Stanley Patterson Essay

The Japanese flawlessly planned and executed the surprise attack. Their success was overwhelming, in less than two hours of the attack, they sunk and damaged a total of twenty-one U.S. Pacific Fleet ships. But it was not complete. They failed to damage any aircraft carriers and the shoreside facilities at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base, which played an important role in the Allied victory in World War II. “The carrier Lexington was ferrying aircraft to Midway, and the carrier Enterprise was returning from a delivery of planes to Wake Island” (Baer, 1993).

Over the span of a few decades, the Japanese and Americans were as is, heading towards war due to a varying amount of disputing between the two. In the 1930’s, Japan invaded China. This caused an uproar between the two countries at the time. This was one of the first few sparks to the flame. In order to create the perfect Yamato race, the Japanese felt that there was more validity if there were no one to stop them, (Document A). Destroying the Pacific fleet was the goal so they could expand and imperialize the world around them. America, being one of their main oil producers, made them the perfect target. Leading up to the attack, America placed an embargo on Japan, (Document C). Japan wanted to destroy the Pacific Fleet to gain oil and continue imperialization to obtain the perfect Yamato

Just before 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The barrage lasted just two hours, but it was devastating: The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and more than 300 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan; Congress approved his declaration with just one dissenting vote. Three days later, The Japanese allies Germany and Italy also declared war on the United States, and again Congress reciprocated. More than two years into the conflict, America had finally joined World War II.

Planning had begun early in 1941 under the oversight of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. He won approval for formal planning and training for an attack from the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff, but only after much conflict with the Japanese Naval Headquarters (Parshall, 2011). Over the next several months, pilots were trained, equipment was prepared, and intelligence was collected. Despite these preparations, Emperor Hirohito did not approve the attack plan until November 5, 1941. By late 1941 many people in the United States and the general public in Japan believed that the conflict between the two nations was imminent. While United States Pacific bases had been placed on high alert on many occasions, but U.S. officials doubted Pearl Harbor would be the first target; instead, they expected the Philippines would be attacked first. They also believed that Japan was not capable of mounting more than one major naval operation at a time (Parshall, 2011). Ever since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, there has been much debate as to how and why the United States was caught off-guard by the attack, and how much American officials knew of these Japanese

On December 7, 1941, at 7:55 a.m. Japan ambushed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii (history.com). It was “a date which will live in infamy,” declared President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The attack was carried out by the Japanese. After the attack, America declared war on Japan, thus putting us in World War II. Japan dropped many, many bombs that killed US soldiers and families. The bombs destroyed US equipment that was stationed at Pearl Harbor.

December 7,1941, was a day in tera. The Japanese attack Pearl Harbor Changed the American History. On December 8,1941, the U.S. declared war on Japan. Then the U.S. declared war on Germany and Italy after they did the same to us. This is how the U.S. got involved in World War II. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a bad day for United States and there are a lot of people still sad that it had happened.

"The attack on Pearl Harbor, which was influenced by a successful British attack that used carrier aircraft against an Italian fleet at Taranto, Italy, the previous year, was essentially a last best-hope for Japanese success in the Pacific"(Pearl Harbor history net). Yamamatoto was the brains behind this operation. He studied in the United States so he knew Japan didn't have the power to defeat the United States with normal battles. Yamamatoto wanted a third wave of attack but the Japanese feared an attack at home. The fuel reserves enabled the remainder of the fleet to continue to operate, and failure to destroy the submarine base allowed submarines to play a major role in the Pacific War (Pearl Harbor history net). The Japanese failure to destroy the submarine base resulted in the remainder of the fleet to continue operating. “Two of the aircraft carriers that are usually posted at Pearl Harbor were out delivering planes to Midway”(John). This left two of America's assets undamaged. As President Roosevelt said “No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again”(Pearl Harbor History.com). THe words of PResident Roosevelt really moved the people leading them to do something about the

At 7:55 a.m. on Sunday December 7, 1941, The Japanese Empire bombed America’s navel base in Hawaii without warning or a formal declaration of war. Japan did not see this attack as foolish and did not think of the consequences of this mistake. The war began in 1939 and wouldn’t last long after the United States was forcefully brought into it. This was the end of neutrality and the beginning of World War II for the United States. The attack on Pearl Harbor not only affected the course of the Second World War, but it also affected America. The safety that America once felt was gone, our economy was changed, Japanese- Americans suffered, and our opinion of the war took a total turn.

