The recent terrorist attacks on September 11th in Washington and New York City caused the greatest loss of life in a domestic incident of war since Pearl Harbor. Many Americans felt the September 11th events were similar to the surprise attack by the Japanese in 1941 on the United States on Pearl Harbor. The United States is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the East, the Pacific Ocean to the West and is bordered by two friendly nations, Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. Attacks on United States soil have therefore been rare.
Both the World Trade Center and Pearl Harbor were, however, surprise attacks that resulted in a great loss of life and changed the course of history. Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States was an isolationist country and coming out of the Great Depression. There was a war raging in Europe in 1939 that involved many United States allies. Hitler’s German troops were attacking France, Poland, Great Britain and other European countries. Despite the attacks on these United States allies, citizens in the United States wanted to remain neutral.
Meanwhile, in the Pacific, Japan had invaded China and Indochina and was making preparations for broader war. As late as December 1941, Americans thought that the United States Government should stay out of World War II and not interfere with European and Asian affairs (Gailey 29). On the morning of December 7, 1941 Japan launched a surprise attack against the United States and its Pacific Fleet based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii–“A day which will live in infamy”. The United States immediately entered the war and changed the course of the 20th century.
Pearl Harbor is a land-locked harbor on the Southern coast of the Oahu Island in Hawaii. It is West of Honolulu. Pearl Harbor is one of the largest and best natural harbors in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Close by are many United States military installations. They include the Chief US Pacific Naval Base, Hickam Airforce Base, Pearl Harbor Naval Air Station and Camp H. M. Smith, which is headquarters of the United States Pacific Command. The United States gained territorial rights in Hawaii in 1887 when the Hawaiian monarchy permitted a coaling and repair station for United States ships.
The United States annexed Hawaii as a territory in 1900, which is when Pearl Harbor was made a United States naval base. Harbor improvements and fortifications were later added after the Berlin Pact was signed in 1940 by the Axis nations (Pearl Harbor, 2001). Relations between Japan and America had been difficult since the United States acquired Hawaii in 1900, and some authors believe that the Pearl Harbor attack was the result of a rivalry between the United States and Japan which had lasted almost half a century (Gailey 1).
Japan was pursuing imperialistic plans in Asia and the Pacific, and had invaded China and Korea during the 1930s. In 1937, Japan intentionally sunk a United States ship on the Yangtze River in China, killing three and wounding eleven Americans. President Roosevelt wanted to stop Japan’s aggression and quickly moved to end trading key supplies with Japan. President Roosevelt froze all Japanese assets in the United States and placed an oil embargo on Japan (Renzi 5-13). The embargo greatly angered the Japanese Government, which felt that war with the United States was now inevitable (Bahrenburg 2).
The Japanese followed two strategies in response to the actions of the United States. One was to negotiate to get the oil embargo lifted and the other was to prepare for war. The Japanese were expecting the United States to ultimately declare war on Japan as Japan invaded countries throughout the Pacific, but not be willing to fight long and hard enough to win the war (World War II, 2001). In 1939, World War II began with Germany attacking France, Poland and other European countries, with Great Britain coming to their defense.
Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States had been able to keep out of World War II even while focusing on the war in Europe and greatly supporting Great Britain against Germany and Italy. International policy of the United States in 1941 was to deal with “Europe first” because Germany posed a bigger threat to the United States than Japan did. The United States could not stay out of the war that began in Hawaii, its major Pacific territory, when 360 Japanese planes attacked the United States Pacific Fleet (Bahrenburg 12).
Unknown to anyone, the plans for the attack on Pearl Harbor had been in the works for a very long time. Japan’s purpose in attacking Pearl Harbor was to knock the United States Pacific Fleet out of action long enough for Japan to continue to invade countries in the Pacific. Japanese Admiral Nagumo’s 1st Air Fleet had begun forming at Hitokappu Bay in November 1941. This task force consisted of 33 ships, including 2 battleships, 3 cruisers, 11 destroyers, 3 submarines and several tankers.
