"Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." These famous words by Franklin Roosevelt have lived on for over 70 years and marked a moment in U.S history where war brought the country's citizens together. The Japanese attack was not totally unexpected since tensions were high between both countries, but the United States was caught off guard that fateful day. The attack caused major damages, casualties and the truth of the matter is that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was a key factor of the United States entrance into World War II. The surprise Japanese military strike on the United States Naval …show more content…
In 1940 the U.S. only had three Aircraft carriers compared to the Japanese who had ten. The Japanese also had lots more modern destroyers and cruisers. Admiral Yamamoto first proposed the idea of a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in January 1941, but the plan was not approved and the planning did not commence until September 1941 (Hanyok, 2009). This sort of attack was not aligned with Japanese naval strategic thinking, which added to the Japanese radio intelligence strategies of denial-and-deception actions, helped the success of the attack. Through these techniques, the Japanese managed to fool the U.S. into thinking that their carriers were actually still in Japan and not en route to the Hawaiian islands. On November 16th, the Japanese submarines departed Japan but it wasn't until November 26th that the main body, aircraft carriers, and escorts, began the transit to Hawaii (National Public Radio, 2009). At 3:00 am (Hawaii time) on the day of the attack the First Air Fleet reached its fly-off position, at 5:45 a.m. the first A6M2 combat air patrol lifted from carrier decks, at 6:00 a.m. 189 aircraft took off and at 7:15 a.m. 170 aircraft were launched (Dorr, 2011). The attack finally began and the unsuspecting residents of Hawaii were about to be
On December 7, 1941 at approximately 7:48 a.m., United States naval officer, Admiral Husband Edward Kimmel, commander in chief of the United States Pacific fleet announced an air raid on Pearl Harbor, and that is was not a drill. Japanese planes attacked the United States’ naval base at Pearl Harbor (Hawaii territory). This attack resulted in the killing of more than 2,300 Americans. A total of twelve ships were sunk and 160 aircrafts were destroyed in the attack. The types of attacks that were carried out by the Japanese were kamikaze attacks, fighter planes, bombers, etc.
Japanese bombers Attacked the U.S Navy’s Pacific Fleet at the Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The U.S Navy also had problems with communication because of the Japanese Code Breakers were faster at breaking codes than the Americans making a new code. Many of the Japanese were learning English in the U.S. They had also learned lots of the slang terms. The battle
To the people stationed at pearl harbour this attack was a surprise attack and they weren’t even at war (Source C) this was because the Japanese embassy took too long decoding the message of war declaration that was only sent 30 minutes before the attack, and the warning couldn’t reach pearl harbour in time. The Japanese attacking consisted of a first wave and a second wave (source I) the aircrafts were 183 in number and consisted of fighter air crafts, torpedo bombers, high level bombers and dive bombers (source L). The Japanese aircraft carrier left home water on 26 November and then received their final commands on 1st December. The aircraft carrier was positioned 275 miles north of Hawaii (source L). The American radar picked up the Japanese aircrafts but were mistaken for allies, (source B) even They sent out an air craft carrier from pearl harbour to check it out (source F) and the other two aircraft carrier were also out of harbour due to other errands (source F).
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise to the Americans. However, Japan’s plan was to destroy the Pacific Fleet for Japan to seize the resource areas needed for its southern expansion, but if they were unsuccessful, they would go to war. After the attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on Japan. Pearl Harbor was one of the most horrifying attack that took place on December 7, 1941 at the American Naval Base near Honolulu, Hawaii.
The Japanese carriers had to travel a great distance without being detected. Source L states that the Japanese carriers left port on 26 November in a devious route to Pearl Harbour, and final orders were received on the 1 December. “Fleet Commander, Vice Admiral Nagumo, received his final orders on December 1 and on the morning of December 7 the battle group was in position 275 miles north of Hawaii.” As can be seen from this source, Japan still waited 6 days after their final orders were received before launching their surprise attack. That enabled them 6 more days to finalise their plans and make sure that everyone knew what was expected of them.
