American Studies



39 interesting Pearl Harbor facts:The attack commenced at 7:55 A.M. on Sunday, December 7, 1941The attack lasted 110 minutes, from 7:55 a.m. until 9:45 a.m.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 Japanese attacked the United States without warningWhen Japanese Commander Mitsuo Fuchida called out, “Tora! Tora! Tora!” (“Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!”) upon flying over Pearl Harbor, it was a message to the entire Japanese navy telling them they had caught the Americans totally by surprise.The Japanese traveled 3,400 miles across the Pacific to execute their attack on Pearl HarborThe Japanese attack force stationed itself approximately 230 miles north of the Hawaiian island of Oahu.Plans for a surprise attack against the United States were begun as early as January of 1941.The Japanese forces were led by?Vice Admiral Chuichi NagumoThe Japanese fleet consisted of 353 planesThe 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.Many U.S. servicemen were either still in their pajamas or eating breakfast in the mess halls when the attack on Pearl Harbor began.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 only attacked the ships at Pearl Harbor Naval base and airplanes at Hickman Airfield, leaving surrounding areas such as repair facilities, the submarine base and fuel oil storages areas unharmedThe Japanese struck the airfields at Hickam Field, Wheeler Field, Bellows Field, Ewa Field, Schoefield Barracks, and Kaneohe Naval Air Station.The United States aircraft carriers, the primary target of the attack, were not at the base at the timeBecause of this, the Japanese cancelled a planned second attackThere 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.”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.Four of the American battleships stationed in “battleship row” were sunk. Another was capsized and a sixth run agroundThe?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.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.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.11 other ships were sunk and 188 planes destroyed2,343 men were killed, 1,272 were wounded and 960 left missingA total of 2,335 U.S. servicemen were killed and 1,143 were wounded. Sixty-eight civilians were also killed and 35 were woundedThe Japanese lost 65 men, with an additional soldier being captured.Only 28 Japanese planes were shot down and 5 midget submarines sunkThe United States declared war on Japan the next day as FDR gave his famous “Day of Infamy” speech to CongressPresident FDR made a last minute edit to his speech, changing “a day that will live on in world history” to “a day that will live in infamy”The U.S. declared war on Germany and Italy on December 11, after they declared war on the U.S.The dropping of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki helped bring an end to World War II in 1945There was a floating National Monument erected on the hull of the sunken Arizona in 1962There is a conspiracy theory that FDR provoked the Japanese attack in order to sway American opinion and make it possible for the U.S. to enter the warThe United States declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941, the day following the attack on Pearl Harbor.“Remember Pearl Harbor!” became a rallying cry for the U.S. during World War II.American public opinion prior to the attack[edit]Prior to the attack, public opinion in the?United States?had not been unanimous. When polled in January 1940, 60% of Americans were in favor of helping the?United Kingdom?in the war.[1]?A majority of Americans believed that the safety of the United States was contingent on the UK winning the war, and an even larger majority believed that the UK would lose the war if the United States stopped sending war materials to the United Kingdom.[1]?Despite this, the same poll reported that 88% of Americans would not support entering the war against?Germany?and?Italy.[1]Americans were more unsure on the prospect of conflict with?Japan?around the same timeframe. In a February Gallup poll, a majority of Americans believed that the United States should intervene in Japan's conquest of the Dutch East Indies and Singapore.[1]?However, in the same poll, only 39% supported going to war with Japan, while 46% opposed the prospect.[1]Public support for assisting the United Kingdom rose through 1940, reaching about 65% by May 1941.[2]?However, opinions on the prospect of becoming involved against Germany and Italy still remained quite high with 80% disapproval.[1]American responsePresident?Franklin D. Rooseveltsigning the Declaration of War against Japan on the day following the attackOn December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor. After two hours of bombing, 18 U.S. ships were sunk or damaged, 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed, and 2,403 men were killed.The day after the attack, President?Franklin D. Roosevelt?addressed a joint session of the?77th United States Congress. Roosevelt called December 7?"a date which will live in infamy". Congress?declared war on the Empire of Japan?amid outrage at the attack, the deaths of thousands of Americans, and the late delivery of the note from the Japanese government breaking off relations with the U.S. government.?Pacifist?Representative?Jeannette Rankin, a?Republican?from?Montana, cast the only dissenting vote. Roosevelt signed the declaration of war later the same day. Continuing to intensify its military mobilization, the U.S. government finished converting to a?war economy, a process begun by?provision of weapons and supplies?to the?Soviet Union?and the?British Empire. Japanese Americans from the West Coast were sent to internment camps for the duration of the war.The attack on Pearl Harbor immediately galvanized a divided nation into action. Public opinion had been moving towards support for entering the war during 1941, but considerable opposition remained until the attack. Overnight, Americans united against the Empire of Japan in response to calls to "Remember Pearl Harbor." A poll taken between December 12-17, 1941, showed that 97% of respondents supported a declaration of war against Japan.[3]?Further polling showed a dramatic increase in support for every able-bodied man serving in the military, up to 70% in December 1941.[4]?American solidarity in the war effort probably made possible the?unconditional surrender?position later taken by the Allied Powers. Some historians, among them?Samuel Eliot Morison, believe the attack doomed Imperial Japan to defeat simply because it awakened the "sleeping giant", regardless of whether the fuel depots or machine shops had been destroyed or even if the carriers had been caught in port and sunk. U.S. industrial and military capacity, once mobilized, was able to pour overwhelming resources into both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters. Others, such as Clay Blair, Jr.,[5]?and Mark Parillo[6]?believe Japanese?trade protection?was so incompetent that American submarines alone might have strangled Japan into defeat.The closest friend Roosevelt had in the developing Allied alliance, Sir?Winston Churchill, stated that his first thought regarding American assistance to the United Kingdom was that "We have won the war"[7]?very soon after Pearl Harbor had been attacked.Perceptions of treachery in the attack before a declaration of war sparked fears of?sabotage?or?espionage by Japanese sympathizers?residing in the U.S., including?citizens of Japanese descent?and was a factor in the subsequent?Japanese internment?in the western United States. Other factors included misrepresentations of intelligence information suggesting sabotage, notably by?General John DeWitt, commanding general of?Western Defense Command?on the Pacific Coast, who had personal feelings against Japanese Americans.[8]?In February 1942, Roosevelt signed?United States Executive Order 9066, requiring all Japanese Americans to submit themselves for internment.Propaganda?made repeated use of the attack, because its effect was enormous and impossible to counter.[9]?"Remember Pearl Harbor!" became the watchwords of the war.[10]The American government understated the damage inflicted, in hopes of preventing the Japanese from learning it, but the Japanese had, through surveillance, a good estimate.[11] ................
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