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Japanese Targeting Pearl Harbor

Page history last edited by elmo 13 years, 10 months ago

 

 

         The Japanese launched a surprise attack on the United States naval base Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.(Attack on Pearl Harbor)  They chose to attack there for several reasons. The Japanese badly needed oil, which they could find in the Pacific Islands as long as the U.S. Navy was out of the picture. (What Happened?) Attacking at Pearl Harbor was where they could do the most possible damage to the Pacific fleet.  The Japanese would only lose 100 pilots next to around 3,000 American Casualties.(Snyder)(Attack on Pearl Harbor).  The Japanese attacked at Pearl Harbor because they wanted the U.S. Navy out of the way, they would be able to inflict the maximum damage, and they could get away without serious casualties.

 

 

 

Contents

 


 

 

 

Pearl Harbor from a bomber's view 

 

Why Did They Choose Pearl Harbor?

 

       Japan was in dire need of oil to power their air force and navy in order to continue their conquest of Asia (Attack on Pearl Harbor). To do this, they decided to take over the islands in the Pacific. (Attack on Pearl Harbor) The U.S. Had put an embargo on Japan, which meant that the Japanese could not get any oil from America. (Attack on Pearl Harbor) Experts explain, "Japanese military leaders recognized the American naval strength as the key deterrent to war with the united states"(Attack on Pearl Harbor).  In order to take islands like the Philippines and the East Indies, the Japanese would have to cripple the U.S. naval fleet at Pearl Harbor by sending bombers to attack. 

An American ship burning after Pearl Harbor

 

 

What Damage Did They Do?

 

       The Japanese attack was very successful.   American ships were at least badly damaged. (Snyder) A total of about 2,896 deaths were sustained on the American side. (Snyder) As quoted by a soldier stationed at Pearl Harbor,"I couldn't believe all the black smoke coming from the ships and gasoline that was on fire."(Ostanski) The majority of the aircraft was destroyed by the bombers as well.  Probably the worst loss was the USS Arizona. The battleship was damaged beyond repair, and hundreds of crew members were killed on board. (Snyder) Luckily for the U.S., the fleet's carriers happened to be out at sea.(Snyder)  This allowed them to counter attack Japan much quicker. It would have taken them an estimated year longer to recover had the carriers been at dock that day.  

 

An American Airfield destroyed after the attack

 

What happened to the Japanese?

 

 

       They began the attack at approximately 0755 (7:55).(What Happened?) They only lost about 100 pilots in the ambush. (Synder) Also, they ended up losing five of their midget submarines. (Snyder) In addition to loss of some equipment and a few soldiers, they made the strategical mistake of assuming that the U.S. would not be able to counter attack. As previously stated, "The assumption was that before the United States could recover from the surprise blow the Japanese would be able to seize all of their objectives"  However, this assumption was wrong, and America joining the war would eventually be Japan's demise. Japanese Americans would also suffer greatly due to Japanese Internment Camps which were set up in fear of Japanese spies.

 

 

 

 

Front Page

 

 

Works Cited 

“Attack on Pearl Harbor.” World War two history info. N.p., 2010. Web. 16 May 2010. <http:/‌worldwar2history.info/‌Pearl-Harbor/>. #4

 

Japanese Bomber Attacking “Battle Ship Row.” 1941. JPEG file. Captured Japanese Photo

 

Pfaff, Rachel. “Attack on Pearl Harbor.” Ebsco Host. N.p., 5 May 2008. Web. 1 May 2010. <http://web.ebsco host.com>. #1

 

A Ship Burns In The Japanese Pearl Harbor Attack. 2005. JPEG file.

 

Snyder, Louis. “Pearl Harbor.” Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Grolier online , 2010. Web. 3 May 2010. <http://go.grolier.com>. #2

 

“What Happened?” Pearl Harbor History. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2010. <http:/‌www.pearlharbor.org>. #3

 

The Wreckage of the Naval Air Station in Hawii. 2005. photograph.

                                                                                                                                  ~Elmo

 

 

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