Pearl Harbor Day
Posted on December 7, 2005
Cross posted from The Uncooperative Blogger:
Let’s take some time to remember, or learn, about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Pearl Harbor, on the Island of O’ahu, Hawaii, (then a territory of the United States) was attacked by the Japanese Imperial Navy, at approximately 8:00 A.M., Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. The surprise attack had been conceived by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. The striking force of 353 Japanese aircraft was led by Commander Mitsuo Fuchida. There had been no formal declaration of war. In fact, Japanese diplomats were in negotiations with America just prior to the attack.
Approximately 100 ships of the U.S. Navy were present that morning, consisting of battleships, destroyers, cruisers and various support ships.
Luckily over half the U.S. Pacific fleet was out to sea, including the carriers.
Numerous mistakes were made by the U.S. leading up to the attack, but it was Yamamoto who made the biggest mistake.
Japan attacked methodically and with deadly efficiency. Bombers, torpedo planes, dive-bombers, all covered by Mitsubushi Zero fighter planes, took out U.S. air power, and then hit the battleships on “battleship row,” sinking or severely damaging every one. The worst casualty, the U.S.S. Arizona, went down in ten minutes with thousands of sailors on board.
Despite this phenomenal success, Yamamoto did not achieve total victory because three key targets, the U.S. Aircraft Carriers, had been out on maneuvers. Going in Yamamoto had expected to loose 30% of his entire force, ships included, yet he lost nothing larger than a midget sub, and only a handful of aircraft. In a critical, and fortuitous, error in judgment, Yamamoto decided to take his winnings and leave the table, without the carriers. All the battleships except the Arizona would be salvaged and returned to action during the war. More importantly, he left the oil storage facilities undamaged, which allowed the U.S. to continue to operate out of Hawaii. Japan also could not foresee that an outraged American people would be galvanized and determined like nothing imagined.
Today we remember all those that lost their lives on that auspicious day…
Links for your day of remembrance:
Listen to President Rosevelt’s Speech to Congress on Dec. 8, 1941
The History Place has the timeline and photos.
A survivor, Marine Corporal E.C. Nightingale, who was on the Arizona remembers that fateful day.
The Essential Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor Remembered
This page features a historical overview and special image selection on the Pearl Harbor raid, chosen from the more comprehensive coverage featured in the following pages, and those linked from them.
Sources:
A Patriot’s History of the United States
Pearl Harbor: Remembered
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2 Responses to “Pearl Harbor Day”
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Syndicate Me
We can still remember Pearl Harbor 64 years after it happened but why are liberals trying to make us forget 9-11 so soon.
That is an excellent question Nadom. A wise man once told me that once upon a time, men were made of steel and ships were made of wood, now men are made of wood and ships are made of steel…