The Attack on Pearl Harbor

The main focus on this essay is “Why Did Japan Attack Pearl Harbor?”. On a normal Sunday morning when the American navy units were busy doing their normal routine work, the Japanese navy planned a surprise attack that stunned the world. This attack was so unpredictable that the entire American navy went in deep shock. Very few of them realized the need to manage and control their position to save the naval power. All the staff and ships that were present at the Pearl Harbor suffered massive loss. Just a couple of hours of bombing gave the Pearl Harbor, a battlefield view with fire and smoke emerging from every corner. The attack left American navy at a loss of 2400 of her best men as well as 21 ships that were either sunk or completely demolished.

At approximately 8 o’clock in the morning on the 7th of Dec 1941, the United States of America faced for the first time in history, an attack on US soil. The Empire of Japan had strategically planned and executed a swift blow to the state of Hawaii, located in the mid-Pacific Ocean. Hawaii was our first line of defense from any westerly attack of an Asian country. By the end of the almost 2 hour ordeal, our Naval and Air Corps assets’ were brutally crippled preventing the ability of the US to conduct an immediate retaliation. In this study we will cover many of the events that led up to that moment in time, the actual attack and show the result that were to follow.

The naval force on both sides were mostly determined to goals of attack and had dedicated themselves to fighting for the country. In addition to that, the American military had taken their revenge for the attack of Pearl Harbor by attacking the Japanese city of Tokyo (Mcgowen 20). The Japanese mindset of superiority didn't think of this attack and Americans took advantage of that to make it into war with revenge. In addition to that, there are several other military strategies that the United States had used. First of all, the major cause of the Japanese defeat was because of Chester W. Nimitz, a United States navy fleet admiral.

The Battle of the Philippine Sea was the end of Japanese competiveness in the air. This Battle gave way to the United States’ ability to project its military power further into the heart of Japan with little to no resistance from the Japanese Fleet in the form of aerial warfare. It also left the Japanese desperate to find new ways of fighting American naval forces in ways other than the standard convention. The Battle of the Philippine Sea was “not the decisive battle in World War II”7; however, it did help accelerate the United States’ takeover of the auxiliary islands with the destruction of Japanese conventional air warfare.

On November 26, 1941, the Japanese Task Force comprised of six aircraft carriers. A support force, which included two battleships, three cruisers, nine destroyers, three submarines, escorted it and eight oil supply ships, began their trek to Hawaii. They must travel four thousand miles across open sea and remain undetected by the UNITED STATES Forces. (Wisniewski 20) The UNITED STATES Military knew a surprise attack by Japan was possible and they thought they were prepared. Adm. Husband E. Kimmel and Lt. Gen. Walter C. Short, the commanders of the UNITED STATES Naval and Army forces in Hawaii, respectively, had regularly scheduled training exercises and had taken many precautions to avert disaster. (Pearl Harbor’s History, Filmstrip)

Former Commander in Chief and President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in his speech, “Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation,” discloses the details of Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Roosevelt’s purpose is to notify the nation about Japan’s aggressive naval actions and to petition Congress to declare war on Japan. He adopts a somber yet patriotic and confident tone in order to rally the citizens and members of Congress behind his proposal for war.

Within Five minutes of the attack U.S. military officials had started attacking back at the Japanese. (Pearl Harbor Film) We were at a disadvantage because the Japanese had destroyed many of many of our battle ships. But we were not going to let that stop us. We were not going to give up, just fight until the end. After two hours of fighting long and hard the damaged was done and the Japanese retreated. In the end we were left with 2,042 casualties and 1,247 wounded (Wikipedia) and defeated.

Pearl Harbor is a strategically placed naval base located near Honolulu, Hawaii. It defends the United States’ interests in the Pacific Ocean and Asia. Japan’s strategy was to expand its empire across Asia capturing parts of China, Singapore, Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies. Crippling the U.S. naval fleet at Pearl Harbor would have enabled the Japanese to capture these Asian regions without the interference of the United States Military (Higgs, 2006) (See Appendix B for map of Hawaii and Japan).

