Pearl Harbor

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Facts on Pearl Harbor

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Just before 8 on the morning of December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The barrage lasted just two hours, but it was devastating: The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan; Congress approved his declaration with just one dissenting vote. Three days later, Japanese allies Germany and Italy also declared war on the United States, and again Congress reciprocated. More than two years into the conflict, America had finally joined World War II. The United States was particularly unhappy with Japan’s increasingly belligerent attitude toward China. The Japanese government believed that the only way to solve its economic and demographic problems was to expand into its neighbor’s territory and take over its import market; Japan had declared war on China in 1937. American officials responded to this aggression with a battery of economic sanctions and trade embargoes. They reasoned that without access to money and goods, and especially essential supplies like oil, Japan would have to rein in its expansionism. Instead, the sanctions made the Japanese more determined to stand their ground. Hawaii and Japan were about 4,000 miles apart. For another, American intelligence officials were confident that any Japanese attack would take place in one of the (relatively) nearby European colonies in the South Pacific: the Dutch East Indies, for instance, or Singapore or Indochina. Because American military leaders were not expecting an attack so close to home, the naval facilities at Pearl Harbor were relatively undefended. Almost the entire Pacific Fleet was moored around Ford Island in the harbor, and hundreds of airplanes were squeezed onto adjacent airfields. To the Japanese, Pearl Harbor was an irresistible target. On December 7 the Japanese launched their attack. At about 8 a.m., Japanese planes filled the sky over Pearl Harbor. Bombs and bullets rained onto the vessels moored below. At 8:10, a 1,800-pound bomb smashed through the deck of the battleship USS Arizona and landed in her forward ammunition magazine. The ship exploded and sank with more than 1,000 men trapped inside. Next, torpedoes pierced the shell of the battleship USS Oklahoma. With 400 sailors aboard, the Oklahoma lost her balance, rolled onto her side and slipped underwater. By the time the attack was over, every battleship in Pearl Harbor–USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, USS California, USS West Virginia, USS Utah, USS Maryland, USS Pennsylvania, USS Tennessee and USS Nevada–had sustained significant damage. (All but USS Arizona and USS Utah were eventually salvaged and repaired.) In all, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor crippled or destroyed 18 American ships and nearly 300 airplanes. Dry docks and airfields were likewise destroyed. Most important, almost 2,500 men were

killed and another 1,000 were wounded. But the Japanese had failed to cripple the Pacific Fleet. By the 1940s, battleships were no longer the most important naval vessel: Aircraft carriers were, and as it happened, all of the Pacific Fleet’s carriers were away from the base on December 7. Moreover, the Pearl Harbor assault had left the base’s most vital onshore facilities–oil storage depots, repair shops, shipyards and submarine docks–intact. After the Pearl Harbor attack, and for the first time after years of discussion and debate, the American people were united in their determination to go to war. The Japanese had wanted to goad the United States into an agreement to lift the economic sanctions against them; instead, they had pushed their adversary into a global conflict that ultimately resulted in Japan’s first occupation by a foreign power. On December 8, Congress approved Roosevelt’s declaration of war. Three days later, Japanese allies Germany and Italy declared war against the United States. For the second time, Congress reciprocated. More than two years after the start of the conflict, the United States had entered
http://www.history.com/topics/pearl-harbor

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The attack on Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7, 1941. The Japanese attacked the United States without warning. The attack lasted 110 minutes, from 7:55 a.m. until 9:45 a.m. A total of 2,335 U.S. servicemen were killed and 1,143 were wounded. Sixty-eight civilians were also killed and 35 were wounded. The Japanese lost 65 men, with an additional soldier being captured. Pearl Harbor is on the south side of the Hawaiian island of Oahu and is the home to a U.S. naval base. Plans for a surprise attack against the United States were begun as early as January of 1941. The Japanese used the codename "Operation Hawaii" for the attack on Pearl Harbor. This later changed to "Operation Z." The Japanese specifically chose to attack on a Sunday because they believed Americans would be more relaxed and thus less alert on a weekend. The Japanese attack force stationed itself approximately 230 miles north of the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The Japanese launched their airplanes in two waves, approximately 45 minutes apart. The first wave of Japanese planes struck Pearl Harbor at 7:55 a.m. The second wave reached Pearl Harbor around 8:40 a.m. The main target of the Japanese was to be the aircraft carriers; however, since all three U.S. aircraft carriers were out to sea, the Japanese focused on the battleships. There were eight battleships at Pearl Harbor that day, which included all the battleships of the U.S. Pacific fleet except for one (the Colorado). Seven of the U.S. battleships were lined up in "Battleship Row." During the attack, the Nevada left its berth in Battleship Row and tried to make it to the harbor entrance. After being repeatedly attacked on its way, the Nevada beached itself.

