Tora Tora Tora

PLOT

In August 1939, the United States imposes a trade embargo on a belligerent Japan, severely limiting raw materials. Influential Japanese army figures and politicians push through an alliance with Germany and Italy in September 1940 despite opposition from the Japanese navy and prepare for war. The newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, reluctantly plans a pre-emptive strike on the U.S. Pacific Fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor, believing that Japan's best hope of controlling the Pacific Ocean is to quickly annihilate the American fleet. Air Staff Officer Minoru Genda is chosen to mastermind the operation while his old Naval Academy classmate Mitsuo Fuchida is selected to lead the attack.

Meanwhile, in Washington, U.S. military intelligence has broken the Japanese Purple Code, allowing them to intercept secret Japanese radio transmissions indicating increased Japanese naval activity. Monitoring the transmissions are U.S. Army Col. Bratton and U.S. Navy Lt. Commander Kramer. At Pearl Harbor itself, Admiral Kimmel and General Short do their best to increase defensive naval and air patrols around Hawaii which could provide early warning of enemy presence. Short recommends concentrating aircraft at the base on the runways to avoid sabotage by enemy agents in Hawaii.

Several months pass while diplomatic tensions escalate. As the Japanese ambassador to Washington continues negotiations to stall for time, the large Japanese fleet sorties into the Pacific. On the day of the attack, Bratton and Kramer learn from intercepts that the Japanese plan a series of 14 radio messages from Tokyo to the Japanese embassy in Washington. They are also directed to destroy their code machines after receiving the final message. Deducing the Japanese intention to launch a surprise attack immediately after the messages are delivered, Bratton tries warning his superiors of his suspicions but encounters several obstacles: Chief of Naval Operations Harold R. Stark is indecisive over notifying Hawaii without first alerting the President while Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall's order that Pearl Harbor be alerted of an impending attack is stymied by poor atmospherics that prevent radio transmission and by bungling when a warning sent by telegram is not marked urgent. At dawn on December 7, the Japanese fleet launches its aircraft. Their approach to Hawaii is detected by two radar operators but their concerns are dismissed by the duty officer. Similarly the claim by the destroyer USS Ward to have sunk a Japanese miniature submarine off the entrance to Pearl Harbor is dismissed as unimportant. The Japanese thus achieve surprise and a joyous commander Fuchida sends the code to begin the attack: "Tora! Tora! Tora!"

The damage to the naval base is catastrophic and casualties are severe. Seven battleships are either sunk or heavily damaged. General Short's anti-sabotage precautions prove a disastrous mistake that allows the Japanese aerial forces to destroy aircraft on the ground easily. Hours after the attack ends, General Short and Admiral Kimmel receive Marshall's telegram warning of impending danger. In Washington, Secretary of State Cordell Hull is stunned to learn of the attack and urgently requests confirmation before receiving the Japanese ambassador. The message that was transmitted to the Japanese embassy in 14 parts – a declaration of war – was meant to be delivered to the Americans at 1:00 pm in Washington, 30 minutes before the attack. However, it was not decoded and transcribed in time, meaning the attack started while the two nations were technically still at peace. The distraught Japanese ambassador, helpless to explain the late ultimatum and unaware of the ongoing attack, is bluntly rebuffed by a despondent Hull.

Back in the Pacific, the Japanese fleet commander, Vice-Admiral Chūichi Nagumo, refuses to launch a scheduled third wave of aircraft for fear of exposing his force to U.S. submarines. Aboard his flagship, Admiral Yamamoto solemnly informs his staff that their primary target – the American aircraft carriers – were not at Pearl Harbor, having departed days previously to search for Japanese vessels. Lamenting that the declaration of war arrived after the attack began, Yamamoto notes that nothing would infuriate the U.S. more and ominously concludes: "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."

CAST

Allies

Martin Balsam Admiral Husband E. Kimmel Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet

Joseph Cotten Secretary Henry Stimson U.S. Secretary of War

E.G. Marshall Lt. Colonel Rufus S. Bratton Chief, Far Eastern Section, Military Intelligence Division, War Department

James Whitmore Vice Admiral William Halsey Jr. Commander, Aircraft Battle Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet

Jason Robards General Walter Short Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Army Forces Hawaii

Wesley Addy Lt. Commander Alwin Kramer Cryptographer, OP-20-G

Frank Aletter Lt. Commander Francis Thomas Command Duty Officer, USS Nevada

Leon Ames Secretary Frank Knox U.S. Secretary of the Navy

Richard Anderson Captain John Earle Chief of Staff, 14th Naval District

Keith Andes General George C. Marshall Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army

