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
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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
On the morning of December 7, 1941 approximately 100 U.S. Navy battleships, destroyers, cruisers, and support ships, were present at Pearl Harbor. All these assumptions were wrong. As the bombs rained on Pearl Harbor on the on infamous morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941, almost 3,000 Americans were killed. Six battleships were destroyed or rendered unseaworthy, and most of the ground planes were ravaged as well. Americans reacted with surprise and
Pearl harbor at 6:30 a.m. on December 7, 1941 six Japanese carriers launched its first wave of attack which consisted of one hundred and eighty-one different kinds of planes such as torpedo bombers, dive bombers, horizontal bombers, and fighters; as it was an unexpected attack in the hours before dawn U.S. Navy Vessels spotted an unidentified submarine near the entrance to pearl harbor. That very same submarine was attacked and reported as sunk by the navy destroyer U.S.S. Ward. One of the United States patrol plane's reported to an operator at the Army Radar Station at Opama. The pilot said "the first wave of attack is on it's way". The officer in charge did not act upon the pilot's information reason being of vague information. The officer took caution in making any judgments on what to do so he put the entire military base on standby. According to the radar sightings the planes were passed off as American Planes due for landing at Pearl Harbor Military Base. The purpose of the wave of attack was to destroy our aircrafts so they would not rise and intercept their fighters and bombers, also twenty-one ships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet was sunk or damaged.
What really pulled the United States into WWII was an attack on Pearl Harbor. Wanted so badly to stay out, the US joined WWII on December 8th by Declaring war with Japan. This started the end of the Ironic WWI, “War to End All Wars”. The reasons Japan attack Peral Harbor Sunday, December 7th, 1941 is debated and talked about. The Reasons Japan Attacked Peral Harbor were because of Japanese Expansion, a need for oil and an expansion to the US American Fleet.
December 7, 1941, was one of the worst attacks on the United States in U.S. history. Of that day 2,403 soldiers were killed in action, 1,178 were wounded in action. Numerous U.S. armed forces personnel were misjudged, which allowed the Japanese to carry out this terrible attack. Not only did the Japanese hit the U.S. where they knew it would hurt the most, but it crippled the United States’ entire Pacific Fleet.
Imagine the world if the United States didn’t enter the second World War. The United States was able to control the Germans, so they weren’t able to take over all of Europe; a whole continent to themselves. The United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on December 7th, 1944, because the United States cut off oil shipments to Japan so they would come to bargain. Instead of bargaining, the Japanese came to Pearl Harbor and proved that it was a mistake to cut off the oil supply. Another reason the United States joined the war was the Germans were sinking United States’ ships while taking supplies to England. They were even using unrestricted submarine warfare even though they promised not to do so in years prior.
World War II was a war that everyone will remember and will be remembered for many years to come. It could even be said that it killed more people, destroyed more property, and had far more reaching effects than any other war in history. New technologies were used in the war, such as the Atomic bomb, which opened up the nuclear age. Pearl Harbor was one of those events that will never be forgotten by Americans. Pearl Harbor was especially memorable to America because that caused us to get involved in the war and it outraged everyone in the country. The United States played a key role in the war. The bombing of Pearl Harbor was a major turning point in World War II.
The bombing of Pearl Harbor is an infamous day in America's history, as it was the event that brought the United States into World War II. One of the biggest questions left unanswered from that day was why Japan would attack the United States. However, there were many events leading up to that date that led to this bombing. Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor because of the American embargo on Japanese trade and the Japanese view that the United States posed a threat to Japan's power .
