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Pearl Harbor Research Paper

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On the 7th of December 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy executed a surprise military strike against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbour ultimately resulting in the entry of America to World War II. Japan intended the attack as a preventive action to stop the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions. The base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese fighter planes, bombers and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers, resulting in the death of 2,403 Americans, with a further 1,178 wounded. The attack left severe short term effects on the American troops and initiated long term effects on the soldiers themselves, and the American society.
The bombing of Pearl Harbour was originally a preventive …show more content…

The United States were wanting to stay out of oversea affairs but with the sudden attack it gave President Roosevelt no choice but to enter the war. When Pearl Harbour was bombed, the United States affective immediately declared war against Japan. All six of the Japanese Aircraft Carriers which were involved with the attack were sunk by the Americans. There were multiple sea battles, bombing raids, and ultimately it led to the dropping of two bombs, one on Hiroshima and the other on Nagasaki. The Japanese leadership wanted to fight a weakened foe, so they tried to conquer the Pacific while the rest of the world was fighting elsewhere. The attack on Pearl Harbour brought the United States from the sidelines into the actual conflict. This pushed the American army against the Japanese, but it also added American troops to the allied conflict in Europe. The U.S resources (soldiers, weapons, food, transportation, etc.) to operate the military were spread thin because of the necessity to fight on two fronts. If the U.S. had not been required to fight in the Pacific and in Europe, either war would have finished a lot sooner. These actions led to the American people rallying behind the war effort and led to a rapid increase in the recruitment rates of the U.S. military. (A popular poster used as propaganda after the attack is displayed in …show more content…

In all, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor crippled or destroyed nearly 20 American ships and more than 300 airplanes. Dry docks and airfields were likewise destroyed, but the Japanese has still failed to cripple the Pacific Fleet. The base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese fighter planes, bombers, and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four sunk. All but Arizona were later raised, and six were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded. (A picture of the aftermath of the attack is shown in the booklet in focus question 3) Important base installations such as the power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not attacked. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 64 servicemen killed. One Japanese sailor, Kazuo Sakamaki, was captured. By the 1940s, battleships were no longer the most important naval vessel: Aircraft carriers were, and as it happened, most of the Pacific Fleet’s carriers were away from the

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