Attack on Pearl Harbor

• 1. Background And Diplomacy

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  On the 7th of December 1941, the Empire of Japan launched a surprise military strike on the United States Pacific Fleet at its naval base at Pearl Harbor. At that moment, the U.S. remained a neutral country in World War II. Tensions had been rising for decades since the late 1890s when Japan annexed islands like Hawaii and the Philippines. Japanese strategic thinkers believed they needed economic self-sufficiency to wage modern war. The experiences of World War I taught them that prolonged conflicts required total mobilization and created vulnerabilities to trade embargoes. Japan relied heavily on American oil imports to fuel forces in occupied Manchuria. A memorandum dated the 24th of October 1934, from Stanley K. Hornbeck described how Standard Oil New Jersey head Walter C. Teagle gave special treatment to the Japanese government. This arrangement meant most petroleum imported into Japan originated from America. Events such as the attack on USS Panay and the Nanking Massacre swung Western public opinion sharply against Japan starting in December 1937. In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the entire Pacific Fleet from San Diego to Hawaii. He also ordered a military buildup in the Philippines hoping to discourage Japanese aggression. By July 1941, the United States finally ceased all oil exports following the seizure of French Indochina. Negotiations between Washington and Tokyo continued throughout 1941 but failed repeatedly. On the 26th of November 1941, the Hull note required Japan to completely evacuate China without conditions. That same day, the Japanese task force left port for Pearl Harbor.

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• 2. Japanese Strategic Planning

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  Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto planned the attack as a pre-emptive strike on the Pacific Fleet based at Pearl Harbor since 1940. His goal was to prevent American interference with Japan's planned actions in Southeast Asia. Full-scale planning began early in 1941 under Rear Admiral Ryūnosuke Kusaka with assistance from Commander Minoru Genda. The planners studied the 1940 British air attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto intensively. Emperor Hirohito did not approve the attack plan until November 5 after four Imperial Conferences. Final authorization came December 1 when most leaders advised him the Hull note would destroy the fruits of the China incident. A Gallup poll just before the attack found 52% of Americans expected war with Japan while 27% did not. Officials doubted Pearl Harbor would be the first target because they expected an attack on the Philippines instead. They incorrectly believed Japan could not mount more than one major naval operation simultaneously. The Japanese attack had several aims including destroying important American fleet units and buying time to consolidate positions. Leaders subscribed to Alfred Thayer Mahan's decisive battle doctrine focusing on maximum battleship destruction. Confidence in winning a short war meant other targets like navy yards and oil tank farms were left unscathed. Despite these concerns, Yamamoto decided to press ahead with the strike.

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• 3. The Attack Execution

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  On the 26th of November 1941, a Japanese task force of six aircraft carriers departed Hittokapu Bay en route to a position northwest of Hawaii. The force intended to launch 408 aircraft to attack Pearl Harbor: 360 for two waves and 48 on defensive combat air patrol. The first wave was detected by United States Army radar at Opana Point but misidentified as B-17 bombers arriving from California. Operators Privates George Elliot Jr. and Joseph Lockard reported a target to Private Joseph P. McDonald who assumed it was scheduled bombers. Lieutenant Kermit A. Tyler presumed the large formation was just routine arrivals despite never seeing such numbers before. The Japanese air assault began at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian time with attacks starting at Kaneohe. A total of 353 Japanese planes reached Oahu in two waves. Slow torpedo bombers led the first wave exploiting surprise to attack battleships while dive bombers struck American air bases across Oahu. The second wave attacked Bellows Field near Kaneohe and Ford Island. Only aerial opposition came from a handful of P-36 Hawks, P-40 Warhawks and some SBD Dauntless dive bombers from the carrier Enterprise. Men aboard ships awoke to alarms, bombs exploding, and gunfire prompting them to dress while running to General Quarters stations. Ensign Joseph Taussig commanded antiaircraft guns until severely wounded but remained at his post. Captain Mervyn Bennion led men aboard the USS West Virginia until cut down by bomb fragments.