Japan bombing Pearl Harbor left 2,403 Americans dead, and millions of citizens startled. Pearl Harbor is a naval base off the coast of Hawaii. After killing thousands of America’s military, the United States was forced to join World War II. Immediately after the strike, many Americans became anti-Japanese and had vengeance for years to come. Japan had many reasons for causing this national uproar. Many people believe the Japanese government bombed Pearl Harbor due to financial disputes, power gains, and safety precautions.
suddenly attacked. Pearl Harbor was a devastating and tragic event for America. It also brought the U.S. into World War 2. Soldiers were drafted at a young age just to be killed in battle. History can't tell the exact reasons for Pearl Harbor’s occurrence. But, the U.S. mocking the Japanese race, restrictions made by the U.S., and the increased need for resources could possible have had a large part.
While battles raged in Europe, North Africa, and Asia, most Americans did not want their country involved in another war world war. There small contributions to the World War I left the US population were causes cautions with entering another war. Many government officials and policymakers such as President Franklin D. Roosevelt knew that it was impossible to avoid becoming involved in the World War II; yet, there was no public support. However, all of that changed on the morning of December 7, 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor. The purpose of the attack was to prevent the U.S Pacific fleet from interfering with Japan’s campaign in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States.
Pearl Harbor is a naval base on the island Oahu, Hawaii, it is also a major site of the U.S navy. A surprise attack happened by a fleet of around 1200 Japanese borne fighter planes on a Sunday morning on December 7, 1941, it imposed heavy damage to the harbor and that brought the U.S into World War II. The reason the attack on Pearl Harbor started was because the U.S put sanctions on Japan and that cut off the majority of their oil supply because Japan was a part of the axis forces; Germany Italy. Before the Pearl Harbor attack the United States was against getting into the war it had a policy called isolationism. One has to remember that just 20 years prior the United States was involved in World War I with many of the citizens not wanting
On December 7, 1941, Japanese fighter pilots attacked the U.S. naval base of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Just over 2,000 men lost their lives during the attack. Just a few days later, the United States declared war on Japan. Five months after the attacks in May 1942, The Battle of the Coral Sea took place, which featured a victory for the Japanese. This battle happened to bo the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other. Though the battle ended in a victory for the Japanese, it turned out to be a strategic victory for the Allies. Several Japanese carriers were damaged during Coral Sea, and were used again in the Battle of Midway. This
The United States was close to joining the war. To remain isolated and neutral they committed to sending war supplies on loan to the Allied forces (Great Britain, France, and Russia). President Franklin Roosevelt called December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy. December 7, the "date which will live in infamy," brought the United States into World War II. Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory. On that day, more than 2,300 Americans were killed. The bomb destroyed the American battleship U.S.S. Arizona and capsized the U.S.S. Oklahoma. The attack sank a total of twelve ships and damaged nine others. One-hundred sixty aircraft were destroyed and one- hundred fifty others were damaged.
The Japanese strike force contained 353 aircraft. The Japanese air force damaged 19 U.S navy ships. Fifty five Japanese airmen were killed in the attacked. Mitsuo Fuchida famous quote that relates to Pearl Harbor goes “It is said that the reason for a State to nurture its soldiers for years is to use them for just one day.
The event that brought forth the Idea to attack japan and destroy the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was Pearl Harbor. Japan had a history of executing surprise attacks before declaring war; one main example is when japan invaded Port Arthur in the Russo- Japanese war which would prove to be very successful . Many books were written prior to 1941 predicting an invasion of the Hawaiian Islands to gain access to the United States mainland including ‘The conflict of nations’, and ‘The valor of ignorance’ . The United States saw the military base on Hawaii as a point of power in the pacific and a last defense of their home land. Japan saw Hawaii as at point of expansion and an easy way for the United States to launch an attack on them. Attacking Pearl Harbor was not the original plan for japan. Japan wanted to bring the United States to them, but Japanese commander- in –Chief Isoroku Yamomoto pushed for an attack on the United States .pearl harbor was the home to the United States naval fleet and many fuel reserves. One of the main objects of japan was to destroy aircraft carriers and sink battle ships to put the United States fleet out of action and to discourage the people of the United States to not join the World War. The Japanese army spent over a year planning the attack and training pilots. The Japanese even created special torpedoes to operate in pear harbors shallow waters .