Peal Harbor Essay, Research Paper

The tragic events that took place on December 7, 1941, is a story that is in American

History books everywhere. It is the date of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese

just before America entered World War II. In this paper, I will describe the events that

eventually lead to Pearl Harbor, the attack itself, and the outcome of the attack.

Before the attack, American Officials were becoming concerned about the rising power in

the Far East. Because of this, the United States invited Great Britain, France, Japan and other

nations to a conference in Washington, DC, that began on November of 1921, and ended

February of 1922. In this meeting, each nation attending agreed to respect each other s rights

with regard to the possessions in the Pacific Ocean. Also, they agreed to guarantee China s

independence and territorial integrity. There were military agreements as well, each nation

having a limit put on their Navy according to size. In a solution worked out, Japan could have

three ships for every five American ships, and every five British ships. To Japan, this seemed

they had the smaller Navy, and the walked away feeling slighted, but in reality, they had Naval

supremacy. America and Britain had ships scattered around the world, but Japan had ships mainly

in the Pacific, so even though it seemed like they had gotten the raw end of the deal, they actually

came out on top (Shapiro, 25-26).

With the crash of the Stock Market in 1929, the United States wanted to focus solely on

their problems and how to fix them. With that, they became increasingly isolated from Japan, and

with the Japanese invading Manchuro, and the rise of Adolf Hitler in 1933, the US saw this as

a crumbling world order, and wanted to take no part of it In 1936, the Japanese announced that

they could no longer abide by the military agreements of 1922. It was somewhat obvious that

Japan wanted to expand their empire, and would stop at nothing to get what they wanted. The

US Ambassador to Japan, Joseph Grew, warned President Roosevelt that Japan wanted to carry

out plans to dominate China, the Philippines, and British and Dutch possessions in Southeast Asia.

Grew said that their plans included military force and diplomacy. This proved to be true a year

later when Japan became the dominant nation in Eastern Asia. During Japan s invasion of China,

many Americans were killed, causing a rise of an Anti-Japanese assessment in the US, but

were built even stronger when the American ship Panay was sunk by Japanese planes in

December 1937. The Japanese apologized profusely about the incident, and the Americans were

quick to forgive. They wanted no part of a conflict, they only asked that American ships be

removed from China(Shapiro, 28-32).

President Roosevelt played it smart by building up the military over the course of a few

years. He wanted to be prepared if we were to encounter a conflict of any kind. As the US

armed itself, it also supplied Britain with arms. We gave them several planes and ships to help

the nation in a time if need, but some people had something to say about it, even though we were

repaid by Britain giving us leases on several British bases. When Britain couldn t repay,

however, Roosevelt created the Lend-Lease act, which enabled the US to transfer supplies to the

Allies is necessary. Roosevelt s short of war policy was created to aid Britain, but he also

had something else in mind when he drew up the Lend-Lease Act. By helping the other Allies, he

was buying time to build up the US s military. He also hoped that these actions would restrain

the Japanese from attacking. To further restrain them, he also had a strong fleet stationed in Pear

l

Harbor, Hawaii(Shapiro, 33-34). This later proved to be a big mistake.

At the very start of 1941, the US made it clear to Japan that of they wanted friendlier

relations, Japan had to withdraw their troops from China, and even though Japan wasn t yet

ready to go to war with the US, they still refused to heed the US s warning. Yamamoto s plans

were now being discussed. Word of this reached Ambassador Grew, and he immediately notified

Washington, and US Secretary of te Navy Frank Knox also reported that Japan may carry out

a surprise attack on either the Fleet Naval Base, and Pearl Harbor. When Grew s letter was read

by National Intelligence, it was ignored because they thought no such thing could occur(Shapiro

39-40)

In early 1941, Japanese military was not quite ready to take on the US, despite the fact

they had naval supremacy. There was still the chance that is Japan moved to attack the United

States, Russia would attach Japan from the North. Japanese Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka

called a meeting with Germany. In this meeting, Matsuoka and Hitler reached an agreement that

if Russia attacked Japan, then Germany would step in to help. This was not enough for

Matsuoka. On April 13, he traveled to Moscow to sign a non-aggression pact with the Soviet

Union. With the satisfaction he needed, he could now concentrate on his surprise attack(Shapiro,

40-44).

