Why was the attack on Pearl Harbor possible?

Question

I just came back from Hawaii. Interested in history, I can't figure out, how a couple of lame duck planes from air carriers 2 hours flight away could even come close to the island without being seen. The gargantuam amount of firepower in that harbor on that day, shoud have blown most of this planes to dust, before they where albe to do damage. any enlighthening there? Thanks!

Answer 1

There were at least three aircraft carriers in the Japaneses fleet that attacked Pearl Harbor and over 200 aircraft.

Washington, D.C. knew there was to be an attack, there were several indications of that. The official word that was given out was the attack would be on the bases in Manila in the Philippines. Only a very few select people knew it was Pearl Harbor that was to be attacked, including Roosevelt.

Because the general public of the USA did not want to get in the war in Europe Roosevelt and others who would profit from the USA to get into the fray allowed the attack to occur.

Radar was like a new toy that had not been fully developed and although it is known the Japanese aircraft were seen on the tiny scope they were dismissed. there were a number of blunders that were allowed to happen or planned to happen.
We did not have the communications that we have today then many things were very different in 1941 as compared to today.

The only ship that was battle ready was the battleship USS Colorado. It had left Pearl Harbor for San Fransisco two days earlier and may have passed fairly close to the Japanese fleet and never knew it. Ships did not have radar at the beginning of the war. I was told this by a man who was serving aboard the Colorado at that time. Most all the other ships in the harbor did not even have fires in their boilers and could not have gotten underway for hours. Hawaii back then was a leisure liberty port and considered the best duty available. Hotel Street did excellent business as did Mamie Stover if you care to look into that saga.

I too have studied many things about the attack on Pearl Harbor. I was a young boy during the war and was later stationed at Pearl Harbor when I was in the Navy. I have seen first hand the Pearl Harbor of the 1950's.

Answer 2

There is a really simple answer here. The US wasn't at war on December 6, 1941. They didn't send out search planes. They didn't have their fighters flying CAP. They had unreliable radar and the operators of that radar lacked experience and command control to warn the fleet and airforce. Many of the ship's and airforce crews were on weekend liberty. The ships weren't on combat alert and their engines were cold (apparently, it takes time to fire up a coal or oil fired engine and only the Nevada was able to move away from her mooring at Battleship Row). Planes were openly placed in neat rows and not armored pens. They were completely unprepared for an airborne attack.

Air attacks typically are fast. The first wave probably weren't over the island for more than a half an hour. By the time of the second attack, the ships lacked air support and their anti-aircraft defenses were inadequate.

But the US knew war was coming. They should have been able to take from the British and their experience at Toronto that a fleet in harbor was extremely vulnerable to air attack. They just decided the Japanese couldn't do a Toronto style attack on their fleet.

Answer 3

Some facts:
1. It isn't easy to shoot down a plane from the ground.
2. Radar was not as trusted then as it is today, many thought the radar installation had caught a flight of B-17s from the mainland. A few ships did have radar in the beginning of the war but at Pearl Harbor it had been turned off.
3. Japan attacked with six carriers (Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku, and Zuikaku), and they launched two waves, were supposed to launch a third but that one was called off.
4. Japanese Zeros and their pilots were actually superior to the US pilots and planes at Pearl that day.
5. Only the USS Nevada was able to get to condition Z of the battleships, and move during the attack.
6. The bomb that destroyed the Arizona did not go though the smoke stack.
7. In the movie "Tora Tora Tora" Yamamoto is credited with saying the words "I fear we have done nothing but awaken a sleeping giant"

Don't view history though today's eyes, they taint and distort history.

Answer 4

Planes are as easy to hit from the ground as you would think.
That is the reason why air power was so good.
Please remember it was a Sunday morning and like all good American sailors were nursing hangovers or going to church.
The radar post that reported the incoming planes was blown off because at the time radar wasn't that trusted.

There is lots of Monday morning quarterbacking that goes on about Pearl Harbor.
Do you know the plane was drawn up by an American general.
It was question in the Naval academy in Japan.
A visiting general sawy the question and he gave them the answer.
At the time Japan was on our side and didn't consider it a threat.


The reason why there was no 2nd wave because they were looking to sink carriers.

