Pearl Harbor?

Question

I have this research project on the attack on Pearl Harbor.
I seriously have no clue about it. Can you please explain the important stuff, in simple terms. THANKS!!!

Answer 1

-ok, the US threatened the Japan about invading China, that lead Japan into a corner and the Japanese decided to wipe out Pearl Harbour.
(to be continue)

Answer 2

The U.S. was putting into effect an embargo of steel and oil going to Japan to stop the Japanese expansion in the Pacific.
Embargoing oil and steel would cripple Japan's war effort.
Japan knew it would eventually mean war between the U.S. and Japan.
The Japanese Imperial command hoped that by making on decisive strike against the America fleet at Pearl Harbor they could cripple the American fleet or destroy to the point America would have to sue for peace with Japan and lift the embargo.
They planned the attack for Dec. 7, 1941 which was on a Sunday hoping to catch the Americans completely by surprise and destroy the American Fleet.
They accomplished catching the American Fleet by surprise and sank several battleships, cruisers and destroyers. In effect they did cripple the American fleet severely.
But they did not get the American Aircraft Carriers and their cruiser task forces which were out on maneuvers which was one of their main objectives.
By them not getting the Aircraft carriers America still had an effective fighting force in the Pacific to counter the Japanese Naval operations.
In short by the Japanese not getting the carriers, the American fleet was crippled but not out of action. That was a bad tactual blunder on the part of the Japanese Imperial Navy.
They also severly underesteemed America's industrial strength. Almost all the battle ships sunk at Pearl Harbor were raised refitted and back in action in less than nine months.
The one notible exception is the Battleship USS ARIZONA which is still in the middle of Pearl Harbor serving as both grave site to the men who died on the USS ARIZONA and memorial to all the men who died at Pearl Harbor that day.
Pearl Harbor was the worst loss of American lives in any attack until that attack on the twin towers on 9-11.

Answer 3

The United States was concerned about Japanese expansionism into China. Japan was dependent on the USA for raw materials among them steel and oil. After further military incursions into China the United States began an oil embargo against Japan. This compelled Japan to seek oil in south-east Asia. They would secure these oil resources by invasion of Indo-China (now Vietnam) and Thailand.
To have a clear shot at controlling south-east asian oil the japanese needed to clear their supply line of the US Naval threat at Pearl Harbor the Philippine and Wake islands.
A successful attack on the American Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor it was hoped by Japan would compell the USA to give in to Japanese demands.

Answer 4

Pearl harbour is a harbour in Europe where in the second world war, Amercian warships were giving all help and support to the Brits against the Germans and had stationed thier Warships there,

All of a sudden hundreds of Japanese warplanes flown by pilots called Kamikaze or suicide pilots flew thier planes directly into the warships nose diving with bombs in the plane destroying much of the whole American contigents and ships,

They caught the Americans unwares as at that time the soldiers were in celebration.

That got the US of A directly involved into the war.

Answer 5

Pearl Harbor is a large, naturally formed harbor on the island of Oahu in Hawaii located near Honolulu. It consists of three "lochs", East Loch (which is where the U.S. Navy has the bulk of it's fleet), Middle Loch (where the Navy has a small "mothball" fleet) and West Loch (which used to be a highly classified U.S. Navy installation).

On December 7, 1941 at 7:53 am, the Imperial Japanese Navy, under the command of Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto, attacked the United States Navy Base at Pearl Harbor and decimated the Unites States Navy's 7th (Pacific) Fleet (with the exception of three aircraft carriers).

The attack was the result of declining relations between the United States and the Empire of Japan over Japan's forceful expansion into the Pacific and their outright invasion of Indochina. The United States was Japan's largest provider of scrap metal and fuel oil, and after President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Congress cut off those items, Japan felt they had no choice but to go to war with the United States.

Admiral Yamamoto, the supreme commander of the combined fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy, felt the only chance Japan had in a war with the US was to deal a sudden, massive surprise attack upon the US Navy's Pacific fleet, based at Pearl Harbor. Once he received approval to plan the attack (months before it actually took place), Japan's ambassadors to the United States fed "disinformation" to Secretary of State Cordell Hull and President Roosevelt in the hope of making them think Japan really wanted peace and to hide the fact they were massing a huge fleet to attack Pearl Harbor. Japan's plan was to deliver the declaration of war against the United States only minutes before the attack on Pearl Harbor. However, During the attack, the Japanese ambassador was waiting to see Secretary of State Cordell Hull. Japan's declaration of war didn't officially reach the US government until after the attack; enfuriating most Americans who'd previously been opposed to entry into World War II.

The attack came in two waves, ...the first at 7:53am and the second at 8:55am, Hawaiian time. Yamamoto had positioned his carriers and fleet approximately 274 miles off the coast of Oahu (Hawaii), ...optimum striking distance at that time. By 10:00am, the United States Navy had lost 8 battleships, 6 heavy cruisers, 4 destroyers, 1 minelayer, 1 seaplane tender, 1 repair ship, 1 harbor tug and 188 aircraft. By 10:00am, 2403 americans were dead, and 1178 had been wounded. Of that 2403 killed in action, 1177 were killed all at once aboard the USS Arizona when a bomb penetrated her deck between gun turrest 1 and 2 and exploded in her black powder magazine (Battleships of that day did not have radar so they carried a small seaplane that would be used as a scout plane and black powder was used to launch them) which in turn lit off her smokless powder magazine (which was used to fire the ships 12 14" guns. The ship sank in less than 5 minutes in 48 feet of water.

But for all the damage inflicted upon the US Navy that day, the attack missed it's intended targets; the us aircraft carriers USS Enterprise, USS Lexington and USS Saratoga. Although historians call Pearl Harbor a stunning victory by the Japanese, Admiral Yamamoto knew that by missing the US aircraft carriers they had left the US Navy with the ability to strike back. His famous quote after he was advised they'd missed the american carriers at Pearl Harbor was, ..."Our declaration of war was not delivered until after the attack on Pearl Harbor. I can't imagine anything that would enfuriate the Americans more. I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant, ...and filled him with a terrible resolve."

I was stationed at Pearl Harbor for four years while in the US Navy. It is impossible to visit the USS Arizona memorial and to see all of those 1177 names chiseled into that huge marble wall and not have a lump in your throat and tears in your eyes. We should never, EVER forget what happened at Pearl Harbor, ...and NEVER apologize for ending the war in the Pacific with the Atomic Bombs. Japan, at the time, was a ruthless and calculating enemy, ...hell bent on the expansion of their empire with total disregard for the sanctity of human life. The Japanese people should NEVER be allowed to forget, ...Just like the German people should never be allowed to forget.

Answer 6

watch the movie Tora Tora Tora and no it doesn't have Ben Affleck in it.

Answer 7

Watch the film with Ben Affleck, that might help!

Answer 8

Please don't watch the Pearl Harbor movie like someone suggested.