Japan Surrender The Attack On Pearl Harbor example essay topic

Pearl Harbor was one of the most vicious attacks on American soil. The surprise attack by Japan took place on Sunday morning December 7, 1941. Japan wanted to immobilize U.S.'s Pacific fleet and destroy any chance of a counter strike in from the Pacific. The United States responded by creating Japanese-American Internment Camps, which uprooted tens of thousands of Japanese-American families. And later America decided to use atomic weapons to end the war with Japan. Tension between Japan and the United States started in 1931.

Japan had taken over Manchuria, which was then a part of China. In 1937 Japan had started a campaign to conquer the rest of China that was long lasting and didn't work. In 1940 Japan signed the Axis Alliance with Germany and occupied all of Indochina the next year. The U.S. was worried by Japan's movements because of economic interests that the United States had in East Asia. The U.S. strengthened military aid to China and increased financial aid. They also built up the military in the Pacific.

The U.S. also cut off shipments of oil and raw materials to Japan. Japanese government saw this move as a threat to Japan's survival because Japan doesn't have many natural resources. Japan's next plan was to take control of the territories of South East Asia that have good amounts of natural resources, even though it would start a war with the United States. (Lord, Walter.

Day of Infamy) (web) (web) The only thing that stood in the way of this plan was the threat posed by the U.S. Pacific fleet stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Admiral Iso roku Yamamoto, the leader of the Japanese fleet, was the mastermind behind the plan to cripple the U.S. fleet. Yamamoto wanted to disable the U.S. Pacific fleet by destroying enough ships, airfields, runways, planes, support facilities, and 4.5 billion gallons of fuel so that there was no chance for a counter attack. As Yamamoto put it he wanted to destroy the "dagger pointed at our throat".

(Beck, Roger. Black, Linda. Krieger, Larry. Naylor, Phillip. Ibo Shabaka, Dahia. "World History" pg. 827-830) Yamamoto devised a clever plan that would have the attacking Japanese follow a storm front and keep strict radio silence to avoid being detected by American radar.

The Japanese attack was led by Vice-Admiral Chukchi Nagumo and consisted of 6 aircraft carriers, 2 battleships, and 2 cruisers. They got within 275 miles of Oahu before they launched their first attack wave at 6: 00 AM, which arrived at Pearl Harbor at 7: 55 AM and ended their attack at 9: 45 AM. The first wave was made up of 49 bombers, 40 torpedo planes, 51 dive-bombers, and 43 fighters. The second wave started shortly after the first wave ended and was composed of 54 bombers, 78 dive-bombers, and 36 fighters.

After the first two waves all 8 battleships in Pearl Harbor were sunk or disabled as well as 11 other ships. 164 planes were destroyed and 2,335 military personnel were killed along with 68 civilians. Even though Yamamoto's plan of attack called for a third wave of attack that would target 4.5 billion gallons of fuel and support facilities Nagumo called off the strike. He thought that there was enough damage, but the U.S. did end up rebuilding and launching a counterstrike. (web) (web) The Unite States responded to the attack on Pearl Harbor in a few ways. The first thing that President Franklin D. Roosevelt did after the attack on Pearl Harbor was issue Executive Order 9066. This called for the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese-Americans for up to four years, most of which were legal U.S. citizens.

The camps were enclosed shelters that were guarded by military. The conditions were so harsh that some Japanese Americans died. Poor medical care and emotional stresses endured in the camps contributed to the ones that died, but also some Japanese Americans were shot by guards for allegedly resisting orders. (web) (web) The Second way that the U.S. retaliated to Pearl Harbor was turning the tide of the war. The first time that we got Japan after the surprise attack was the "Doolittle Raid". The raid was a small operation led by Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle. 16 B-25 bombers seemed to come out of nowhere and bombed Tokyo and other important cities in Japan.

There was very little damage done by the bombing, but it boosted American and Allied morale. It was the first strike back from Pearl Harbor and it proved that the Japanese could be attacked. It was the start of turning the tide in the war for the Allied side. The Battle of the Coral Sea was an important battle even though the Japanese claimed victory.

The fighting was done entirely by the planes on the aircraft carriers and the battle was somewhat of a tie, but it was the first time the Allies stopped Japan's southward movement. The Battle of Midway was the naval battle that turned the war against Japan for good. A Japanese code was broken so Admiral Chester Nimitz knew that a fleet of over 150 ships was going for Midway Island in hopes to capture Midway and destroy the U.S. Pacific fleet. The Japanese had the largest fleet ever with the world's largest battleship.

Even though Nimitz was outnumbered 4 to 1 he planned an ambush that helped the U.S. easily destroy 332 Japanese planes, 4 aircraft carriers, and 1 support ship. (Beck, Roger. Black, Linda. Krieger, Larry. Naylor, Phillip. Ibo Shabaka, Dahia.

"World History" pg. 827-830) (web) The final step in making the Japanese surrender was the President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Before President Roosevelt's death in office he was weighing the choice to launch an attack on Japan or to use the new secret weapon, the atomic bomb. When President Roosevelt died President Harry Truman took over the office. The decision to attack Japan or drop the bombs was left up to him.

The deciding factor in President Truman's choice was when he was told that an estimated 500,000 Allies would have died if there had been an attack on Japan, so he chose to drop the bombs. The two cities chosen to drop the bombs on were Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hiroshima's population was an estimated 350,000 people and an estimated 70,000 people died in the initial blast and another 70,000 in five years. Nagasaki's population was estimated at 270,000 and approximately 70,000 people died by the end of the year. Even though the second bomb was stronger it didn't do as much damage as Hiroshima because of Nagasaki's terrain. Japan didn't surrender after the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima so the second one had to be dropped three days later on Nagasaki that made Japan surrender. (web) The attack on Pearl Harbor was a bad event, but it did have a positive effect on the outcome of the war.

Because America was provoked into the war they turned the tide of the war against the Axis Powers. Some people think that Japanese American Internment Camps came about because the government was motivated by racial prejudice because of the attack, and I think that could be a big reason. From what I read the camps sounded harsh and useless. I think that the decision to drop the atomic bombs was a good one because rather than losing 500,000 Allied lives and probably dragging the war out a few more months it ended in a few days..