Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Pearl Harbor



The build up to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor started when President FDR froze Japanese credit in the U.S. after Japan invaded French-Ind China (Vietnam). This would not allow trade for oil or scrap metal until Japan got out of China.

Japan has 3 possible ways to respond:
1. Give the U.S. what they want (After all, they have already lost 100,000 men in China)
2. Find oil somewhere else. (Ex. Dutch East Indies, Indonesia)
3.  Look to Isoroku Yamamoto


Isoroku Yamamoto was a Japanese man who was educated in the U.S. This allowed him to know U.S. structure and military tactics. He had a realistic opinion, and knew that Japan could not defeat the U.S. in a long war. They needed to hold out, and neutralize the U.S. To achieve this goal, Yamamoto created 'Operation  Z'. The plan was to buy the Japanese time by continuing diplomatic relations with the U.S. Then, the U.S. moved their Pacific fleet from San Diego to Pearl Harbor to intimidate Japan, by having the fleet closer to them. The next part of Operation Z became to attack Pearl Harbor, and follow it with attacks on other U.S. and European countries. This could damage the U.S. pacific fleet enough to but Japan 2 years as a free hand in the Pacific. Japan would simply make it too costly for the U.S. to try and defeat them.

Pearl Harbor is considered the worst naval disaster in U.S. history. In result, 18 American ships were sunk or seriously damaged and 188 American planes were destroyed. One of the ships destroyed by Japanese naval forces was the Arizona Battleship. 1,177 crewmen were killed that day, and half of those men were in the Arizona. Today, we can visit the Arizona Battleship memorial built over the remains of the ship.

The reason for Japan's success was the well thought out planning that went behind it.The Japanese had spies confirm that nothing could go wrong, and they knew their route very well so there would be no hesitation on their part.

U.S. made mistakes leading up to Pearl Harbor. U.S. intelligence cracked Japanese code and knew about the attack prior to it happening, but their lack of communication did not allow their message to be sent in time for warning.
 
Pearl Harbor can also be viewed as a disaster for the Japanese. It angered and saddened the U.S. very much, providing them with motivation and determination. U.S. carriers did not happen to be at Pearl Harbor that day, and World War 2 was a carrier war. Without their carriers, U.S. could have not secured as many wins as they did. Also, the Japanese could not launch their 3rd wave attack, because the U.S. had become very alert by then. 

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