The Bombing Of Pearl Harbor

By the early morning of December 7, 1941 the Japanese Naval force led by Admiral Nagumo had parked his fleet of 6 aircraft carriers 230 nautical miles off the north coast of the Hawaiian Islands completely undetected. The fleet had approximately 423 aircraft with a final destination of Pearl Harbor. At 600 a.m. the first wave of 180 aircraft were launch to attach the sleeping Hawaiian bay. At 702 a.m. an Army radar station sights the aircraft inbound and report to their direct officer who is aware of a squadron of B-17’s due in from the west coast and write off the sighting am friendly forces. This was the first of many mistakes that would become evident within the hour.

The Japanese' motive for the bombing Pearl Harbor was to destroy the United States Pacific fleet so that the Japanese could have complete naval control of the Pacific Ocean as well as to go through with the Japanese Pan Asian program with-out the United

December 7, 1941 was one of America’s darkest days. This was the day of the famous pearl harbor bombing. This attack came from the Japanese attacking the American Naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack had been in the planning for many years to attack and weaken the United States Naval force. Japan wanted to do this to gain more superiority in the Atlantic and to grow their ties with European nations. In this paper I will talk about the people, the planning, the attack, and the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor bombing.

It all started the morning of December 7, 1941 when Japanese leaders decided to bomb the United States. Families were then broke apart and things became much more complex in the lives of Americans. Pearl Harbor was not “just a bombing,” but in reality it is so much more. This bombing had a great impact on the whole world for World War II. The bombing of Pearl Harbor had many situations before the bombing, during the bombing, and after the bombing.

What happened during this battle? The Japanese really practiced and prepared carefully for their attack on Pearl Harbor.

Japan had been the one to bomb Pearl Harbor. The bombs had killed more than 2,300 Americans in the Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory. This act had destroyed the U.S.S. Arizona and the U.S.S. Oklahoma completely. This attack had beached and /or sank ships but damaged about 9 others. Aircrafts were destroyed and damaged.

World War II was a war that everyone will remember and will be remembered for many years to come. It could even be said that it killed more people, destroyed more property, and had far more reaching effects than any other war in history. New technologies were used in the war, such as the Atomic bomb, which opened up the nuclear age. Pearl Harbor was one of those events that will never be forgotten by Americans. Pearl Harbor was especially memorable to America because that caused us to get involved in the war and it outraged everyone in the country. The United States played a key role in the war. The bombing of Pearl Harbor was a major turning point in World War II.

About 350 aircrafts came storming over Pearl Harbor dropping hundreds of bombs attempting to sink The United State’s ships. On December 7,1941 Japan made a surprise attack on the U.S. at Pearl Harbor. Nearly 2,400 people were killed during the bombing. The following day The United States declared war on Japan which brought them into World War 2. Japan attacked pearl harbor because they wanted to be imperialistic, they were upset about the embargo and laws placed on them, and Japan was concerned about the size of the United States Navy fleet.

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.

More than 2800 United States citizens, both military and civilian, lost their lives and over 1100 were wounded on December 7, 1941. In addition, over 340 ships and aircraft were sunk or damaged in the waters of Pearl Harbor on that day (National Park Service, n.d.) (See Appendix A for chart of casualties).

The attack on Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7, 1941 and started at 0755. A total of four bombs hit the U.S.S. Arizona. “Another plane dropped a 1,700 pound bomb on the U.S.S. Arizona. The bomb crashed through the ship’s deck and into its magazine”(Santella 27). The bomb ignited over one thousand pounds of black powder. The entire ship’s band died in the attack along with twenty-three sets of brothers. The U.S.S. Arizona was the site of almost half of the casualties at Pearl

Japanese pilots took to the skies with mounted machine guns on bomber planes and thousands of pounds of explosives, and bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. For example, they took off with fighter jets and bombers, killing 2,403 people and wounding 1,178. Under the cover of a storm, the Japanese flew in and dropped thousands of 500g bombs, hitting and sinking 18 United States ships, 6 of which were aircraft carriers. In addition, the attack was unwarned, and it killed thousands of soldiers and civilians, crushing the spirits of United States citizens. It destroyed the naval fleet in port at Pearl Harbor, which damaged the U.S severely. Unknown to many, they also bombed the U.S Air Force base in Hawaii, incapacitating 300 fighter jets and cargo planes. Furthermore, this unwarned attack was a cowardly act and dropping an atomic bomb was completely justified. The unwarned attack killed thousands of people, soldiers and citizens alike. Use of nuclear weapons as

Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because they wanted to keep us out of the war with their allies in Germany and France. They said they wanted to stop us from joining the war but in the long run ity made is a bigger part of the war. Later after the attack, a message was sent to Japan from America stating they were going to bomb Japan. They ended up bomb Tokyo and Hiroshima. Japan over all wanted to cut our naval base in Hawaii so we would no longer try to take over islands in the Pacific

In July 1940, the U.S. placed an embargo on Japan, hoping they would restrain Japan 's military aggression in China. Japan, a proud nation, would not hear of being dictated to by the United States and began to prepare for the attack on Pearl Harbor in early 1941. Meanwhile, there was some warning of the attack on America, but it went without being duly acknowledged. The day before the attack occurred, a code-breaker intercepted a message from the Japanese concerning the movement of ships at Pearl Harbor. The operator relayed the message to the superior officers who said they would get back to the radioman on Monday, December 8, 1941 (Socolow 43). Also, on the morning of the attack, a radar operator saw a large group of airplanes on the radar screen, and when he reported this, the senior officer said it was probably just some US Bombers and not to worry about them (HistoryNet.Com). The Japanese planes flew under the radar by flying through a pass in the mountains called Kolekole Pass. This maneuver added to the surprise of the attack. The frantic attack began on Sunday at 7:55 in the morning. A little before ten the entire attack was over (Pearl Harbor, Attack On). The men of Pearl Harbor fought with valor.

In addition, Japan were keen on expanding their empire and had to make a decision between surrendering or going to war with the United States. Lastly, United States had not yet entered the Second World War, because they were still reeling from depression due to the First World War. United States did, however, still possess the strongest naval fleets. In that perspective, the Japanese were almost as strong as the American navy. As time passed, America favored more and more towards joining the war. The Japanese anticipated a full-blown naval war with America and therefore, decided to act first by bombing Pearl Harbor which was a key terrain feature in the Pacific due to it’s massive and deep harbor for naval ships.