TheCodeBreakers
when it was evident that the document would not be finished for some
time, the Japanese called Hull to request a postponement to 1:45, saying
that the document they wished to present was not yet ready. Hull
acquiesced.
At almost exactly the time that the call to Hull was being placed,
Commander Fuchida and his flight of 51 dive bombers, 49 high-level
bombers, 40 torpedo planes, and 43 fighters arrived over Pearl Harbor.
He fired a "black dragon" from his signal pistol to indicate that the
squadrons should deploy in the assault pattern for complete surprise.
Nine minutes later, he wirelessed the message "To, to, to"—the first
syllable of the Japanese word for "Charge!" and the signal to attack. As
the planes moved into position for their runs, he felt so certain that he
had achieved complete surprise that, at 7:53, two minutes before the
first bomb even fell, he jubilantly radioed "TORA! TORA! TORA!" ("Tiger! Tiger!
Tiger!")—the prearranged codeword that indicated surprise. On Akagi,
annaabi.ee 
