On December 7th, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, causing it to become one of the most infamous days in American history. Although numerous Americans grieve the event each year, many people do not know what caused the tragedy to occur. In 1937, Japan invaded China, where many Americans had gone to be missionaries. Quickly, Japan seized much of Indochina and was planning on acquiring more (“History of Pearl Harbor”). The Japanese began bombing and hit a U.S. Navy ship. As a result, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt moved the Navy’s Pacific Fleet from California to Pearl Harbor to keep a better eye on the Japanese (Allen, 11-12). Afterward, a few of the Allies, U.S., Britain, and the Netherlands, ended all trade with Japan. Declining …show more content…
In Washington, D.C., U.S. codebreakers were slowly cracking the Japanese code. They learned that Japan was planning an attack and there was a Japanese spy on Oahu. In January of 1941, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, Joseph C. Grew, informed the nation’s capital that Japan was organizing a bombing on Pearl Harbor, yet nobody believed him. Three months later, the codebreakers finally decoded the messages, and Admiral Kichisaburo Nomura informed his superiors, but Japan was so confident in their code that they did not believe that the U.S. could decrypt it (“A Pearl Harbor Timeline”). Although Pearl Harbor’s bombing seemed to astonish civilians, those who followed politics would not have been surprised (“Failure of …show more content…
After much training, the pilots knew the plan: hit the warships Nevada, Arizona, Tennessee, West Virginia, Maryland, Oklahoma, and California (Sullivan, 4). One hundred eighty-three planes and eighty-nine bombers arrived that morning with the goal of causing so much damage to the Pacific Fleet that the US would be forced to once again initiate trade (Allen, 25). Deployed weeks prior, submarines had been awaiting the arrival of the planes for many days. Looking for a reported submarine, the USS Ward was the first to see the planes fly in(Sullivan, 2). Dropping torpedoes and bombs, planes went for their targets, and the Oklahoma capsized first. Although the Japanese celebrated a naval victory, their submarines, called midgets, did not strike anything (Allen,
On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, at 7:55 AM the Japanese Empire led a surprise attack on the US Naval base Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, that would leave millions of Americans in shock, and heartbroken. Before the attack, the United States kept a low profile on International affairs, and concentrated on the domestic affairs at hand. This tragic moment in American history forever remembered. It is a mournful day for the American people, although, for the Japanese Empire it was an honorable day, one they would call a
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.
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.
Japan and the United States had different kinds of relations that could have lead Japan to bomb Pearl Harbor.The United States military and Japan’s relationship seemed to get worse after Japan sank the USS Panay even though Japan apologized for sinking the ship. Japan became aware in the 19th and 20th century that there was threats from different nations influence became very loyal. During 1939 - 1945 the United States, for the second time, applied domestic penalties to Japan and sends to Europe military supplies because Germany, Italy, and Japan made the Anti Comintern Pact. Japan wanted to take control over some land in northeastern China, this lead to domestic penalties that were charged against Japan from the United States and Europe. Even though the United States saw Japan as a minor threat because Japan had a little military compared to the United States navy. Japan decided
Japan and the United States had different kinds of relations that could have lead Japan to bomb Pearl Harbor.The United States military and Japan’s relationship seemed to get worse after Japan sank the USS Panay even though Japan apologized for sinking the ship. Japan became aware of the 19th and 20th century that there was threats from the different nations influence became very loyal. During 1939 - 1945 the United States, for the second time, applied domestic penalties to Japan and sends to Europe military supplies because Germany, Italy, and Japan made the Anti Comintern Pact. Japan wanted to take control over some land in northeastern China, this lead to domestic penalties that were charged against Japan from the United States and Europe. Even though the United States saw Japan as a minor threat because Japan had a few military compared to the United States navy. Japan decided to
Pearl Harbor (1941): an American naval base in why you were Japanese warplanes discovered numerous ships and caused 3000 casualties on December 7, 1941 – a day that, and Pres. Roosevelt’s words, was to “live in infamy.” The attack brought United States into World War II.
Dec. 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor: During WWII, the Japanese bombed an American military base located in Hawaii because they wanted to increase their power in the Pacific. The bombing of Pearl Harbor left more than 2000 men dead and injured more than 1000. The attack also causes Congress to declare war on Japan the following day meaning the United States was officially involved in WWII. The attack on Pearl Harbor is important because it was the main factor that lead the United States to get involved in World War II.
