BBC ON THIS DAY | 7 | 1941: Japanese planes bomb Pearl Harbor Search ON THIS DAY by date About This Site | Text Only 1941: Japanese planes bomb Pearl Harbor Japan has launched a surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and has declared war on Britain and the United States. The US president, Franklin D Roosevelt, has mobilised all his forces and is poised to declare war on Japan. Details of the attack in Hawaii are scarce but initial reports say Japanese bombers and torpedo-carrying planes targeted warships, aircraft and military installations in Pearl Harbor, on Oahu, the third largest and chief island of Hawaii. News of the daring raid has shocked members of Congress at a time when Japanese officials in Washington were still negotiating with US Secretary of State Cordell Hull on lifting US sanctions imposed after continuing Japanese aggression against China. He remembered that moment [Pearl Harbor] in later years as the end of one existence and the beginning of another At 0755 local time the first wave of between 50 and 150 planes struck the naval base for 35 minutes causing several fires and "untold damage" to the Pacific Fleet.

The Japanese squadrons dropped high-explosive and incendiary bombs. A second strike followed at about 0900 when a force of at least 100 planes pounded the base for an hour. At least two Japanese airplanes have been shot down but it is reported that at least 350 men were killed by one single bomb at the Hickam Army Air Field, an Air Corps post on Oahu. Officials announced a further 104 Army personnel were killed and 300 were wounded in the raid. It is believed the attack was launched from two aircraft carriers. One radio report says US forces downed six Japanese planes and sunk four submarines. There are reports the Hawaiian capital Honolulu was also bombed as well as the Pacific island of Guam and the capital of the Philippines, Manila. A British gunboat, the Peterel, has also been sunk at Shanghai in China. Reports from Singapore suggest a build-up of Japanese warships in the South China Sea and seem to be headed for the Gulf of Siam, towards Bangkok. President Roosevelt is working on a message to Congress tomorrow in which he is expected to ask for a declaration of war with Japan.

The Times newspaper's Washington correspondent says the US Government expects Germany and Italy to declare war on the US within hours. Although the attack has shocked the American people there is little doubt that it had been brewing for some years. Relations with the United States have deteriorated since 1931 when Japan occupied Manchuria in northern China. Over the last decade conflict has intensified into a full-scale war between Japan and China. Last year, the US imposed trade sanctions on Japan. Then in September 1940 Japan signed a Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy. It became a formal member of the Axis alliance fighting the European war but continued to negotiate with America for trade concessions until today. Japan's fury over the embargoes and allied support for China prompted a declaration of war. Pearl Harbor - World War II - HISTORY.com Google Pearl Harbor and the Road to War The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise, but Japan and the United States had been edging toward war for decades. The United States was particularly unhappy with Japan’s increasingly belligerent attitude toward China.

The Japanese government believed that the only way to solve its economic and demographic problems was to expand into its neighbor’s territory and take over its import market; to this end, Japan had declared war on China in 1937. American officials responded to this aggression with a battery of economic sanctions and trade embargoes. They reasoned that without access to money and goods, and especially essential supplies like oil, Japan would have to rein in its expansionism. Instead, the sanctions made the Japanese more determined to stand their ground. During months of negotiations between Tokyo and Washington , D.C., neither side would budge. It seemed that war was inevitable. Did You Know? The single vote against Congress's declaration of war against Japan came from Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana. Rankin was a pacifist who had also voted against the American entrance into World War I. "As a woman," she said, "I can’t go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else." But no one believed that the Japanese would start that war with an attack on American territory. For one thing, it would be terribly inconvenient: Hawaii and Japan were about 4,000 miles apart.

For another, American intelligence officials were confident that any Japanese attack would take place in one of the (relatively) nearby European colonies in the South Pacific: the Dutch East Indies, for instance, or Singapore or Indochina. Because American military leaders were not expecting an attack so close to home, the naval facilities at Pearl Harbor were relatively undefended. Almost the entire Pacific Fleet was moored around Ford Island in the harbor, and hundreds of airplanes were squeezed onto adjacent airfields. To the Japanese, Pearl Harbor was an irresistible target. “A Date Which Will Live in Infamy” The Japanese plan was simple: Destroy the Pacific Fleet. That way, the Americans would not be able to fight back as Japan’s armed forces spread across the South Pacific. On December 7, after months of planning and practice, the Japanese launched their attack. At about 8 a.m., Japanese planes filled the sky over Pearl Harbor. Bombs and bullets rained onto the vessels moored below. At 8:10, a 1,800-pound bomb smashed through the deck of the battleship USS Arizona and landed in her forward ammunition magazine. The ship exploded and sank with more than 1,000 men trapped inside.

