preview

The Attack On Pearl Harbor

Decent Essays

1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor It was the Japanese that launched a surprise torpedo attack on December 7th of 1941 against American Naval base at Pearl Harbor, which was located in Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. In just two hours, the Japanese flew hundreds of fighter planes destroying almost twenty American naval vessels; including eight ships and over two hundred planes, and killing off over two thousands soldiers and sailors. After this barrage, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. Only three days later, Japan’s allies, Germany and Italy also declared war on the U.S. It was this attack that led us into World War II. The U.S. was never happy with the way Japan had been acting towards and treating China. …show more content…

There was lots of negotiation between Tokyo and Washington D.C for months, but nothing seemed to change. Neither side would bulge. At this point, war was inevitable. With Japan and Hawaii being more than four thousand miles apart, no one believed that the Japanese would start the war with an attack on American territory. Flying that far to start a war seemed to be very inconvenient for both sides. Also, American intelligence officers were not expecting attack so close to home, so the naval base at Pearl Harbor was nearly unarmed or prepared. They thought if they were going to get bombed on, it would be somewhere relatively closer like the Dutch Indies, Singapore, or Indochina, which were all European colonies in the South Pacific. Japan new that the Pearl Harbor was an irresistible target because hundreds of ships and planes were squeezed onto this base. Also, most of the Pacific Fleet was secured around this harbor. Japan’s plan for attack was surely simple. It was to destroy the Pacific Fleet so Americans would not be able to fight back when the rest of Japan’s army goes to the south of the Pacific. After months and days of planning and reviewing, it was final. The day of December 7th was when they took off after the Pearl Harbor. The attack came in two waves. According to Fact Sheet: Pearl Harbor, the first wave, starting just before eight that morning, consisted of one hundred and eighty-three aircrafts, which also included forty torpedo

Get Access