In my article I am going to be talking about how the Japanese attacked a Naval Base in Hawaii called Pearl Harbor. I will be taking on the perspective of a U.S military personnel, who experiences the attack first hand. Throughout my paper I will also show the reactions of the people who lived on the Naval Base, and how this attack affected America to this day.

On December 7, 1941 -- the day that will always be commemorated as “the date which will live in infamy” by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt -- the Japanese unexpectedly attacked the United States’ naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This crippling attack caused many American casualties, and American citizens quickly became filled with fury and abhorrence; the detestation that swallowed the hearts of the American citizens was shown through President Roosevelt’s expeditious appeal to Congress to declare war against Japan. The attack on Pearl Harbor was an unforgettable day in history and directly affected the United States involvement in World War Two and the patriotism of the United States’ citizens.

The attack on Pearl Harbor was devastating and almost everyone knows how the US responded and how many people were killed but I want to tell you about the event from the Japanese point of view in this essay. First they needed a reason to attack, some type of motive for destroying one of America’s great naval bases. For the Japanese the Pacific was an easy and tactical target due to the lack of resistance in many of the islands giving access to the U.S. and gaining territory at the same time. The only problem was Pearl Harbor, the American naval base in the pacific, so the solution was to eliminate the base before it became a factor. To many taking down Pearl Harbor is an almost impossible task especially for the Japanese; as they had to travel across the Pacific and once they got to Pearl Harbor they would be confronted by 100 ships, a few hundred planes and artillery such as AA units. But in the mind of the Japanese it was an easy attack, as they thought they had the best navy and air force in the world and

They flew and fired until they ran out of fuel, and landed in either China, Japan or the Soviet Union. The attack was symbolic and pay back for the attack on Pearl Harbor, and this hugely improved the morale and confidence around our country, due to success being publicly shown to all Americans. Several courageous soldiers are Japanese and Soviet Union Prisoners of War or died, and we thank and pray for these valiant soldiers, who died for the United States of America. I think that this attack was clever and necessary, as it showed Japan that we are strong, and we are able to fight back, and it gave hope and confidence to our

“December 7, 1941 - A Date Which Will live in Infamy.” (Roosevelt, Franklin D.). Even today, nearly seventy years later, we still remember the Pearl Harbor attack launched by Japan. This catastrophic attack on the United States naval base in Hawaii was what pushed the United States of America into World War two. A Japanese Admiral decided to attack the base secretly hoping to cripple the U.S. fleet, this eventually led to United States involvement in the war and prove to be a huge mistake for the Japanese. Today we can witness the long lasting affects Pearl Harbor had on us. We can see the affects it had on Japan because of our retaliation for the bombing and attack of Pearl Harbor. The cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki are witnesses to what the Pearl Harbor attack eventually led too. The United Sates government declared war on Japan, which led to fighting in the Pacific, which eventually led to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the surrender of the Japanese government. Even until today Japan has restrictions on its military capacity. The infamous day of The Pearl Harbor Attack and its aftermath affected both the United States and Japan greatly and even today, nearly seventy year later, we can still witness some of the long lasting effects.

An article on Encyclopedia Britannica explains the Pearl Harbor attack. The attack on Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7, 1941. It was a surprise airborne attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii, by the Japanese that led to the entry of the United States into World War II. Japan’s invasion of China in 1937 and its occupation of French Indochina in July 1941 caused the United States to respond that same month by stopping Japanese assets in the United States and declaring a restriction on petroleum shipments and other war materials to Japan. By late 1941 the United States had severed practically all commercial and financial relations with Japan. Though Japan continued to

During the morning of December 7, 1941, the Japanese attack on the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor destroyed American aircraft and ships, and caused the deaths of more than 2,300 Americans. In the years leading up to this devastation, Japan had made enemies with the United States through its invasion of American ally countries and by becoming associated with the Axis powers—Germany and Italy. While the United States made efforts to remain peaceful, Japan ultimately put an end to America’s non-combatant involvement with the war with its airstrike at Oahu, Hawaii.