Next, torpedoes pierced the shell of the battleship USS Oklahoma . With 400 sailors aboard, the Oklahoma lost her balance, rolled onto her side and slipped underwater. By the time the attack was over, every battleship in Pearl Harbor–USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, USS California , USS West Virginia , USS Utah , USS Maryland , USS Pennsylvania , USS Tennessee and USS Nevada–had sustained significant damage. (All but USS Arizona and USS Utah were eventually salvaged and repaired.) In all, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor crippled or destroyed nearly 20 American ships and more than 300 airplanes. Dry docks and airfields were likewise destroyed. Most important, almost 2,500 men were killed and another 1,000 were wounded. But the Japanese had failed to cripple the Pacific Fleet. By the 1940s, battleships were no longer the most important naval vessel: Aircraft carriers were, and as it happened, all of the Pacific Fleet’s carriers were away from the base on December 7.

(Some had returned to the mainland and others were delivering planes to troops on Midway and Wake Islands.) Moreover, the Pearl Harbor assault had left the base’s most vital onshore facilities–oil storage depots, repair shops, shipyards and submarine docks–intact. As a result, the U.S. Navy was able to rebound relatively quickly from the attack. Pearl Harbor Awakens the “Sleeping Giant” “Yesterday,” President Roosevelt said on December 8, “the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked.” He went on to say, “No matter now long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.” After the Pearl Harbor attack, and for the first time after years of discussion and debate, the American people were united in their determination to go to war.

The Japanese had wanted to goad the United States into an agreement to lift the economic sanctions against them; instead, they had pushed their adversary into a global conflict that ultimately resulted in Japan’s first occupation by a foreign power. On December 8, Congress approved Roosevelt’s declaration of war. Three days later, Japanese allies Germany and Italy declared war against the United States. For the second time, Congress reciprocated. More than two years after the start of the conflict, the United States had entered World War II . Tags 'Why Did Japan Attack Pearl Harbour?' In December 1941, Pearl Harbour was attacked by the Japanese. It wasthe consequence of a series of events which brought tension betweenJapan and America to boiling point - A-Level History - Marked by Teachers.com 'Why Did Japan Attack Pearl Harbour?' In December 1941, Pearl Harbour was attacked by the Japanese. It wasthe consequence of a series of events which brought tension betweenJapan and America to boiling point Extracts from this document... Introduction 'Why Did Japan Attack Pearl Harbour?' In December 1941, Pearl Harbour was attacked by the Japanese. It was the consequence of a series of events which brought tension between Japan and America to boiling point.

Japan was a country growing in power and stature and America soon came to realise that this growth could prove a threat to them. America aimed to stop Japan's growth in its tracks as they realised that if the situation was left to evolve much longer then the situation may be out of their control. However, it can be argued that by not seriously dealing with this threat until the 1940's, America had left things too late and faced an opponent who would not back down. Japan was a country of contradictions in the early 1900's. Her growth in industry was a major factor for influencing her growth of power; whilst at the same time their structure was a very traditional political one. The Japanese Emperor Hirohito was right in the centre of the Japanese government. The emperor made Japan very militaristic and the military had a very strong influence in Japan. Japan's growth in industry had risen greatly since in the preceding 50 years and still it continued to grow. ...read more. Middle In the future, Japan would be more aggressive and there would be less chance that they would back down to the Americans. In 1937, Japan attacked the rest of China, indicating to America that Japan was a definite threat to their trade links.

By July 1940, America's President Roosevelt had decided he must take action against Japan's expansion. He banned the export of strategic materials to Japan. By doing this he hoped to halt their expansion. He also decided that a massive American Naval Expansion was in order. By doing this he hoped that Japan would fear America because the American Navy was a major strength in the Pacific Region. He hoped to threaten Japan into ending her aggression. In September and December of the same year, Roosevelt cut off all supplies of aviation fuel, steel, scrap iron and other vital war materials to Japan. By choosing this option, he hoped to slow down their preparation for war and give America time to plan and think. Negotiations were proposed in March 1941 as Japan felt the pressures of America's actions. America told Japan that they would start to supply them with oil again, if Japan stopped any expansion and with draw from Indo - China. ...read more. Conclusion This proved to be a medium term cause. America failed to stop Japan when they attacked Manchuria. This meant that the Japanese army became stronger and militarism grew. The course was almost certainly set for war once the military controlled Japan.

The most important medium term cause was the Wall Street Crash, which took Japan into the Great Depression through America's misfortune. They were badly affected by the depression because Japan relied mainly on other countries, especially America, for imports of raw materials. America had been hit with depression as well. They concentrated on their own problems and failed to stop Japan from invading Manchuria. The main short-term cause of the attack on Pearl Harbour was America's decision to reject negotiations and peace talks from Japan about bringing down the Oil Embargo. This angered the Japanese government, causing dangerous tension between the two countries as Japan were in a difficult situation and were now willing to attack the Americans. The rejections of proposals in September 1941 led to Japan confirming the decision for war on the 26th of November. In the end Japan was driven to war by the fact that the military had control of the country. The army thought that an attack on Pearl Harbour would prove vital if they were to become equally as powerful as America and have a fighting chance in the war which had seemed inevitable for a long time. ...read more.