December 7, 1941 is considered one of the most impactful days in United States’ history: the day Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Despite their size, Japan left an incredible amount of damage with their 5 submarines and 408 planes. President Roosevelt had been avoiding scuffling with Japan since their pact with Germany and Italy; war with Germany was sure to erupt soon enough. However, soon after the ambuscade, the United States’ declared war on Japan and launched their involvement in World War II. Japan’s leaders recognized the risks of invading one of America’s naval bases; yet they persisted.
On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor, a U.S. naval base which is located in Hawaii, had a devastating surprise attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. Around one hundred U.S aircraft was destroyed and 2,403 Americans were killed following 1,178 Americans wounded (Thought Co.). Roosevelt presented a memorable speech regarding the attack on pearl harbor, stating that Dec 7, 1941 would be “a date which will live in infamy” (Library of Congress). At the end of the speech, this forced the United States president, Franklin D. Roosevelt to ask congress to declare war against Japan. His request was approved and thus they declared war the following day of the attack.
December 7th is a day that will live in infamy for all Americans, a day once filled with death, destruction, and desolation. On December 7th1941 a huge fleet of Japanese fighters, bombers, ships, and submarines converged and attacked the United States Navy at Pearl Harbor, resulting in the destruction or damage of 19 US Navy ships, damage or destruction of 347 planes, as well as the death of 2471 Sailors, and many more injured. At first it seemed there was no reason for Japan’s attack but after many years the United States figured out why they did what they did. There were at least three reasons why the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor; these include: the many United States embargos towards Japan, the rapidly growing U.S. fleet, and extreme Japanese
In 1940, President Roosevelt moved U.S. Pacific fleet from California to Pearl Harbor (Doc C). From the point of view of Japan when the U.S. moves their whole fleet over 1,100 miles closer to their land they might feel quite threatened. If they felt threatened then they needed to come up with a plan to protect themselves which could be taking out the exact thing that threatens them which would be the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. Also in 1940 the U.S. Congress passes Naval Expansion Act which promised to triple the Pacific Fleets by the end of 1944 (Doc C), adding to the threat of the U.S. Naval Pacific Fleet on Japan and raising
‘We have only awoken a sleeping giant.’ That is what is believed that one Japanese official told another minutes after the attack on Pearl Harbor on 1941. On a sunny Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan carried out a surprise attack on the U.S Pacific fleet in Hawaii. After a few hours, more than 3000 Americans were killed, almost 300 U.S planes destroyed and several U.S destroyers and ships as well. This was the event that finally caused the U.S to join the fight against the axis powers in WWII.
Japan attacked the U.S. because we had the power to block Japan’s expansion into Asia. We also stopped trade with them; which led to Japan attacking the U.S. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Their plans started in October 1941; when they attacked Pearl Harbor it was by surprise. During Pearl Harbor, Japan sent 350 Aircraft and 33 ships against the U.S. The USS Arizona and the USS Missouri were destroyed. My maternal great-grandfather was one of the original Navy Seals in WWll; if Pearl Harbor had never happened, I may not even exist.
December 7th, 1941, started out as any other ordinary Sunday morning. The peace and tranquility was short lived because just before 8 a.m. hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended on the naval base. The largest majority of the American naval fleet was either damaged or destroyed, including the USS Arizona and the USS Oklahoma. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan stating, “Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”
Rahul Bagga Mr.Campbell US History, Period 0 16 December 2015 Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor? One day that will always be remembered by America is the date of December 7, 1941, which changed American history forever. December 7, 1941 was the day the Japanese warplanes attacked Pearl Harbor (Hawaii) which stationed many of American ships and airfields. Immediately after the bombings, United States President Franklin Roosevelt declared war on Japan, leading to a direct involvement into World War ll. Japan had many reason to do so but Japan attacked Pearl harbor for three reasons which were that they had a plan for a new world order, United States were expanding their number of naval ships rapidly, and an oil embargo was placed upon Japan
This paper will analyze the events of the attack itself, what led to the attack, and the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor. At around eight o'clock on a
Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor is by far one of America’s most remembered events in history. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese dropped bombs on the American base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This attack is what persuaded President Franklin Roosevelt to join World War 2 and fight on two fronts. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor for many reasons. They attacked because they believed they would create a New World Order, they felt threatened by America and because of the oil embargo.