Surprise Attack At Pearl Harbor example essay topic

The attack on Pear Harbor has influenced history in a way that has made America stronger. It helped America unite as a country, allowing them to overcome greater obstacles. One example is the recent tragedy of September 11. I believe that Pearl Harbor helped unite America as a nation so when the bombing on September 11 happened, it helped the U.S. handle this tragedy.

In my report, I would like to tell you of the events leading up to the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor and subsequent events. In 1937, Japan invaded China and began waging a war on them. Since Japan was militaristic, the official head of the Japanese government did not have real power. Instead, the reins of power were held by military officials. Military leaders convinced Japanese people that they were under divine protection and could not be defeated. On September 27, 1940, Japan signed the Tripartite Treaty with Germany and Italy, which joined them to the Axis Powers.

The Japanese invasion of China disturbed America, for the U.S. and China had always been close allies. Many Americans were alarmed by the increasingly hostile nature of Japan's leaders and by her powerful military thus when Chinese leader asked the U.S. for assistance, President Roosevelt declared a moral embargo. He also started strengthening American defenses in the Pacific. The center of activity was the naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Japan saw the embargo on China as a threat. Japan asked to be left alone, but America refused, insisting that they withdraw from China. Soon the embargo began to hurt Japan's economy. So they decided to push America out of the Pacific. Japanese military leaders warned that a long war with the U.S. would result in a Japanese defeat. Japan believed that a knockout blow must be dealt to the American's at the very beginning.

They decided to launch a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor knowing that by destroying America's Pacific fleet, the U.S. would not be able to fight back, and they would have to surrender. In the months before the attack on United States bases in the Pacific, the young Japanese men trained rigorously for service in their country's air forces. Several factors prevented the American command from anticipating the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor. Even though the Americans had broken the secret Japanese diplomatic code, the decoded messages were closely guarded. People in important positions never received the valuable information in decoded messages. Also, because of the economic depression carried over from the 1930's, there was little money for new equipment and more servicemen.

Since Pearl Harbor was so shallow, the American command felt that underwater torpedoes could not be used against ships there. Finally, the Americans felt that Japanese equipment and servicemen were inferior to their American counterparts. However, the Americans did worry that sabotage was likely at Pearl Harbor. To keep and eye on things, the commanders grouped ships closely together in the harbor to keep them safe from submarines.

Airplanes on the island were lined up wingtip to wingtip so that all could be watched by a few men. This sort of thinking was a setup for disaster. The ships and planes crammed together made perfect sitting targets. On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, the Japanese took off to make a surprise attack on the U.S. naval fleet and airfield at Pearl Harbor.

Just before 8: 00, waves of planes were swooping down out of the sky. The sailors thought they were just army planes showing off; but then the lead plane released its bombs and a loud alarm sounded-"AIR RAID! NO DRILL!" The Japanese plan had two parts. The most important target as "Battleship Row", where the most deadly of the United States ships were anchored.

The airplanes at the two main airfields were the second important target. With in the first few minutes of the sneak attack, most of the United States aircraft on the ground were in shambles, useless heaps of torn and melting metal. The first battleship hit was the West Virginia, it sank just a few minutes after the attack began. Then the battleship Oklahoma was hit by three torpedoes. The only possible order was given: Abandon ship! Sailors began leaping into the water, trying desperately to swim to other ships or to shore, but despite the people who got away, more than 400 men were trapped inside.

Slowly the great ship sank and finally capsized in the mud at the bottom of the harbor. Soon the Utah was hit, causing its oil to escape the vessel, unfortunately, the sailors who were trying to swim to shore were caught in the horrible slime. As the ships were being hit the flames caught the oil and a wave of fire raced across the water, burning sailors to death. At 8: 12 the Utah rolled over, trapping the men inside. In the confusion the damaged battleship Nevada made a desperate break for safety. Her crew thought she could make it if she got to the open water.

But as the ship moved toward the sea, six bombs hit her, she soon burst into flames. The crewman struggled to bring the flames under control, tugboats came to the rescue and managed to get her to shore, but the damage had been done. Meanwhile, planes screamed down on the battleship Arizona. First the planes missed but came back and five bombs hit the Arizona. The ship burst into flames and the fire hit the black gunpowder stored on the ship and it exploded. It then broke into two pieces that plunged into the mud of the harbor.

Of the fifteen hundred men aboard, not one man had a chance of survival. The bodies of those men were never recovered. As the ships were being destroyed more and more sailors leaped overboard, but many never made it to shore. Just before the second wave of planes hit, a bomb accidentally hit the city of Honolulu, killing nearly seventy civilians. When the second wave of planes hit, the confusion of the American service man changed to anger-anger at the enemy. Men ran toward armories where rifles and ammunition were stored, others sought out the few undamaged aircraft's and climbed into the cockpits.

The planes soon roared upward to meet the Japanese attackers, and antiaircraft guns on ships and land swiveled and cranked skyward. Those who manned them were determined to blast the enemy out of the sky. As American guns barked skyward, some Japanese aircraft plunged seaward, trailing smoke; others flew away toward the open sea. The first wave lasted 0740 hrs. and the second wave lasted 0850 hrs.

The Japanese had sank or severely damaged 18 warships and auxiliaries, wiped out 80% of the aircraft on Oahu at the time of the attack, and killed and wounded 3681 American personnel. Nearly 2403 Americans killed were lost in the Ship Arizona, also 1178 were wounded. Japanese losses were minimal-negligible-in view of the victory they had won: 185 killed, one captured, and a total of twenty-nine aircraft never returned to the carriers. Pearl Harbor was pounded with bombs and torpedoes and strafed by bullets from 7: 55 until 9: 45 a.m. Then the Japanese planes turned and roared away. They simply vanished, as suddenly as they had come.

The noise of the guns and bombs and torpedoes was gone, but Pearl Harbor was not in silence. Everywhere was the crackling of burning fires. Everywhere voices shouted orders, sirens wailed, and injured men cried out for help. Others were so badly wounded that they could do nothing but moan and wait and some made no sound at all. Soon after the surprise attack, on September 8, President Roosevelt asked Congress for a declaration of war. They agreed with an overwhelming vote for war, and Roosevelt soon addressed America: "Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly attacked by naval and air forces of the empire of Japan".

Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S., and the U.S. declared war on Italy and Germany. Japan thought that their attack on Pearl Harbor would destroy America, but they soon found that they had failed to anticipate three important things: (1) Most of the U.S. aircraft carriers were at sea during the attack, thus escaping the damage. (2) The attack failed to destroy the repair facilities and fuel reserves at Pearl Harbor naval base. (3) The surprise attack united the American people as nothing has before, and the entire nation banded together to face their fears with one goal-to defeat the Axis Powers. The Japanese had not crushed America at all; instead, they had-in the words of a Japanese admiral-"awakened a sleeping giant, and filled him with a terrible resolve.".