The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our AS and A Level International History, 1945-1991 section. Found what you're looking for? Start learning 29% faster today 150,000+ documents available Attack At Pearl Harbor, 1941 Attack At Pearl Harbor Printer Friendly Version >>> December seventh, 1941: the surprise was complete. The attacking planes came in two waves; the first hit its target at 7:53 AM, the second at 8:55. By 9:55 it was all over. By 1:00 PM the carriers that launched the planes from 274 miles off the coast of Oahu were heading back to Japan. Poster commemorating the attack, 1942 Behind them they left chaos, 2,403 dead, 188 destroyed planes and a crippled Pacific Fleet that included 8 damaged or destroyed battleships. In one stroke the Japanese action silenced the debate that had divided Americans ever since the German defeat of France left England alone in the fight against the Nazi terror.

Approximately three hours later, Japanese planes began a day-long attack on American facilities in the Philippines. (Because the islands are located across the International Dateline, the local Philippine time was just after 5 AM on December 8.) Farther to the west, the Japanese struck at Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand in a coordinated attempt to use surprise in order inflict as much damage as quickly as possible to strategic targets. Although stunned by the attack at Pearl Harbor, the Pacific Fleet's aircraft carriers, submarines and, most importantly, its fuel oil storage facilities emerged unscathed. These assets formed the foundation for the American response that led to victory at the Battle of Midway the following June and ultimately to the total destruction of the Japanese Empire four years later. Aboard the USS Arizona The battleships moored along "Battleship Row" are the primary target of the attack's first wave. Ten minutes after the beginning of the attack a bomb crashes through the Arizona's two armored decks igniting its magazine. The explosion rips the ship's sides open like a tin can starting a fire that engulfs the entire ship. Within minutes she sinks to the bottom taking 1,300 lives with her.

The sunken ship remains as a memorial to those who sacrificed their lives during the attack. Marine Corporal E.C. Nightingale was aboard the Arizona that fateful Sunday morning: ADVERTISMENT "At approximately eight o'clock on the morning of December 7, 1941, I was leaving the breakfast table when the ship's siren for air defense sounded. Having no anti-aircraft battle station, I paid little attention to it. Suddenly I heard an explosion. I ran to the port door leading to the quarterdeck and saw a bomb strike a barge of some sort alongside the NEVADA, or in that vicinity. The marine color guard came in at this point saying we were being attacked. I could distinctly hear machine gun fire. I believe at this point our anti-aircraft battery opened up. "We stood around awaiting orders of some kind. General Quarters sounded and I started for my battle station in secondary aft. As I passed through casement nine I noted the gun was manned and being trained out. The men seemed extremely calm and collected. I reached the boat deck and our anti-aircraft guns were in full action, firing very rapidly.

I was about three quarters of the way to the first platform on the mast when it seemed as though a bomb struck our quarterdeck. I could hear shrapnel or fragments whistling past me. As A captured Japanese photo shows Battleship Row under attack. Hickam Field burns in the distance soon as I reached the first platform, I saw Second Lieutenant Simonson lying on his back with blood on his shirt front. I bent over him and taking him by the shoulders asked if there was anything I could do. He was dead, or so nearly so that speech was impossible. Seeing there was nothing I could do for the Lieutenant, I continued to my battle station. "When I arrived in secondary aft I reported to Major Shapley that Mr. Simonson had been hit and there was nothing to be done for him. There was a lot of talking going on and I shouted for silence which came immediately. I had only been there a short time when a terrible explosion caused the ship to shake violently. I looked at the boat deck and everything seemed aflame forward of the mainmast. I reported to the Major that the ship was aflame, which was rather needless, and after looking about, the Major ordered us to leave.

"I was the last man to leave secondary aft because I looked around and there was no one left. I followed the Major down the port side of the tripod mast. The railings, as we ascended, were very hot and as we reached the boat deck I noted that it was torn up and burned. The bodies of the dead were thick, and badly burned men were heading for the quarterdeck, only to fall apparently dead or badly wounded. The Major and I went between No. 3 and No. 4 turret to the starboard side and found Lieutenant Commander Fuqua ordering the men over the side and assisting the wounded. He seemed exceptionally calm and the Major stopped and they talked for a moment. Charred bodies were everywhere. "I made my way to the quay and started to remove my shoes when I suddenly found myself in the water. I think the concussion of a bomb threw me in. I started swimming for the pipe line which was about one hundred and fifty feet away. I was about half way when my strength gave out entirely.

My clothes and shocked The USS Shaw explodes condition sapped my strength, and I was about to go under when Major Shapley started to swim by, and seeing my distress, grasped my shirt and told me to hang to his shoulders while he swam in. "We were perhaps twenty-five feet from the pipe line when the Major's strength gave out and I saw he was floundering, so I loosened my grip on him and told him to make it alone. He stopped and grabbed me by the shirt and refused to let go. I would have drowned but for the Major. We finally reached the beach where a marine directed us to a bomb shelter, where I was given dry clothes and a place to rest." References: Lord, Walter, Day of Infamy (1957), Prange, Gordon, At Dawn We Slept (1981), Wallin, VAdm. Homer N. Pearl Harbor: Why, How, Fleet Salvage and Final Appraisal (1968). How To Cite This Article: "Attack at Pearl Harbor, 1941," EyeWitness to History, (1997). The Japanese launched a total of 353 aircraft in the attack.

