After 72 years and hundreds of books on the subject, you’d think we’d know everything about the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. But “Nova” (8 p.m., PBS,) uses forensics to disinter another fragment of evidence about the infamous December morning.
The attack on Pearl Harbor has long been seen as an aerial effort, a triumph of carrier-based planes over fixed installations. But Japanese minisubmarines also contributed to the destruction, and “Nova” reveals evidence of a fifth and hitherto unaccounted-for sub.
In addition to examining the metal evidence raised from its watery grave after seven decades, the researchers comb Japanese naval records and examine the hulls of still submerged vessels to determine whether torpedoes struck them from below as well as bombs from above. Combining science and history, this “Nova” serves up some serious detective work about one of the century’s most well-researched events.