Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor is a very popular event in American History. There was a recent movie about it, and with the recent World Trade Center attacks, it is likely that Americans are going to compare the two. The Japanese attacked us with no forewarning and United States never saw it coming. The attack was right out of the blue. Americans were not pleased with the attack, that’s for sure.

On December 7, 1941 at approximately 7:53 A.M. , Japanese bombers approached Pearl Harbor. There is a US Navy Base by Pearl Harbor at Oahu, Hawaii. Since this attack came out of nowhere, nobody was on alert for defense. This wasn’t the first time we hadn’t responded quickly to a war situation either. When World War I began, we basically kept to ourselves. Yes, we did offer supplies and other things to Britain and her allies, but it wasn’t until German U-boats sank one of our cargo ships, the Lusitania, for doing so. This attack on us was what got us up and into the war. Right after the first bombers struck, the US started to fight back. The Pearl Harbor Naval Base was done under the command of Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku, the commander in chief of Japan’s Combined Fleet.

A lot of US planes got in airspace to defend the base relatively fast and did there best to defend the base. As the attack went on, the defense got stronger. The Japanese has launched 353 planes against Pearl Harbor. Over 3000 military troops and navy troops were killed on the ground or wounded. For every person that died, a letter was sent to the families of the victims saying that there son or daughter was dead. Two-hundred aircraft, 13 sea vessels, and 8 battleships were destroyed in the attack. and the attack only lasted 2 hours or less.

The Pearl Harbor Attack lead to the complete destruction of the USS Arizona and the capsizing of the USS Oklahoma Ships. The other ships that Japan had sunk were the USS California, Nevada, and West Virginia. Japan had killed more than two thousand American soldiers in its surprise attack, and wounded around another thousand.

The war was declared on Japan by President Roosevelt on December 8, 1941, but most American’s had already suspected that war would be declared after the attack, and the governor signed the proclamation. This marked the beginning of World War II. Four days later Germany and Italy, in alliance with Japan, declared war on the U.S. Later on the attack at Pearl Harbor ended up being more beneficial to the US. It united a nation against Japan and its allies. Before the attack the American people were divided in their feelings toward the Japanese. After the attack, the American people united which allowed for a great advancement in production to occur. The U.S. was now prepared for war against the axis powers. The US won the war against Japan.

Many people think that Franklin Roosevelt wanted to go to war and help Britain. US did many things to instigate the attack. In