Of the eight battleships damaged during the attack, six returned to service. Five Japanese midget submarines joined in the attack. None were effective. One was found beached after the attack making its two-man crew the first Japanese prisoners of war. Why did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbour? > Pacific Front > Videos > WW2History.com Andrew Roberts Video Transcript Commentary: This was the scene at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii on Sunday 7th December 1941. Japanese warplanes had just attacked the American fleet lying at anchor. Words of Gene La Rocque (American Naval officer, Pearl Harbour): We thought, ‘This is a dirty trick.’ Those stinkers, they attacked us by surprise in our own base, they weren’t fair, they weren’t honest, they didn’t do battle with us at sea. Those sneaky Japanese out smarted us. We were very surprised, all of us, that the Japanese were crazy enough to attack us in Pearl Harbour. We didn’t think they had the capability, nor that they would be bold enough to do it. Commentary: What was happening here in China was one reason the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbour. Because the Japanese wanted to rule this land, and the Americans objected.

The Japanese had attacked Shanghai and other cities in China in 1937 and four years later they were still fighting the Chinese in a brutal and dirty war. By early 1941 the Japanese occupied large amounts of mainland Asia. And then in July ‘41 they advanced into southern Indo-China. The American government immediately decided to impose sanctions on the Japanese to punish them for this aggression – refusing to sell them crucial raw materials. But at the White House, President Roosevelt, his focus very much on the threat from Hitler, thought the Japanese were much less of a danger. Professor Robert Dallek: I think the feeling in the United States was that Japan can never defeat us. How could they possibly defeat the United States? We are such a larger power, we have such industrial potential. Would they be so foolish as to attack us, to go to war with us? We’ll mop them up. They can’t really fight all that effectively. So we have to take a tough line with them. American public opinion wants it, the Congress is happy to see this happen. Take a tough line with them. And it’s not going to lead to war - that, I think, is the perspective of the time, of the moment.

Of course absolutely wrong-headed. Commentary: Then on the 26th November 1941, US Secretary of State Cordell Hull wrote to the Japanese, saying they must get out of China as well as cease their aggression in South East Asia. Back in Tokyo this demand that the Japanese leave China was completely unacceptable. Now, with the consent of Emperor Hirohito, plans the Japanese had already made for a surprise attack on the Americans would be put into action. But even as these planes readied themselves to bomb Pearl Harbour, the Japanese leadership knew that they could never win a long war with America. They hoped to inflict a quick, devastating defeat on the Americans, and then make a compromise peace. Professor Akira Iriye: The Japanese at the time felt that the Americans would be so shocked by this, so shaken by it, that they might be willing to come to some kind of an accommodation. That they might say, well, this is just too much. They’d rather not have another such calamity and they might be willing to let the Japanese stay in China instead.

Professor Geoffrey Wawro: So there was this spurious thinking going on inside Japan that the US was weak, materialistic, a consumer society, lacked the sterner Japanese traits and attitudes. And that one demoralising blow would suffice to remove the United States from this conflict. They’d look at the cost of recovering from Pearl Harbour and resuming their hegemony in the Pacific and say no, we’ll just cut a deal with Japan. I mean, that is folly on a grand scale. Commentary: And whilst the Japanese did manage to sink American ships at Pearl Harbour, they didn’t destroy the greatest prizes, the American aircraft carriers, which were away from the base. The price the Japanese paid for this attack was simple – all out war. Archive of Franklin Roosevelt (8th December 1941): I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday December 7th 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire. Commentary: In the weeks and months after Pearl Harbour, the Japanese Imperial Army managed to make great advances, both in mainland South East Asia and in Indonesia.

But the joy of the Japanese at these victories was to prove short lived. Pearl Harbor attack: 1941 pictures show America's response in the days that followed | Daily Mail Online comments It was the early morning blitz that was to be the biggest rallying cry in the history of America. The attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941, came with no warning. It also prompted the swiftest call to arms ever seen. A heavy toll: In a flooded drydock the destroyer Cassin lies partly submerged, leaning against another destroyer. All eight battleships were damaged, with four sunk Taken a pounding: Damaged ships in the days that followed the attack that directly led the U.S. into war President Franklin Roosevelt declared that day a 'date which will live in infamy.' The following day he declared war on Japan. In the tumultuous weeks and months to follow, men and women across the States pledge to sign up for the Armed Forces to play their part in the defeat of Japan. As these pictures show, it was a determined effort.

