Harbor. And like so many who were in the camps, Tajiri’s family wrapped their memories of that experience in a shroud of silence and forgetting. This film raises questions about collective history – questions that prompt Tajiri to daringly re-imagine and re-create what has been stolen and what has been lost.

Day of Infamy(en)

Naval historians discuss in detail the events leading up to the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Bataan Death March(en)

Within hours of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, bombs rained down on U.S. and Filipino forces in the Philippines. After months of vicious fighting, Allied forces surrendered on the island only to be met with a brutal march to P.O.W. camps dotted across the islands. Thousands died on the marches, before reaching the P.O.W. camps where countless more died. The surrender of the Philippines, now almost forgotten in U.S. history, is commemorated in the Philippines every year.

Fall of Japan: In Color(en)

William Courtenay's color film of the pacific campaign and Japan's downfall.

September 11: The New Pearl Harbor(it)

"September 11: The New Pearl Harbor" is a 5-hour documentary that summarizes 12 years of public debate on 9/11. While aimed primarily at a general, uninformed audience, the film also contains some new findings that may be of interest to advanced researchers.

Elvis and the USS Arizona(en)

The surprising story of how one of music's biggest icons helped to establish a USS Arizona memorial in Pearl Harbor. Elvis’ fundraising concert drew public attention to the plight and helped to galvanize efforts to finish the USS Arizona Memorial as it stands today.

Pearl Harbor: 75 Years Later(en)

This two-hour special looks back at Dec. 7, 1941 - the date that has indeed lived in infamy, as President Franklin Roosevelt promised - when imperial Japan attacked the U.S. naval forces in Hawaii, ushering America into World War II. The attack killed more than 2,400 people, wounded 1,000 and damaged or destroyed nearly 20 American ships and over 300 airplanes.

Turning Point: The Legacy of Midway(en)

Few Americans realize that the Battle of Midway - just six months after Pearl Harbor - doomed the Japanese to defeat. Discover how Admiral Nimitz and Admiral Yamamoto, two leaders from vastly different cultures, designed and executed their battle plans. See the spectacular naval and aerial battles as they played out.

Honolulu: The Paradise of the Pacific(en)

This Traveltalk short visits Hawaii's capital city.

Pearl Harbor: Legacy of Attack(en)

Documentary narrated by Tom Brokaw. National Geographic delves into the untold storylines and unresolved mysteries surrounding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Oceanographer Robert Ballard dives deep into the waters of the harbor to find the remains of a Japanese sub and closely examine the famous wreckage of the USS Arizona. This footage is mixed with interviews with survivors of the attack.

Ford at Pearl(en)

A look at the recently discovered fascinating behind the scenes footage shot by the legendary Hollywood director John Ford at Pearl Harbor in 1942 while filming his popular World War II documentaries December 7th and The Battle of Midway.

Quand Pearl Harbor changea le destin de la France(fr)

Air Force(en)

The crew of an Air Force bomber arrives in Pearl Harbor in the aftermath of the Japanese attack and is sent on to Manila to help with the defense of the Philippines.

December(en)

In December of 1941, five teenage boys at a New England prep school hear the news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and realize their lives are going to be changed forever.

The Final Countdown(en)

During routine manoeuvres near Hawaii in 1980, the aircraft-carrier USS Nimitz is caught in a strange vortex-like storm, throwing the ship back in time to 1941—mere hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Tora! Tora! Tora!(en)

In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words use by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had surprised the Americans, covers the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged America into the Second World War.