December 7 - Attack on Pearl Harbour

This Day in History: 7 December 2019

 

7 December 1941

 

78 years ago, today, the imperial Japanese navy, with 353 planes, attacked the US fleet at Pearl Harbour Naval Base, in Hawaii, resulting in 2,403 deaths, and destroyed and damaged nearly 20 American naval vessels, including 8 battleships and over 300 airplanes. Japan wanted to prevent the US Pacific Fleet from interfering with its military advances in Asia, and on the same day, invaded Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong and attacked the Philippines, Guam, and Wake Island. This attack on Pearl Harbour shocked the American public and led to President Franklin Roosevelt declaring war on Japan the next day. Adolf Hitler, the German dictator, then retaliated by declaring war on the US on December 11, bringing America into both fronts of the war.

 

Previously, the United States had already been unhappy with Japan's increasingly hostile attitude towards Communist China, leading to a Japan declaring war on China in 1937. American officials responded to this with economic sanctions and trade embargos for Japan to rein in its expansionism. But, instead of this, the sanctions made the Japanese more determined to stand their ground. At 8am, the planes flew over Pearl Harbour, and bombs and bullets poured down onto the vessels below, and an 1,800-pound bomb smashed through the USS Arizona, causing the ship to explode and sink with 1,000 men inside. Torpedoes then destroyed the shell of the USS Oklahoma, with 400 sailors on board. It lost her balance, rolled on the side and slipped underwater, and the attack was over in less than 2 hours. Every battleship in Pearl Harbour, including the USS California, USS West Virginia, USS Utah, USS Maryland, USS Pennsylvania, USS Tennessee and USS Nevada had sustained significant damage, but all except the USS Arizona and USS Utah were eventually repaired.

 

Overall, the Japanese had failed to successfully cripple the Pacific Fleet, because by this decade, aircraft carriers were used more and were more important than battleships, and they were away from the base on December 7. This attack had also left the base's facilities intact, such as the oil storage depots and repair shops, so the US Navy were able to rebound quickly.

 

Want to find out more about this crucial event in World War 2? Visithttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor for more details and background information.