How could the world's superpower be at the mercy of such a small country, millions of Americans asked. Call to arms: A sign in a men's room at Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York and, right, patriotic workers at that navy yard who are volunteering to relocate to Pearl Harbor Battle cry: A sign encouraging Americans to invest in the war effort 'to kill the rats inTokio' The surprise military strike was intended as a preventive action to keep America's Pacific Fleet from interfering with actions Japan was planning in South east Asia. RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share The Pearl Harbor base was attacked by 353 Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. There were eight U.S. Navy battleships at the harbor. All were damaged with four being sunk. Sign me up: Young men line up to volunteer at a Navy Recruiting station, Boston, Massachusetts, the day after the Pearl Harbor attacks All systems go: On the very day of the Japanese attacks there was a rush for uniforms in military stores across the country and, right, a newspaper with a bundle of papers carrying the headline Japs Declare War Six of the ships were eventually repaired and returned to service later in the war.

The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship and one minelayer. They destroyed 188 U.S. aircraft, killed 2,403 Americans and wounded 1,282 others. Japan lost 64 men and 29 planes. One Japanese sailor was captured. December 8, 1941: A store owner in Oakland, California, of Japanese descent erects a huge sign to show his allegience Bound for Hawaii: New York naval yard workers on their way to Pearl Harbor to help the war effort The U.S. was stunned by the attack on Pearl Harbor, but the nation's political and military leaders had long been conscious of tensions with Japan - which was obviously gearing up for war long before December 1941. The U.S. response, as these rare pictures, was anything but complacent. Within days of the attack, while the eyes of America were focused on Pearl Harbor and the Pacific, naval yards on the East Coast were already gearing up for what looked to be a long, bloody war. A nation stunned: Crowds gather in disbelief in Times Square, New York Devastation: The wreckage of a U.S.

Navy amphibian plane that was smashed into pieces in the Pearl Harbor attack Bewildered: Crowds flock to the White House seeking news on the day of the attacks No second chance: Men working in the Harbor Defense of Pearl Harbor and, right, a young officer hiding in a bunker with his weapon aimed Taking no chances: After the Pearl Habor blitz, army engineers build foundation for underground hospital in case of future attack Pearl Harbor attack | Japanese-United States history | Britannica.com Japanese-United States history naval warfare Pearl Harbor attack, (December 7, 1941), surprise aerial attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii, by the Japanese that precipitated the entry of the United States into World War II . The strike climaxed a decade of worsening relations between the United States and Japan . Japan’s invasion of China in 1937, its subsequent alliance with the Axis powers (Germany and Italy) in 1940, and its occupation of French Indochina in July 1941 prompted the United States to respond that same month by freezing Japanese assets in the United States and declaring an embargo on petroleum shipments and other vital war materials to Japan.

By late 1941 the United States had severed practically all commercial and financial relations with Japan. Though Japan continued to negotiate with the United States up to the day of the Pearl Harbor attack, the government of Prime Minister Tōjō Hideki decided on war. A U.S. battleship sinks during the Pearl Harbor attack. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Remembering the Pearl Harbor attack, with a discussion of the USS … Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz Adm. Yamamoto Isoroku , the commander in chief of Japan’s Combined Fleet, had planned the attack against the U.S. Pacific Fleet with great care. Once the U.S. fleet was out of action, the way for the unhindered Japanese conquest of all of Southeast Asia and the Indonesian Archipelago would be open. On November 26 a Japanese fleet, under Vice Adm. Nagumo Chuichi and including 6 aircraft carriers, 2 battleships, 3 cruisers, and 11 destroyers, sailed to a point some 275 miles (440 km) north of Hawaii. From there, about 360 planes in total were launched. The U.S.

naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii, was attacked by the Japanese on … Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Sussex Incident The first Japanese dive bomber appeared over Pearl Harbor at 7:55 am (local time). It was part of a first wave of nearly 200 aircraft, including torpedo planes, bombers, and fighters. The reconnaissance at Pearl Harbor had been lax; a U.S. Army private who noticed this large flight of planes on his radar screen was told to ignore them, since a flight of B-17s from the United States was expected at that time. The anchored ships in the harbour made perfect targets for the Japanese bombers, and since it was Sunday morning (a time chosen by the Japanese for maximum surprise) they were not fully manned. Similarly, the U.S. military aircraft were lined up on the airfields of the Naval Air Station on Ford Island and adjoining Wheeler and Hickam Fields to guard against sabotage, and many were destroyed on the ground by Japanese strafing. Most of the damage to the battleships was inflicted in the first 30 minutes of the assault. The Arizona was completely destroyed and the Oklahoma capsized.

The California, Nevada, and West Virginia sank in shallow water. Three other battleships, three cruisers, three destroyers, and other vessels were also damaged. More than 180 aircraft were destroyed. U.S. military casualties totaled more than 3,400, including more than 2,300 killed. The Japanese lost from 29 to 60 planes, five midget submarines, perhaps one or two fleet submarines, and fewer than 100 men. Explosions rock the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, during the Japanese surprise air … National Archives USA Facts The Pearl Harbor attack severely crippled U.S. naval and air strength in the Pacific. However, the three aircraft carriers attached to the Pacific Fleet were not at Pearl Harbor at the time and thus escaped. Of the eight battleships, all but the Arizona and Oklahoma were eventually repaired and returned to service, and the Japanese failed to destroy the important oil storage facilities on the island. The “date which will live in infamy,” as U.S. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt termed it, unified the U.S. public and swept away any earlier support for neutrality.

