Cause And Effect Of America's Attack On Pearl Harbor

Just before seven o’clock in the morning on Sunday, December seventh, 1941, the first wave of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American Naval base of Pearl Harbor. This attack completely took the United States of America by surprise. The first wave of attacked targeted the base’s airfields and battleships. The second wave of planes went after the remaining ships and the shipyards. Then, the Japanese dropped a one thousand seven hundred and sixty pound bomb on the U.S.S. Arizona. In total, this attack lasted until about ten o’clock of this same morning; though the attack was short, the damage was of one that America would never forget. The Japanese successfully destroyed thirteen battleships—eight were damaged and five were sunk—, three light cruisers, and one hundred and eighty-eight aircraft.

There were three primary targets that the Japanese fighters intended to destroy: the United States’ Pacific Fleet Carriers the U.S.S. Lexington, the U.S.S. Enterprise, and the U.S.S. Saratoga. Luckily, these carriers were not in the harbor at the time of this attack, thus escaping the carnage. The news of the attack at Pearl Harbor was broadcasted all across the United States by the radio. The stations interrupted any shows and kept the citizens of America informed about the tragic event that had unfolded that morning. The news of these attacked sent a huge surge of young men, and even some women, to volunteer into the military. On Monday, December eighth, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made a speck, asking Congress to declare war on