Pearl Harbor And The Fleet example essay topic

Pearl Harbor was the straw that broke the camels back. This surprised attack which claimed the lives of civilians, soldiers, marines, and thousands of sailors forced the United States to go through the doors of its neutral home and into a world of war. By taking advantage of America's deficiencies, misconceptions, and speculative theories the Japanese task that was made easy. Luckily it was not a total success for the Japanese, even though America still lost many fighters who put their lives on the line for their country they gained the knowledge from the lesson that they learned that day. In 1933 a man named Adolph Hitler was given the title Chancellor of Germany which he change the following year and adopted the title of Fuehrer, which means? all-powered leader, ? and set out to build the peoples desire for expansion and the establishment of a?

New Order? in Europe. In September 1940 Germany, Italy, and Japan announced to the whole world that they had signed a treaty of alliance which provided political, economic, and military assistance to each other. It was also established that the leadership of Germany and Italy had a goal to form a? New Order? in Europe, and the leadership of Japan had a goal to form a? New Order? in the Greater East Asia. But these countries soon want to expand this?

New Order? to rest of the world and the only way to accomplish this is by taking out America quickly and silently. The only thing that was standing in their way for the moment was the Pacific Fleet and a place called Pearl Harbor which was so close that they could reach out and touch them. Pearl Harbor was believed to be a mighty fortress of defense. Together with the Pacific Fleet, Hawaii was considered to be unassailable by outsiders.

Compared to other prospective enemies the Pacific Fleet was assumed to be an unstoppable force. Some high ranking personnel of the State department had faith that if things got to a level where war was the only way to go that the sea forces of Japan could be defeated in a few weeks. But we all know that something of that magnitude could only be seen in the movies. Prior to the Japanese attack the Pacific Fleet had a total of 159 vessels but the Atlantic fleet, who had most of the vessels because they were actually more active than the Pacific Fleet at the time, had 224 vessels. But if we exclude the smaller vessels it would Pacific Fleet 111 and Atlantic Fleet 188. The Pacific had nine of the fifteen battleships and most of the modern submarines, but in May of 1941 three battleships, an aircraft carrier, four cruisers, and nine destroyers were detached from the Pacific Fleet and sent to the Atlantic Fleet for duty.

Even though the Fleet seemed to be formidable it was realized by many that the Japanese fleet was significantly stronger. All the ships of the fleet were not in Pearl Harbor or were not in operating condition, for some required material improvement work. But during the eighteen months that the Pacific fleet was at Pearl Harbor great progress was made in training the sea forces for possible warfare and in improving the conveniences of the new base. The majority of the people did not believe that Pearl Harbor was threaten by Japanese and felt that they would go else were in order to accomplish there goal in establishing a? New Order.? Some felt Japan would go north to Russia since I was a region that was desired by the Japanese Army, but Russia was unconquered by Germany and Japan did not want to make that country an enemy a that point.

But the way that information was gathered about Pearl Harbor and the fleet was what was on everyone's mind. Information received from the Japanese after Pearl Harbor shows that their precise observations and intelligence kept them well informed of the security of Hawaii and the activities of the Pacific Fleet. In our open democratic society Japanese agents were free to observe fleet activities, take photographs with high-powered equipment, and to solicit almost any information desired. Any person could roam the hills around Pearl Harbor or other areas of Hawaii and observe the coming and witness the comings and goings of each ship and what their schedule seemed to be. It was even possible for people to find information about defense measures, such as torpedo nets and anti-aircraft guns. It was even said that one espionage officer in the Japanese Consulate has rent an aircraft and flown over Hawaii military bases on a consistent basis.

If you are able to receive information that easily then it must have been just as easy to attack the bases. The spy ring that was present in Hawaii was very effective. Reports about the movement of vessels at the harbor and the activities around the base were sent regular to Tokyo from the Consulate at Honolulu. Information like air reconnaissance, defense measures, and troop movements were just some of the information being sent across the seas. But there is no way that all these transmissions did raise a brow especially when these transmissions came in shorter intervals as December 17 started to creep up. Rumors started to fly that the Japanese could be planning an attack against Pearl Harbor.

But there were so many rumors about other possible targets that the rumor about Pearl Harbor seemed to far-fetched. Then the proximity of hostile action pointed to attacks in the Western Pacific area. But it seemed to be little probability that the initial attack could be against Pearl Harbor, at least this is what the American officials felt about the situation. July 1941 Hawaii was warned of the tense situation cause by the Japanese occupation of South Indo-China and the United States imposition of and prohibition on trade with Japan. When General Tojo took over the government as Premier in October 1941, the Hawaiian commands and other Pacific commands were again advised of the seriousness of the situation in the Pacific.

A new security order which superseded the security order which was already in effect was issued by Admiral Kimmel the Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet during the attacks on Pearl Harbor. Husband E. Kimmel was born in Henderson, Kentucky, on 26 February 1882 and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1904. Before reaching flag rank, he served in several battleships, commanded two destroyer divisions, a destroyer squadron and USS New York (BB-34). He also held a number of important positions on flag staffs and in the Navy Department, and completed the senior course at the Naval War College. In February 1941 he became Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet and Pacific Fleet, with the temporary rank of Admiral. Operating from the advanced base at Pearl Harbor, Kimmel led his fleet during the months of vigorous training that preceded the outbreak of the Pacific War.

Relieved of his fleet command in mid-December 1941, he was then demoted to Rear Admiral. Many people feel that he was the main reason for the people of Pearl Harbor not being on alert. It was said that he had information that he did not reveal to his subordinates and because of that something that could have been a little confrontation turned into a massacre. The purpose of the attack on Pearl Harbor was to sink or cripple large units so the Pacific Fleet would immobilized and the Japanese would be able to invade the Philippines Islands, the East Indies, and improve the defense of the Mandates. By doing this it would make the United States think twice before they would fight an enemy so far from home. The attack on Pearl Harbor was played over and over on a game-board and each time showed a successful attack with a maximum loss of about one-third of the Japanese force.

Aviators were trained to drop torpedoes from very low altitudes and they were trained to use high-level planes and diving planes in order to defeat nets around major ships. This attack was conceived by Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto, the Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet. In 1905 Admiral Yamamoto studied at Harvard University 1919-1921. One of the major advocates of Japanese naval aviation, as Commander of the 1st Fleet, and was responsible for the many Japanese naval successes in the opening months of the Pacific War. Ironically, he was opposed to going to war with the United States, which he knew would be a more dangerous opponent than many Japanese imagined.

However, once the decision to go to war had been made, he supported it in spite of his doubts. His bold plans for the opening moves of the war worked far better than he had expected; but his second campaign, to finish off the U.S. Pacific Fleet, ended in disaster at Midway. Thereafter, he operated on the defensive, waiting for a chance to strike another crippling blow, but that chance never came. He was killed in 1943, when US AAF P-38 fighters intercepted the bomber carrying him on an inspection tour of forward bases.