On December 8 Congress declared war on Japan with only one dissenting vote (Rep. Jeannette Rankin of Montana, who had also voted against U.S. entry into World War I). Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt requests that Congress declare war against Japan on Dec. 8, 1941, … Public Domain Pearl Harbour memo shows US warned of Japanese attack - Telegraph USA Pearl Harbour memo shows US warned of Japanese attack On the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbour, the attack that propelled America into the Second World War, a declassified memo shows that Japanese surprise attack was expected. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941 Photo: REUTERS By Jacqui Goddard in Miami 8:00AM GMT 04 Dec 2011 It was described by President Franklin D.Roosevelt as "a date that will live in infamy", a day on which the slaughter of 2,400 US troops drew America into Second World War and changed the course of history.

Now, on the 70th anniversary of Japan's devastating bombardment of the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, evidence has emerged showing that President Franklin D.Roosevelt was warned three days before the attack that the Japanese empire was eyeing up Hawaii with a view to "open conflict." The information, contained in a declassified memorandum from the Office of Naval Intelligence, adds to proof that Washington dismissed red flags signalling that mass bloodshed was looming and war was imminent. "In anticipation of possible open conflict with this country, Japan is vigorously utilizing every available agency to secure military, naval and commercial information, paying particular attention to the West Coast, the Panama Canal and the Territory of Hawaii," stated the 26-page memo.

Dated December 4, 1941, marked as confidential, and entitled "Japanese intelligence and propaganda in the United States," it flagged up Japan's surveillance of Hawaii under a section headlined "Methods of Operation and Points of Attack." Related Articles No Pearl Harbor conspiracy 08 Dec 2008 It noted details of possible subversives in Hawaii, where nearly 40 per cent of inhabitants were of Japanese origin, and of how Japanese consulates on America's west coast had been gathering information on American naval and air forces. Japan's Naval Inspector's Office, it stated, was "primarily interested in obtaining detailed technical information which could be used to advantage by the Japanese Navy." "Much information of a military and naval nature has been obtained," it stated, describing it as being "of a general nature" but including records relating to the movement of US warships. The memo, now held at the Franklin D.Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in upstate New York, has sat unpublicised since its declassification 26 years ago.

Its contents are revealed by historian Craig Shirley in his new book "December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World." Three days after the warning was delivered to the White House, hundreds of Japanese aircraft operating from six aircraft carriers unleashed a surprise strike on the US Navy's base at Pearl Harbour, wiping out American battleships, destroyers and air installations. A total of 2,459 US personnel were killed and 1,282 injured. Conspiracy theorists have long claimed that Roosevelt deliberately ignored intelligence of an imminent attack in Hawaii, suggesting that he allowed it to happen so that he would then have a legitimate reason for declaring war on Japan. Up to that point, public and political opinion had been against America's entry into what was seen largely as a European war, despite Roosevelt's private support for the Allies' fight against the so-called Axis - Germany, Italy and Japan. But Mr Shirley said: "Based on all my research, I believe that neither Roosevelt nor anybody in his government, the Navy or the War Department knew that the Japanese were going to attack Pearl Harbour. There was no conspiracy.

"This memo is further evidence that they believed the Japanese were contemplating a military action of some sort, but they were kind of in denial because they didn't think anybody would be as audacious to move an army thousands of miles across the Pacific, stop to refuel, then move on to Hawaii to make a strike like this." As with the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, US leadership was guilty of a "failure of imagination" in its inability to translate warning signs into a specific prediction of the horror that lay ahead, he said. Roosevelt declared war on Japan the day after the blitz on Pearl Harbour. Japan, Germany and Italy reciprocated with their own declarations, but America's involvement in the war turned the tide against the Axis powers and ultimately led the Allies to victory. Americans, who a year previously had been assured by Roosevelt that they would not be sent to fight foreign wars, suddenly found their fates transformed. The US military swelled, with 16 million heading off to war, and women took on new and more widespread roles in the workforce, and in the military. Washington became a global power base and the War Powers Act gave the president supreme executive authority.

The "America First" movement, which had lobbied against the country's entry into the war and at its peak had 800,000 members, disbanded within days. "December 7, 1941, was the powder-keg that changed the world. It changed America instantly from an isolationist country on the morning of December 7 to an internationalist country on the morning of December 8," said Mr Shirley. The 70th anniversary of the tragedy at Pearl Harbour is being marked with a week of commemorative events in Hawaii. They culminate on Wednesday in a minute's silence and a ceremony of remembrance overlooking the wreck site of the USS Arizona, which sank with the loss of 1,177 lives. Of the 29,000 survivors who joined the Pearl Harbour Survivors Association following its foundation in 1958, only ten per cent are still alive, most aged in their late 80s and beyond. With so few left, and most unable to travel to reunions or help with the group's administration, the PHSA will close down after the anniversary. "It's going to be a poignant moment.