With Japan and Hawaii being more than four thousand miles apart, no one believed that the Japanese would start the war with an attack on American territory. Flying that far to start a war seemed to be very inconvenient for both sides. Also, American intelligence officers were not expecting attack so close to home, so the naval base at Pearl Harbor was nearly unarmed or prepared. They thought if they were going to get bombed on, it would be somewhere relatively closer like the Dutch Indies, Singapore, or Indochina, which were all European colonies in the South Pacific. Japan new that the Pearl Harbor was an irresistible target because hundreds of ships and planes were squeezed onto this base. Also, most of the Pacific Fleet was secured around this harbor.

After the attack people in the United States were in complete shock of what had happened and did not know how to react. United States tried to stay neutral and avoid war, but the couldn’t ignore this attack. The next day after the attack the U.S declared war on Japan. People were soon buying newspapers with headlines “Japs attack U.S.” United States entered war after the attack with the allies. On December 11th, “Germany and Italy declare war on the

After the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 it took the United States until April of 1942 to retaliate. That was done through the Doolittle Raid. A group of 16 B-25 launched from the USS Hornet to conduct the first bombing on Japanese soil. Despite not having very much of a military significance the raid of Tokyo was a great boost to the moral of military and the public of the United States. It showed both Japan and the U.S. that Japan wasn’t out of reach and was no longer isolated in the Pacific. After the 1942 campaign it wasn’t until 1944 when the U.S. launched another bombing attack on Japan. At the beginning the War in the Pacific had a slow start, much of that had to do with the preparation it took to attack the enemy in a new style of warfare.

A Day which will live in infamy (Staff, 2009). This famous words were delivered by former United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A day that change America forever. This paper will provide a description of the events that build up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the effects of the attack and will also provide insight on how the United States responded.

The pearl harbor attach was a surprise to the United States, but not to the Japan. They have had this whole attack planned out. The attack was carried out by the Japanese military

It was a calm and sultry Sunday morning at Pearl Harbor, in the United States (U.S.) territory of Hawaii on 7 December 1941. At approximately 07:48 Hawaiian Time the calm was broken as the first of two waves consisting of 353 Imperial Japanese fighter aircraft, bombers, and torpedo planes originating from six Japanese aircraft carriers, stationed strategically 230 miles north of the Island of Oahu, commenced the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hickam Air Base, Wheeler Field, and Naval Air Stations Barbers Point and Kaneohe Bay. The onslaught continued for almost 90 minutes. In jeopardy was a majority of the Pacific Fleet that had recently been moved there earlier in the year from the Naval Base at San Diego, California as part of a power project plan instituted by the Roosevelt administration to deter Japanese expansion in the Pacific. At the end of the attack the U.S. Pacific Fleet lay crippled almost pier side as they were moored at the time of the attack. As a result of the attack the U.S. incurred the loss of 2403 American lives with an additional 1178 being wounded. The U.S. had sustained extensive damage to all eight of her battleships with four being sunk, three cruisers, three destroyers, one anti-aircraft training vessel, and a minesweeper that were severely damaged. The U.S. Army Air Corps and naval aircraft losses were just as dramatic with the loss of 188 aircraft of all types. Miraculously, the U.S. Carriers the USS Lexington, USS Saratoga and the USS Enterprise were

The day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor is “a date which will live in infamy.” It is the day that would change the course of the U.S. Navy and Naval Aviation. Prior to the attack, Japan invaded nearby Southeast Asian countries, like French Indochina, because it needed natural resources to maintain its military, and industry. The United States embargoed and froze Japan’s assets, so Japan did not have the resources that it needed, especially oil. Japan was in dire need of these resources and planned to attack the United States Pacific Fleet stationed in Pearl Harbor because it was the only force capable of challenging the Japanese Navy. Without this force, the United States would struggle to be on the offensive and to win against the