Information About The Attack On Pearl Harbor example essay topic

Pearl Harbor located on an inlet of the island of Hawaii. This is located 10 km (6 mi) west of Honolulu, and is one of the famous naval bases of the United States. The United States government first started using the inlet in 1887 and then was given the right to maintain and repair a coaling station for ships. The harbor was surveyed but improvements were not made until after the United States obtained the Hawaiian Islands in 1898. In the year of 1911, the work of extracting a wide channel from the sea, across the sandbar and the coral reef at the mouth of the harbor was completed. In the morning of December 7 1941, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that nation and was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. One hour after Japanese air squadrons had begun bombing in Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to the Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack. Japanese submarines and carrier-based planes attacked the U.S. Pacific fleet. Military airfields near Pearl Harbor also attacked by the Japanese planes.

Eight American battleships and 13 naval vessels were sunk or badly damaged. Almost 200 American aircraft carriers were destroyed, and approximately 3,000 naval and military personnel killed or wounded. The attack marked the entrance of Japan on the side of Germany and Italy into World War II and the entrance of the United States on the Allied side. After the attack, the U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt determined an assignment of inquiry to determine whether disregard had contributed to the success of the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor. The commission's report found the naval and army commanders of the Hawaiian area, Husband E. Kimmel and Major General Walter C. Short, guilty of "failure of duty" and "errors of judgment". The two men were afterward retired.

Other later inquiries, differed in their conclusions. The Congress of the United States, in an effort to dispose of the conflict, decided on a full, public investigation. On February 1st, 1941, Admiral James O. Richardson was officially replaced by Admiral Husband E. Kimmel. Richardson was supposedly removed because he strongly voiced his disagreement with the U.S. Pacific Fleet spending any more time in Pearl Harbor then they already had.

Kimmel shared that view, and also wanted to keep his office, so he simply kept his opinion to himself. The fleet's main objective while staying in their new location, was to distract the Japan from South Asia by, capturing the Caroline and Marshall Islands, disturbing Japanese trade routes and defending Guam and Hawaii as well as the United States. Admiral Iso roku Yamado, commander-in-chief of Japan's Combined Fleet devised a plan that would protect the Japanese mainland from European invasion as well as launch offensive maneuvers. He decided to attack Pearl Harbor and Allied forces in Southeast Asia simultaneously, in an effort to demoralize American forces. Yamado felt this was the closet way to get a peace settlement. The attack was carefully planned out and guidelines were established, surprise was crucial, aircraft carriers were the primary targets to avoid opposition, all types of bombing were to be used, it would be necessary to refuel at sea and a daylight attack would be most affective.

There was much opposition from Japanese Naval General Staff yet the attack went on as planned. The political congressional committee opened its investigation in November 1945. Testimony from many people reviewed all known information about the attack on Pearl Harbor. The committee reported its findings in July 1946.

It placed the primary blame on General Short and Admiral Kimmel, who were declared guilty only of errors of judgment, and not of failure of duty. The committee recommended the join of the U.S. armed forces, which occurred the following year. The USS Arizona National Memorial site stands above the remains of the battleship in Pearl Harbor, honoring the Americans who died in the attack.