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• 4. Casualties And Damage

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  Ninety minutes after it began, the attack ended leaving 2,403 Americans killed and 1,178 wounded. Eighteen ships were sunk or run aground including five battleships. Nearly half of American fatalities resulted from the explosion of Arizona's forward magazine after being hit by a modified shell. Author Craig Nelson noted most sailors killed were junior enlisted personnel living on boats rather than officers in houses. Nine Honolulu Fire Department firefighters became the only fire department members on American soil attacked by a foreign power. Fireman Harry Tuck Lee Pang died near hangars by machine-gun fire while Captains Thomas Macy and John Carreira died battling flames inside burning structures. The light cruiser St. Louis was torpedoed and the concussion capsized neighboring minelayer Helena. Two destroyers Cassin and Downes burned out when bombs penetrated fuel bunkers flooding dry docks with burning oil. Of 402 American aircraft in Hawaii, 188 were destroyed and 159 damaged with 155 on the ground. Only eight Army Air Forces pilots managed to get airborne during the attack. Six were credited with downing at least one Japanese aircraft: Lieutenants Lewis M. Sanders, Philip M. Rasmussen, Kenneth M. Taylor, George S. Welch, Harry W. Brown, and Gordon H. Sterling Jr. Thirty Consolidated PBY Catalinas were destroyed while three returning undamaged had been on patrol.

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• 5. Media Coverage And Reaction

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  The initial announcement came from White House Press Secretary Stephen Early at 2:22 p.m. Eastern time stating Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor from the air. First radio coverage appeared on CBS World News Today at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time read by John Charles Daly then switching to London for Robert Trout's ad-libbed reaction. NBC cut into a play called The Inspector-General at 2:33 p.m. lasting only 21 seconds. Commercial television had started just six months earlier so only a few thousand TV sets existed mostly in New York City. WNBT interrupted comedy movie Millionaire Playboy while WCBW broadcast special reports that evening. No recordings exist of either station's visual or audio coverage. Three National Football League games happened simultaneously including Chicago Bears versus Cardinals and Brooklyn Dodgers versus New York Giants. Fans found out about attacks through phone calls placed at stadiums or newsboys outside grounds. Redskins owner George Preston Marshall stated he did not want to divert fans' attention from his game. In Japan, news was first broadcast at 11:30 AM Japanese Standard Time though already announced shortly after 7 AM that war had entered. The Asahi Shimbun reported the attack day it occurred while NHK covered news positively throughout the rest of the month. Coverage elsewhere included BBC broadcasts announcing Manila was also under attack.

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• 6. Political Aftermath And Internment

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  President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his famous Day of Infamy speech to Congress less than an hour after requesting formal declaration of war on December 8. Congress obliged his request immediately. On December 11, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States even without Tripartite Pact obligations. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill promised to declare war within the hour of any Japanese attack on America. He summoned the Japanese ambassador nine hours before the U.S. did declaring war on Japan. Within hours of the attack, hundreds of Japanese-American leaders were rounded up taken to high-security camps like Sand Island mouth of Honolulu harbor. More than 110,000 Japanese Americans nearly all living on West Coast forced into interior camps. Hawaii where over one-third population composed of 150,000-plus Japanese Americans saw only 1,200 to 1,800 interned. Canadian province British Columbia passed Order-in-Council P.C. no. 1486 the 24th of February 1942 allowing forced removal of Canadians of Japanese descent from province. Regulations adopted March 4 evacuated 12,000 to interior camps while another 2,000 sent to road camps or prairie sugar beet farms. Fifteen Medals of Honor awarded to American servicemen distinguishing themselves in combat at Pearl Harbor alongside fifty-one Navy Crosses and fifty-three Silver Stars.

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• 7. Strategic Implications

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  Rear Admiral Chūichi Hara summed up results saying they won great tactical victory but lost the war. Unknown to Yamamoto, United States Navy decided as far back as 1935 to abandon charging across Pacific toward Philippines adopting Plan Dog emphasizing keeping IJN out eastern Pacific. American aircraft carriers remained untouched otherwise Pacific Fleet ability to conduct offensive operations would have been crippled for year or more. Six of eight battleships repaired returned service but their low speed limited deployment serving mainly shore bombardment roles. Major flaw in Japanese strategic thinking was reliance on Kantai Kessen belief ultimate battle fought by battleships hoarding them for decisive battle never happening. Survival repair shops and fuel depots allowed Pearl Harbor maintain logistical support enabling Doolittle Raid and Battles Coral Sea Midway. Submarines immobilized Imperial Japanese Navy heavy ships bringing Japan's economy virtual standstill by crippling oil importation. Basement Old Administration Building housed cryptanalytic unit contributing significantly to Midway ambush and submarine force success. Failure follow attack with invasion Hawaii seen another strategic failure though experts find unlikely Japan could pull off such feat. Admiral Seijiro Kawashima argued as early as 1932 that failing take Hawaii would doom war prolonged preventing Japan winning.

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