HIS236: WEEK 2: PEARL HARBOR

Japan Attacks America ~Japanese ambitions ~The trade embargo ~In October 1941, reacting to the American embargo, Japanese militarists, led by General Hideki Tojo, seized control of the government and persuaded Emperor Hirohito that the swift destruction of American naval bases in the Pacific would leave Japan free to follow its destiny.

December 7, 1941 Japan attack on Pearl Harbor/7:55 am

WHY PEARL HARBOR? …FOLLOW DESTINY… TO ACHIEVE GOALS: =Cripple U.S. naval might in the Pacific, allowing Japan to seize control of the area. =Achieve surprise AND….. =Thought Europe was greater threat =Thought P.H. was safe …FOLLOW DESTINY…

THE TIMELINE OF PEARL HARBOR… At dawn on December 7, the Japanese task force reached a point slightly more than 200 miles north of Oahu. At 6:00 a.m., the six carriers launched a first wave of 181 planes composed of torpedo bombers, dive bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters. Even as they flew south, some elements of U.S. forces on Oahu realized there was something different about this Sunday morning. ….. In the hours before dawn, U.S. Navy vessels spotted an unidentified submarine periscope near the entrance to Pearl Harbor. It was attacked and reported sunk by the destroyer USS Ward (DD-139) and a patrol plane….

USS WARD: MARKS THE 1ST US SHOTS FIRED IN WW2

7:00am: ~FIRST WAVE SPOTTED ~IMPORTANCE OF RADAR ~B17’S?

SIMULTANEOUS ATTACKS…7:55AM The Japanese aircraft achieved complete surprise when they hit American ships and military installations on Oahu shortly before 8:00 a.m., attacking military airfields at the same time they hit the fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor. The Navy air bases at Ford Island and Kaneohe Bay, the Marine airfield at Ewa and the Army Air Corps fields at Bellows, Wheeler and Hickam were all bombed and strafed (attack repeatedly with bombs or machine-gun fire from low-flying aircraft). THE PURPOSE OF SIMULTANEOUS ATTACKS WAS___________________????

DAMAGE TO U.S. PACIFIC FLEET… ~21 SHIPS SUNK OR DAMAGED ~110 MINUTE ATTACK/2 WAVES

Eventually, all but three of the ships sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor were repaired…

Aircraft losses were 188 destroyed and 159 damaged, the majority hit before they had a chance to take off.

DEATHS…. There were a total of 2,403 American casualties, including 68 civilians, most of them killed by improperly fused anti-aircraft shells landing in Honolulu. There were 1,178 military and civilian wounded.

Arizona during the attack: Explosion & fire killed 1,177 crewmen!!!

COMPLETE SUCCESS? Japanese losses were comparatively light. Twenty-nine planes, less than 10 percent of the attacking force, failed to return to their carriers. The Japanese success was overwhelming, but not complete; as fate would have it, U.S. aircraft carriers that were to be primary targets in the attack were absent from the harbor. The Japanese also failed to damage the Pearl Harbor Naval Base's shore side facilities; these facilities played an important role in the Allied victory in World War II.

WHY WOULD WE LET IT HAPPEN?????? DID WE KNOW???…. IF WE KNEW,… WHY WOULD WE LET IT HAPPEN??????

REACTIONS TO PEARL HARBOR

Hitler’s reaction to Pearl Harbor Japan one of the Axis powers but Hitler did not know of the Pearl Harbor plan beforehand. When informed in his headquarters on the evening of Dec. 7 of the strike and the damage suffered by US forces, his reaction was described as “jubilant” and “delighted” Hitler said, “We can’t lose the war at all. We now have an ally which has never been conquered in 3,000 years!”

America’s Reaction: Unite and Fight!

Mobilizing for War Campaign for patriotic vigilance Asian Americans already had been disliked-WHY? Executive Order 9066

Internment Camps/”Relocation Centers”

Colorado, California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Arkansas….

AFTER EX ORDER…WERE CAMPS B4!!!

Living conditions of Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor (~150,000/~10 camps)

The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 provided financial redress of $20,000 for each surviving detainee from the camps. In 2001, Congress made the ten internment sites historical landmarks, asserting that they “will forever stand as reminders that this nation failed in its most sacred duty to protect its citizens against prejudice, greed, and political expediency."

“I’ve yet to meet a German prisoner who doesn’t tell me that it was the time of their lives.” -POW camp officer