The Attack on Pearl Harbor By: Sandra Marrazzo

What is the attack on Pearl Harbor? The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack, created by the Japanese, on the United States. Pearl Harbor is located in Hawaii. It happened on December 7, 1941. The attack was during World War II.

Why did the attack happen? The attack happened so that the United States would not get involved in World War II. The Japanese wanted to expand into the Pacific. The United States naval base is located at Pearl Harbor, which is in the Pacific, The Japanese did not want the United States to stop them, so they came up with an attack that could stall their navy. While the United States would be spending time to rebuild their navy, Japan would now start to take control of the Pacific.

Lets start from the very beginning The United States and Japan already did not have close relations with one another. In 1940, the Japanese government allied their country with Nazi Germany in the Axis Alliance. By the following year, Japan occupied all of Indochina. The United States had important political and economic interests in East Asia, was alarmed by what Japan did.

Beginning As a result to that the United States : Increased military and financial aid to China Strengthen its military power in the Pacific Cut off the shipment of oil and other raw materials to Japan

Japanese Plan Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese fleet, came up with a plan to immobilize the United States fleet with a surprise attack. The key elements to Yamamoto’s plan were: careful preparation The success of surprise The use of aircraft carriers and naval aviation as fast as possible

The plan continues In the spring of 1941, Japanese carrier pilots began training for the Pearl Harbor attack plan. In October 1941, the naval general staff gave the final approval to Yamamoto’s plan. This was to be commanded by Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo. The plan was centered around six heavy aircraft carriers accompanied by 24 supporting vessels. A separate group of submarines was to sink any American warships which escaped the Japanese carrier force.

The beginning action of the plan Nagumo’s fleet assembled in the Tankan Bay and departed for Hawaii on November 26, 1941. The ships’ route crossed the North Pacific and avoided normal shipping lanes. At dawn, on December 7, the Japanese task force had approached more than 200 miles north of Oahu. (At this time the United States carriers were not at Pearl Harbor.)

Taking it back a little On November 28, Admiral Kimmel sent the USS Enterprise to deliver Marine Corps fighter places to Wake Island. On December 4, the USS Enterprise delivered the aircraft and on December 7, the task force was on its way back to Pearl Harbor. On December 5, Admiral Kimmel sent the USS Lexington to deliver 25 scout bombers to Midway Island. The USS Saratoga had left Pearl Harbor for upkeep and repairs on the West Coast.

And the plan begins At 6:00 in the morning on December 7, the six Japanese carriers launched a first wave of 181 planes. Shortly after that, the United States Navy vessels spotted an unidentified submarine near Pearl Harbor. It was attacked and reported sunk. At 7:00 a.m., an alert operator of an Army radar station spotted the approaching first wave of the attack force. The officers to whom those reports were relayed did not consider them significant enough to take action.

First wave from the Japanese The Japanese made contact with American ships and military installation on Oahu shortly before 8:00 a.m. They attacked military airfields at the same time they hit the fleet in Pearl Harbor. The purpose of the simultaneous attacks was to destroy the American planes before they could defend themselves against Japan.

Second wave from the Japanese Of the more than 90 ships at anchor in Pearl Harbor, the primary targets were the eight battleships anchored there. The resulting explosion and fire killed 1,177 crewmen. At about 8:30 a.m., there was a second wave of 170 Japanese planes (launched 30 minutes after the first) appeared over the harbor.

End of attack/American losses When the attack ended shortly before 10:00 a.m., less than two hours after it began, the American forces paid a huge price. 21 ships of the United States Pacific Fleet were sunk or damaged Aircraft losses were 188 destroyed and 159 damaged The total number of American dead was 2,403 There were 1,178 wounded (This included the military and civilians)

Japan’s losses The Japanese losses were very light compared to the United States. 29 planes failed to return to their carriers That was less than ten percent of the attacking force

Conclusion The Japanese success, however, was not complete. They failed to damage any American aircraft carriers, which had been absent from the harbor. They neglected to damage the shore side facilities at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base Which latter plays an important role in the Allied victory in World War II. With the skills of technology that the United States had, they were able to raise and repair all but three of the ships sunk or damaged.

Conclusion The United States had been divided as a country if they wanted to get involved with the war. Some wanted to help the Allies Other wanted to stay neutral Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States as a country decided to stay neutral and did not want to get involved with the war. Most importantly, the shock and anger caused by the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor united a divided nation and was now able to win the entire World War.

Works Cited http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq66-1.htm http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/pearl.htm http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1649.html