On December 7th, 1941 Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan. On this horrific day over 2,400 Americans were killed by the bombs that the Japanese had dropped. A month preliminary to the attack, Japan sent a plenipotentiary to Washington to arrange the nation’s expansions in Asia. Although if the United States didn’t accept this aggression, Japan was ready to launch a surprise attack. President Roosevelt launched bombs to the Philippines between the Japanese and Dutch oil fields, before they had sent the plenipotentiary. The bombing of Pearl Harbor was over seven hours long, they were 353 Japanese fighter planes, torpedo planes launched bomb. They were a bombing blitz that destroyed 188 U.S. aircraft, had sunken 4 U.S. Navy battleships, and killed more than 2400 Americans with an additional 1,100 injured.
A series of Japanese codes broken by the U.S. Crytologist in 1920 revealed the country preparation for war, after decoding another of message that orders a ship to be position in Pearl Harbor (Glick). Before the raid Britain had broken Japanese codes and had key clues (Glick). They broke Japan’s diplomatic code; American officials knew about the Japan’s Embassy order to destroy its codes machines (Pearl Harbor). On October 9, 1941 the War Department decoded a Tokyo-to-Honolulu dispatch instructing the consul General to divide Pearl Harbor into five areas and to tell the exact location of American ship in that area (Perloff). The Dutch army decoded a dispatch forecasting attacks on four areas including Hawaii (Perloff). There were a lot of different Japanese codes that were cracked, warning of the Japanese going to attack on Pearl Harbor.
In Pearl Harbor and the Coming of the Pacific War by Akira Iriye, the author explores the events and circumstances that ended in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, an American naval base. Iriye assembles a myriad of primary documents, such as proposals and imperial conferences, as well as essays that offer different perspectives of the Pacific War. Not only is the material in Pearl Harbor and the Coming of the Pacific War informative of the situation between Japan and the United States, but it also provides a global context that allows for the readers to interpret Pearl Harbor and the events leading up to it how they may. Ultimately, both Pearl Harbor and the subsequent Pacific War between
On December 7th, 1941, 353 Japanese airplanes bombed and attacked Pearl Harbor killing 2,403 people. This date is a day that will be remembered throughout history, it is a “Day which will live in infamy”. The attack by the Japanese took multiple months to prepare successfully, damaged multiple battle ships, as well as took the lives of thousands of Americans. Our nation to this day, still puts all the faults on Japan. The Japanese are continuously remembered for the lives they took in 1941 and the destruction they brought upon the United States.
Jones, Sam J. "Japan, China, the United States and the Road to Pearl Harbor, 1937–41 -
The attack on Pearl Harbor was planned out very well by the Japanese, due to knowing that the American ships were in port on Sunday the 7th of December 1941 and also where each ship was located. The Japanese pilots had maps, photos and models of the bay so they would be prepared and also able to distinguish their main targets. At the time of the attack the Japanese infantry advanced in two separate striking forces. The attack consisted of over three hundred Japanese planes all six of Japan's first-line aircraft carriers, Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku, Zuikaku and also many fast battleships, torpedo bombers, destroyers, submarine and midget sub's.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was “A date that will live in infamy as President FDR declared it but not only was this an effect on american citizens, it was also a huge effect on Japanese citizens as well.
“Suddenly, in the early morning of December 7… the carriers released their planes, each stamped with a red sun representing the Japanese flag, swept down on the unsuspecting American naval base… dropping torpedoes and bombs.” President Roosevelt described Pearl Harbor as “a date which will live in infamy,” and launched the neutral United States into World War II. As every AP United States history textbook states, Japan suddenly attacked Pearl Harbor. Yet each book fails to mention a comprehensive explanation behind Japanese motives, such as Japanese politics, nationalism, and the divided nation. Although Pearl Harbor had one of the most significant impacts on the war, not much was mentioned from the Japanese perspective. If the United States adhered to their policy of neutrality, given the exceptions of the Lend Lease Act, shooting German u-boats at sight etc., why would the Japanese illogically decide to provoke the US? Every coin has two sides, and I wanted to learn about Japan’s perspective, instead of accepting the simplistic one sentence explanation I learned previously. This book certainly did not fail my expectations, for it provided a timeline of the complex year for Japan, detailed the failures of the government, the warring government officials, and thoroughly explained the decision behind why Japan decided to wage an unwinnable war, further slimming their chances of victory by inciting the United States to join.