Edward Andrews Admiral Harold Rainsford Stark Chief of Naval Operations

Neville Brand Lt. Harold Kaminski Duty Officer, 14th Naval District

George Macready Secretary Cordell Hull Secretary of State

Norman Alden Major Truman Landon Commanding Officer, 38th Reconnaissance Squadron

Walter Brooke Captain Theodore Wilkinson Director of Naval Intelligence

Rick Cooper 2nd Lt. George Welch Pilot, 47th Pursuit Squadron

Carl Reindel 2nd Lt. Kenneth Taylor Pilot, 47th Pursuit Squadron

Karl Lukas Captain Harold C. Train Chief of Staff, Battle Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet

Ron Masak Lieutenant Lawrence E. Ruff Communications Officer, USS Nevada

Richard Erdman Colonel Edward F. French Chief, War Department Signal Center

Jerry Fogel Lt. Commander William W. Outerbridge Commanding Officer, USS Ward

Elven Havard Messman 3rd Class Doris Miller Crew member, USS West Virginia

G.D. Spradlin Cmdr. Maurice E. Curts Communications Officer, U.S. Pacific Fleet

Edmon Ryan Rear Admiral Patrick Bellinger Commander, Patrol Wing Two

Bill Zuckert Admiral James O. Richardson Commander, United States Fleet

Francis De Sales Capt. Arthur H. McCollum Naval Intelligence officer

Dave Donnelly Maj. Gordon Blake Hickam Field Operations Officer

Bill Edwards Col. Kendall J. Fielder Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Hawaiian Department

Jerry Cox Lt. Kermit Tyler Pilot, 78th Pursuit Squadron

Dick Fair Lt. Col. Carrol A. Powell Radar officer

Dick Cook Lt. Cmdr. Logan C. Ramsey Commander, Naval Base Pearl Harbor

Robert Karnes Maj. John H. Dillon Knox's aide

Ken Lynch Rear Adm. John H. Newton Commander, USS Lexington

Walter Reed Vice Adm. William S. Pye Interim Commander, Aircraft Battle Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet

Robert Shayne Cmdr. William H. Buracker Operations Officer, Aircraft Battle Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet

Larry Thor Maj. Gen. Frederick L. Martin Commander, Hawaiian Air Force

Harlan Warde Brig. Gen. Leonard T. Gerow Commander, 29th Infantry Division

Japanese

So Yamamura Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto Commander-in-Chief, Combined Fleet

Tatsuya Mihashi Commander Minoru Genda Air Staff, 1st Air Fleet

Takahiro Tamura Lt. Commander Mitsuo Fuchida Commander, Air Group, Akagi

Eijirō Tōno Admiral Chuichi Nagumo Commander-in-Chief, 1st Air Fleet

Shōgo Shimada Ambassador Kichisaburo Nomura, voiced by Paul Frees Japanese Ambassador to the United States

Koreya Senda Prince Fumimaro Konoye Prime Minister of Japan

Junya Usami Admiral Zengo Yoshida Minister of the Navy

Kazuo Kitamura Minister Yosuke Matsuoka Minister of Foreign Affairs

Susumu Fujita Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi Commander, Second Carrier Division

Bontaro Miyake Admiral Koshiro Oikawa Minister of the Navy

Ichiro Reuzaki Rear Admiral Ryūnosuke Kusaka Chief of Staff, 1st Air Fleet

Asao Uchida General Hideki Tojo Minister of War

Hiroshi Akutagawa Marquis Koichi Kido Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal

Shunichi Nakamura Captain Kameto "Gandhi" Kuroshima Senior Staff Officer, Combined Fleet

Kan Nihonyanagi Rear Admiral Chuichi Hara Commander, 5th Carrier Division

Toshio Hosokawa Lieutenant Commander Shigeharu Murata Commander, 1st Torpedo Attack Unit, Akagi

Hisashi Igawa Lt. Mitsuo Matsuzaki Fuchida's pilot

Hideo Murota Lt. Zenji Abe Pilot, Air Group, Akagi

Civilians

Leora Dana Ileana Kramer Lt. Cdr. Kramer's wife

Harold Conway Eugene Dooman US Embassy counselor

June Dayton Ray Cave Secretary

Meredith Weatherby Joseph Grew US Ambassador to Japan

Akira Kume Katsuzo Okumura Japanese diplomat

Jeff Donnell Cornelia Fort Civilian flying instructor

Hank Jones Davey Civilian student pilot

Kazuko Ichikawa Emiko Geisha in Kagoshima

Randall Duk Kim Tadao Messenger boy