On November 26th the Japanese Fleet headed for Pearl Harbor. United States observers, who had been watching the movements of the Japanese Fleet, had lost track on November 16th of the Japanese ships on radar. The Japanese Fleet encountered very bad weather on its voyage, but this actually helped the Japanese because it kept the fleet undetected. On December 2nd, the Japanese Fleet was given the authorization from Tokyo to attack when ready. Prior to the attack, Japanese and American diplomats were negotiating in last minute efforts to avoid war.
The Japanese diplomats were unaware of the planned attack, and even met with the United States representatives in Washington the morning of the attack (Layton 199). On December 7th, the Japanese Fleet reached launch position 180 miles North of Pearl Harbor. The attack came without any formal declaration of war. At 5:30 a. m. two Japanese scout planes flew high over Pearl Harbor. These flights were spotted on United States radar but were assumed by the United States that these planes were just friendly flights. A little before 6:00 a. m. , the Japanese launched the first wave of the assault.
The first wave consisted of 180 airplanes, and only one was lost in the first launch. The second wave was launched soon after the first with no casualties. The Japanese now had 351 airplanes speeding towards Pearl Harbor. The first bombs of the Japanese attack fell on Kaneohe Naval Air Station at 7:47 a. m. That morning fortunately over half of the United States Pacific Fleet was out at sea, including all of the United States aircraft carriers (Brief Overview of the Attack, 7 July 2001). There were 9 American battleships in Pearl Harbor that morning as well as a number of destroyers and cruisers.
As torpedoes ripped through battleship row, diesel oil poured into the harbor. The thick oil made swimming almost impossible for the sailors who survived the bombs. Once the diesel oil became ignited, clouds of black smoke raised everywhere. By 8:35 a. m. the first wave of the Japanese attack had finished its work. The first attack left most of the United States Pacific Fleet burning in the harbor: battleships Maryland and Tennessee damaged, Arizona destroyed, Oklahoma capsized, California and West Virginia resting at the bottom of the harbor.
The battleship Nevada was the only survivor after the first wave of the attack. By 9:00 a. m. the second wave of Japanese planes arrived. Nevada quickly became a target for the second wave’s attack. The Japanese used specially designed torpedoes for the attack on battleship row, which had been designed in anticipation of the shallow waters of Pearl Harbor. By now American anti-aircraft guns were trying to put up some sort of defense. The final target of the attack was the flagship, Pennsylvania. Oil was pouring out into the water. The oil was ignited and destroyers Cassin and Downes exploded.
Hickam Field was also the site of another Japanese surprise attack. Eighteen American bombers and fighters were destroyed or damaged. A few U. S. fighters got into the air and made themselves known. Twenty-nine Japanese aircraft were shot down by American pilots and by ground fire from military installations on Oahu (Brief Overview of the Attack, 7 July 2001). By 10 a. m. the Japanese attack was over. Tank farms and shore installations were left untouched (Renzi 45).
Nineteen United States naval vessels were sunk or severely damaged. 8 United States aircraft were destroyed on the ground. United States military casualties amounted to 2,280 killed and 1,109 wounded. 68 American civilians were also killed in the attack (Pearl Harbor, 2001). The Japanese lost only 29 of 351 planes launched in this attack. Some people believe that the attack on Pearl Harbor was ultimately a suicide mission for the Japanese in the long run (Renzi 45). On December 8, 1941 the United States and Great Britain declared war on Japan (Weintraub 629). Japan promptly declared war on the United States and Great Britain.
Germany and Italy declared war on the United States on December 11th even though Hitler wanted to avoid a war with America. Americans were so surprised by the attack on Pearl Harbor, that they believed that there had been a serious breakdown in the United States intelligence. The United States had been watching the developments of the Japanese Fleet prior to the attack but somehow the United States lost track of them. The United States authorities had broken the Japanese diplomatic code and had learned late in the evening of December 6th that war with Japan was imminent and an attack could be on the way.
A warning from Washington to Pearl Harbor was sent but because of delays in transmission, the warning arrived after the raid had begun. The attack on Pearl Harbor was the first surprise attack on the United States in modern history. “Remember Pearl Harbor” became a rallying cry for Americans during World War II (Pearl Harbor, 1986). It made Americans even more determined to go kill the enemy. The surprise attack on September 11th similarly made Americans more determined to defeat the enemy.