Sooner or later we're all going to be gone," said Duane Reyelts of St Augustine, Florida, who was a 19-year-old signalman aboard the USS Oklahoma when it was bombed at Pearl Harbour. He will turn 90 later this month, but still has vivid memories of waking in his bunk after working the midnight watch, when the ship's warning system sprang to life with the order: "All hands man your battle stations." Seconds later, a torpedo hit with a thunderous explosion. He could hear vast amounts of water pouring in below, and eight more torpedoes. The ship turned over, forcing him to scramble up a wall to escape. "I happened to be small enough to get out of a porthole. When I got out, I was sitting on the bottom of the ship and I couldn't believe what I was seeing: planes were attacking and the whole harbour seemed to be on fire. Bodies in the water, smoke, screams." he said. He hesitated to jump in the water, but had no choice as a stream of machine-gun fire rained around him from the aircraft overhead. He swam to the USS Maryland, where he joined a line of sailors hauling ammunition.

"The Navy and armed forces must have had notification that something could happen; being a signalman on the bridge and being on lookout, that was something we were told - if you see a periscope out there, it may not be ours. But we never really imagined an assault of this nature," he said. He will re-tell his story once more during a remembrance service aboard a US Navy vessel on Wednesday, when the ashes of Pearl Harbour veterans who have died during the last year will be scattered at sea. "Those of us who are left try to tell our stories as much as possible, not just for history's sake but because America needs to be kept alert today," he said. "America needs to remember the lessons of Pearl Harbour." BBC - History - World Wars: Pearl Harbor: A Rude Awakening Print this page Introduction It all happened so quickly. At 7.55am on Sunday 7 December 1941, the first of two waves of Japanese aircraft began their deadly attack on the US Pacific Fleet, moored at Pearl Harbor on the Pacific island of Oahu. Within two hours, five battleships had been sunk, another 16 damaged, and 188 aircraft destroyed.

Only chance saved three US aircraft carriers, usually stationed at Pearl Harbor but assigned elsewhere on the day. The attacks killed under 100 Japanese but over 2,400 Americans, with another 1,178 injured. ... the attacks had been slowly brewing for years. Although swift in execution, the attacks had been slowly brewing for years. The US had once looked upon Japanese ambitions with a level of sympathy, even indulgence. Hit hard by the Great Depression of the early 1930s, however, Japanese disillusion with party government grew and moderates gave way to militants. In 1931 Japan occupied Manchuria in northern China. Over the decade conflict intensified and in July 1937 war was declared. As Japanese aggression increased, its relations with the US deteriorated. Occupied Manchuria was rapidly exploited with the establishment of heavy and light industries. This was a practical necessity for Japan. Lacking in natural resources itself, the search for alternative supplies underpinned foreign and military policy throughout the decade and led to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Pacific War.

On top of practical economic considerations, early military success and an inherent sense of racial superiority led Japan to believe that it deserved to dominate Asian politics. As with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, this combination bred an aggressive and neo-colonial foreign policy, the 'Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere'. Higher birth-rates and economic considerations required more land; the gene-pool justified it. Top Relations with the US A briefing of Japanese pilots before the attack © The policy increased in urgency as relations with the US sank further. Historically, Japan had relied on America to supply many natural and industrial resources. Increasingly alarmed by Japanese aggression, however, America allowed a commercial treaty dating from 1911 to lapse in January 1940. In July it followed up by embargoing scrap iron and aviation fuel. Things got worse in September when Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy. It was now a formal member of the Axis alliance fighting the European War. ... Japan knew that a full-scale invasion of South-east Asia would prompt war with America. This posed real problems. Although officially neutral, there was no doubt where American sympathies lay. President Franklin D.

Roosevelt had already strained the sinews of neutrality by supplying Britain with money and arms under the 'lend-lease' agreement. The Tripartite Pact meant that supplies to Japan would indirectly be helping Italy and Germany; further embargoes followed. For Japan, embroiled in a long war with China, these were disastrous. Considering its very survival under threat, Japan intensified the search for a permanent alternative. The most obvious target was South-east Asia, rich in minerals and oil. German success in Europe in 1940 had orphaned French and Dutch colonies in the region and they became the focus of Japanese attention. While occupying French Indochina in July 1941, Japan knew that a full-scale invasion of South-east Asia would prompt war with America. It needed a mechanism to buy itself sufficient time and space to conquer successfully crucial targets like the Philippines, Burma and Malaya. The attack on Pearl Harbor was that mechanism; merely a means to an end. By destroying its Pacific Fleet, Japan expected to remove America from the Pacific equation for long enough to allow it to secure the resources it needed so desperately and hoped to crush American morale sufficiently to prompt Roosevelt to sue for peace.