With hardening positions, Japan stepped up for it s preparation for war. Pearl Harbor

had already been picked for the target. Immediately, Japanese soldiers began finding the quickest

route to Hawaii. Japanese Naval Intelligence also was taking steps to gather information. On

September 24, the Japanese consulate in Honolulu was asked the following: With regard to

warships and aircraft carriers, we would like to have you report on those at anchor, tied up at

wharves, buoys, and docks. The Signal Intelligence Service decoded the message, but thought

nothing of it. Many similar messages had been received before in Hawaii and other places, so

to them, there was no cause for alarm(Shapiro,46-47)

On November 5, Yamamoto issued Combined Fleet Operational No. 1, and it detailed

Japan s war plans. This command consisted of destroying the American Fleet, and cutting off

their supply to the East. They would also attack other nations as well. One month before

Pearl Harbor, the exact location and time was picked-December 7, 1941. This particular date

was picked because it was on a Sunday, and most of the Naval Officers would be there. Pearl

Harbor was picked because the Fleet usually docked there from Friday to Monday. As these

plans were carried out, Japan continued to negotiate with the United States, however, Roosevelt

knew the Japanese were not negotiating in good faith, and knew a strike was imminent.

Notices were sent out to warn commanders of a strike, and one was even sent to Pearl Harbor.

On December 6, the day before Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt sent a letter asking him to help restore

traditional amity, and prevent further death and destruction in the world. This did not reach

the emperor until after the attack on Pearl Harbor, but it wouldn t have done any good anyway

if the message had been received earlier, because the events were beyond the Emperor s control

(Shapiro, 50-51)

On December 7, 1941, some Naval Officers were eating breakfast, others were preparing

to go to Sunday service, others just waking up. They were not aware of the danger that awaited

them. The first shot happened at 6:45 a.m., but this was more than an hour before the planes

arrived, and the first casualty was Japanese, not American. Commanders were notified that a

midget submarine was trying to sneak into Pearl Harbor, and the Americans sunk it immediately,

following orders to fire on unidentified submarines. An opportunity to alert the fleet was lost

when those working at the Army radar stations saw several apparitions on the screen. They were

told to disregard it because the officer who saw the blips was certain they were American planes

coming to Hawaii from the Mainland. Boy, was he even wrong(Shapiro,55-59)

At 7:40 a.m., Japan had reached Pearl Harbor. They were given their orders to attack,

and they fired on unsuspecting men. Fortunately, there were no air craft carriers, because they

were all in route elsewhere, but every other ship was there, all lined up like ducks in a row. Not

a single plane went to meet the Japanese, and all the Battleships were docked. They had achieved

complete surprise. All the men thought there were witnessing an aid raid drill until the planes got

close enough for them to see the Rinsing Suns on the side if the plane. The following ships were

attacked by the Japanese: the battleships Nevada, Arizona, Tennessee, West Virginia, Oklahoma,

and California; also attacked was an eighth battleship, the Pennsylvania. The fist ship to be hit,

the Raleigh, was hit, and leaned to one side. The first ship to be sunk, the Utah, was struck

repeatedly, and quickly sunk to the bottom. The U.S.S. Arizona was bombed and went down

1,000 souls on board, leaving them trapped in a watery grave for all eternity. The Vestal, a

repair ship was also struck and was set ablaze, but the wind from the force of the Arizona being

hit put out the fire, and blew 100 sailors overboard. Also sunk were the Oklahoma, and the

West Virginia. The West Virginia went took 105 sailors with her. In all, 188 planes were

destroyed, and several hundred men were killed. The attack ended about 10:00 am.. The

Japanese got away with minimal loss: 29 planes, 1 submarine, 5 midget submarines, and fewer

than 100 men, in contrast, the American loss was great: 18 major ships, 188 planes, and 2,403

people were killed, including 68 civilian(Shapiro, 60-66). There were many questions to be

answered, and December 22, 1941 until after World War II ended, eight different investigations

were held(UJBR, 533). The fact that the Japanese did not return to Pearl Harbor was a

blessing. They had neglected to destroy the Fuel Carriers. Had they done this, it would have

crippled our Fleet, and the US would have been forced to retreat to the West Coast(UJBR,534).

The following day, Roosevelt declared war on Japan, and as a result, Germany and Italy

declared war on the US on December 11. World War II was now a world wide war. The

Japanese had hoped to crush the spirits of the Americans, but it united us in a way as never

before; we would not be defeated. Women went to work in factories as their husbands went to

war. All served their country in some way, whether great or small, all did their duty, and they

all had the same battle cry: REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR!! (Shapiro, 71-78)

In conclusion, all things happen for a purpose, whether good or bad, and Pearl Harbor

happened for a reason. Even though it was a horrible tragedy, the US with all her strength was

pulled into the war and helped the other countries from the rule of tyrants like Hitler, Stalin, and

Mussolini. It was somewhat a blessing in disguise, and it is not hard to see when you ask

yourself this simple question: What would the world be like today if the Unites States had not

entered the war? To me, it s something to think about.