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The Arizona exploded when a bomb breached its forward magazine (i.e. the ammunition room). Approximately 1,100 U.S. servicemen died on board. After being torpedoed, the Oklahoma listed so badly that it turned upside down. To aid their airplanes, the Japanese sent in five midget subs to help target the battleships. The Americans sunk four of the midget subs and captured the fifth. All eight U.S. battleships were either sunk or damaged during the attack. Amazingly, all but two (the Arizona and the Oklahoma) were eventually able to return to active duty. U.S. servicemen identified the invading planes as Japanese because of the "meatballs," what they called the large, red circle (the Rising Sun) on the side of Japanese planes. The Japanese struck the airfields at Hickam Field, Wheeler Field, Bellows Field, Ewa Field, Schoefield Barracks, and Kaneohe Naval Air Station. Many of the U.S. airplanes were lined up outside, along the airstrips, wingtip to wingtip, in order to avoid sabotage. Unfortunately, that made them easy targets for the Japanese attackers. Unable to get more than a handful of planes in the air, individual U.S. servicemen tried to shoot down the Japanese planes from the ground. When the Japanese left Pearl Harbor at 9:45 a.m., the Americans didn't realize the attack was actually over. They expected another wave to hit. The day following the attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that December 7, 1941 would be "a date that will live in infamy." The United States declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941, the day following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

http://history1900s.about.com/od/Pearl-Harbor/a/Pearl-Harbor-Facts.htm The attack was planned by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who commanded the Japanese aircraft carriers during the raid on U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. The main motive behind the attack was to conquer most of the Pacific and South East Asia and to neutralize the U.S. Pacific Fleet before they could fight against the Japanese. This took place 69 years ago and it lead to the United States into entering World War 2. A total of 353 planes were used that day. Husband E. Kimmel was the commander of U.S. Naval operations at Pearl Harbor on that fateful day. Today there is a memorial to the USS Arizona in Honolulu, Hawaii and it serves as a tomb for the 1000+ men that died that day. About 1.5 million people visit Pearl Harbor every year. Kazuo Sakamaki was the first prisoner of war in World War 2. We lost a lot of men, battleships, submarines, aircraft, and cruisers in this battle. http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-pearl-harbor-dec-7-1941-ill-fated-day-ushistory?image=0 the first consisting of 183 aircraft which included 40 torpedo planes, 49 level bombers, 51 dive bombers and 43 fighters. The second wave included 170 planes, 54 of them level bombers, 80 dive-bombers and 36 fighters.
Battleships

A warship used mainly for naval bombardment and protection of the fleet against air and surface attacks. Roughly equal to the size of three football fields, they floating fortresses eventually were replaced by aircraft carriers. Battleships were named for states.

cruisers are mainly deployed to conduct raids and protect members of the task force from enemy ships with naval bombardment and gunfire. Cruisers were named for territories, islands, cities and towns.
Arizona sunk, total loss California sunk, raised, repaired May 1944 Maryland damaged, repaired Feb. 1942 Nevada heavily damaged, repaired Dec. 1942 Oklahoma capsized, total loss Tennessee damaged, repaired Mar. 1942 West Virginia sunk, raised, repaired July 1944 Pennsylvania slightly damaged, repaired Aug. 1942

http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/teach/pearl/aftermath/facts.htm
toward the end of 1941, Japan had managed to capture key territories and oil resources in parts of Asia. America had refused to lift existing embargoes unless Japan left some of these territories, so Gen. Hideki Tojo secretly decided that Nov. 29 would be the last date Japan would accept a settlement with America to lift trade embargoes. Japan devised a plan to invade territories across Asia and the Pacific but was afraid of interference from the U.S. Pacific Fleet based in Pearl Harbor. Thus, they commenced the attack.       2,388 Americans died in the attack 1,178 Americans were wounded 21 American ships were sunk or damaged 323 American aircraft were destroyed or damaged 1,177 Americans involved in the attack were serving on the USS Arizona 333 servicemen serving on the USS Arizona survived the attack

An average of 4,000 people visit the site of the Pearl Harbor attack each day

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/07/pearl-harbor-day-key-facts-about-the-attack-on-december-71941/

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