Top An ill-prepared America President Roosevelt declares war on Japan following the attack at Pearl Harbor. © With war so widely expected, why was America so woefully ill-prepared? Rumours that began in the war are still hanging around, well past their sell-by date, fuelled only by revisionist historians and conspiracy cranks. They claim Roosevelt was itching for war with Japan but was constrained by US neutrality, so needed a solid reason to fight. Hence they accuse him of suppressing prior knowledge of the attack, or of provoking it to enable America to enter the war by the back door. Some even say that the attack on Pearl Harbor was deliberately engineered by a crypto-communist president guilty of high treason. In 1941 America was not ready for war. It doesn't add up. In 1941 America was not ready for war. With US forces queuing for arms alongside Britain and Russia, Roosevelt knew he needed more time to build America's military capacity. If war was to come, he wanted Japan to be seen to be the aggressor, but Roosevelt was in no hurry. Furthermore, he saw Germany as America's main enemy.

This 'Europe first' strategy was affirmed with Churchill at the Arcadia conference in late December 1941. Roosevelt had already pushed neutrality to the limit and had assigned warships to accompany convoys in the Atlantic. War with Germany was only a matter of time: why choose to fight another with Japan? Even when European conflict came, it did so only on Hitler's invitation after he gratuitously declared war. Top American myopia However hard you look, there is little evidence of anything more than blushing cover-ups of previous blunders. The real crime was one of incompetence on a huge scale. After all, the US had broken Japan's diplomatic codes and could sometimes decode messages faster than the Japanese themselves. The problem was not raw data, but its interpretation, evaluation and communication: it had to be used properly. This did not happen. The real crime was one of incompetence on a huge scale. The administration and military were both guilty of a staggering lack of co-ordination between Washington and Oahu, and between different services. Japanese messages were decoded by the army and navy on alternate days and all too often one service failed to properly communicate their new intelligence to the other.

And it wasn't just codes: on the day of the attack, Japanese aircraft were spotted by American radar. No action was taken: they were assumed to be a flight of B-17 bombers due in from the mainland. It's not as if America wasn't warned. In January 1941 Ambassador Grew in Tokyo passed on intelligence that stated that Japan was planning the attack. It was disregarded. Warnings from military personnel in February and July were overlooked, largely because they recommended massive transfers of aircraft to Oahu, aircraft that America simply did not have. War warnings from Washington to Hawaii ten days before the attack were virtually ignored. Team USA was proving pretty dysfunctional. This American myopia stemmed from complacent disbelief that Japan would mount such an attack, especially before declaring war. Yet any study of Japanese history demonstrated that pre-emptive attacks such as this were almost standard operating procedure. Instead of concentrating on what Japan could do, the US tried to guess what it would do. It guessed wrong. Top The aftermath Although Pearl Harbor started the Pacific War, a war that Japan would lose badly, the attack itself was no failure. The Japanese wanted to cripple the Pacific Fleet and give them the space to invade South-east Asia.

They did: Japan won every major battle until Midway in June 1942. By that time it occupied territory from Manchuria to the East Indies, and from India's borders to deep into the Pacific. The attack on Pearl Harbor bought Japan the space and time it needed. Although only chance saved the American aircraft carriers, their survival was a major blow. However, the primary problem with the attack was the planning. Had Japan focused beyond the fleet and targeted the crucial shore facilities and oil reserves, it could have inflicted far greater and more lasting damage. As it was, of the ships damaged or sunk on December 7th 1941, only three - the Arizona, Oklahoma and Utah - were damaged beyond repair, and Utah was already obsolete. Japan gave America the chance to rebuild its fleet and re-enter the fight with brand new kit. Operationally brilliant, the attack was nonetheless strategically disastrous. Even worse, rather than crushing American morale as planned, the attack united the country behind Roosevelt and behind war. Americans were incensed by Japan's failure to declare war until later that day: the sneak attack fuelled American determination to fight on, even in the face of the setbacks of early 1942.

Pearl Harbor and the invasion of South-east Asia showcased Japan at its best - capable of massive daring and painstaking preparation. Operationally brilliant, the attack was nonetheless strategically disastrous. Never again would Japan have the opportunity to act with such forethought and planning. It got itself the short term breathing space it wanted, but also a war against both Britain and America. To invite such confrontation was the result of courage, optimism and (possibly) madness on a massive scale. Japan lost. Faced with American military and economic might, it could never really win. So why all the conspiracy theories? Maybe because some just cannot accept that on the day, in round one, their boys were beaten by the better team. Books Scapegoats by Edward L Beach (1995). A revisionist account. The Way It Was: Pearl Harbor, the Original Photographs by Donald M Goldstein et al (2001). Personal accounts and photographs of the attack. Day of Infamy by Walter Lord (1957, 2001). The first classic account of the attack At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor by Gordon W Prange (1991).

The definitive history of Pearl Harbor Day of Deceit: the truth about FDR and Pearl Harbor Another revisionist account by Robert B Stinnett (2001) Infamy: Pearl Harbor and its aftermath by John Toland (2001). Pins the blame on Washington. Top About the author Bruce Robinson is a professional journalist who graduated with a first class degree in History from Cambridge University, specialising in English Social, Political and Economic History from 1300 to 1600.

Question: In which month of 1941 did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbour ?
Answer: DECEMBER