The carriers were at see because the admire of Pacific fleet didn't think carriers were any good.

I do hope this helps.

Answer 5

The reasons are very similar to how and why the world trade centers were attacked. Which just goes to show history repeats itself regardless of how much technology you have.

There were a number of signs indicating the Japanese were going to try something o Pearl Harbor, a number of reports came in that day from various military personnel...all reports were dismissed. A navy destroyer engaged a Japanese sub within Hawaiian waters before the attack, a radar crew on one of the remote bases on Hawaii spotted a large formation of aircraft heading towards Pearl Harbor, they reported it and were told to forget about it, it was just B17 bombers practicing manuevars.
And we still haven't learned our lessons even after 911, the next attack is going to sneak by us as well.

All of the excuses you are hearing here as to why the attack happened, it being Sunday, and all that crap, these will be the same people making excuses when we drop the ball the next time, except they'll be new more imaginative ones.

Be careful of all the bad information on here. Japan was never our friends or on our side. Both countries were already positioning for a military conflict before Pearl Harbor. This is why a Japanese delegation was in Washington prior to the attack. To either make peace with the U.S. or declare war. American pilots were already in China fighting the Japanese airforce and Japan was a Known ally of Germany, not to mention Japan's empire was stretching dangerously close to Austrailia, our ally. The lines for war with Japan were already drawn long before Pearl Harbor.

Answer 6

If you were interested in history and were just in Hawaii you shouldn't be asking this question or perhaps you should have taken your ridalen the day you went on the tour.

Pearl Harbour was successful because of the timing and the fact that those carriers didn't communicate with Japan until after the attacks were carried out. The timing had to do with the readiness of the American military that was at the time not in any war. They came early morning while most were just waking up or still sleeping. Its hard to defend one's self when your not at war and don't have present day technology to follow massive aircraft carriers.

Answer 7

There are a number of reasons why the attack was successful. I’ll give a few without going into details.

1) The attack was made before there was an official declaration of War by the Japanese.
2) The attack force was detected by radar, but incorrectly assumed to be a flight of B-17’s.
3) Pearl Harbor was considered protected from Torpedo attacks due to shallow waters. However, Japan modified torpedoes to operate in the shallow waters.
4) The attack consisted of over 400 planes, and was all but over in less than 2 hours.
5) Due to sabotage concerns, all US aircraft were parked wing to wing, making it impossible to scramble planes, and making them easy targets for bombing and strafing runs.

Answer 8

Ok, we didn't have reliable radar at the time. There was an experimental radar set in operation, but the operators thought the big returns they were getting was a flight of B-17s coming in from the mainland. Also, there were over 200 planes in the attack in multiple waves. Plus, the ships were stationary targets (extremely easy to hit). And, airplanes moving at 200 mph are extremely difficult to hit (especially when the ship you are firing from is being blown up). We weren't expecting an attack. We weren't at war at the time, so people that saw the Japanese planes dismissed them as something else (Navy people thought they were Army and Army thought they were Navy). Lastly, the attack took place on a Sunday morning. Most people were in getting ready for church or were sleeping in.

Answer 9

1: That early on a Sunday, no one was awake.

2: Those 'duck planes' were hardly that, they were some of the most advanced planes of the time - better than most of ours!

3: Torpedoes will sink a ship, period.

4: They had submarines involved, too, although those were hardly effective. Do some research on those, it's fascinating stuff.

5: We lined up our airplanes so the chance of sabotage was lessoned. Of course, that meant dropping bombs was like a domino effect - one after another was blown up.

Most of the airplanes were destroyed - most of the men were asleep - and no one was prepared for an attack.

The end. Now get some respect for these poor men - you wouldn't have done any better in their place!

Answer 10

There was a lot of help. America need a FINAL push to war! If conspiracies are correct: America knew the attack on Pearl Harbor was a probability, but chose to do nothing about this probability. This was the perfect push to war!
Question: If Pearl Harbor did NOT occur? the war would have been dragged on, and may never ended the way it ended (2 nukes?). It could have dragged on for decades?? who knows?
When funding for the war was running drier and drier, in hindsight, the war was well orchestrated with Pearl Harbor in the picture.