Pearl Harbor - Research Paper Example

PEARL HARBOR In facts, Pearl Harbor was initially a widespread shallow embayment referred to as Wai Momi signifying Pearl Water. It is a mere section of O’ahu Hawai’i Island, in which much of the harbor is surrounded by deep water. It is documented that, the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, brought World War II into the United States (Fitzgerald 90). On December, 1941, the Japanese Military forces at Pearl Harbor assaulted the United States. This was a rude awakening of the nation particularly, being the strongest country. In the history of the United States, this day will forever be remembered since; the attack was demoralizing in loss of life and property. The attack was devastating for the United States borne in mind; prior to the attack, the country was given warnings over the attacks likely occurrence. The attack on Pearl Harbor started on a Sunday morning when many Americans had just woken up. The day began as usual, and to many, the incidence was a surprise. The Japanese had intended to impose the attack on a Sunday morning because; it is a day that most people relax. On that atrocious day, over 2500 Americans died of the attack, while others were admitted to the hospitals. It is said that, the sounds and the sight will remain with victims who survived from the attack. Still, Pearl Harbor left a legacy that, up-to-date, many honor the spirited men who menaced their lives for the American people. Following this, the aim of this paper is to discuss Pearl Harbor. The essay will seek to answer various questions regarding the attack such as how Pearl Harbor Started, where it started, why it started, who started, its outcome to the United States and Japan, how the war ended, when it ended, and who ended the war. HOW PEARL HARBOR STARTED It is articulated that, the attack on Pearl Harbor will forever spark imagination borne in mind; 4,000 Americans were wounded or killed. Much of how Pearl Harbor started bothers many since; there are various things that occurred before the attack. It is documented that, on September 1940, the United States imposed restriction on Japan towards prohibiting exporting of Scrap iron, steel, and fuel (Whit, 19). On April 1941, the Japanese signed the neutrality treaty with Soviet Union to prevent the attack if they were to go to war with the United States or Britain. Toward the end of July 1941, the United States, Netherlands, and Britain froze Japanese resources. Eventually, Japan could not purchase oil, which in turn, crippled its army as well as, its air forces. Japan seized the opportunity to take Southeast Asia’s resources but, all was in vain. Typically, the U.S demanded that Japan withdraws from Indonesia and China, though this could be settled with a token not to take more territory. In essence, the Japanese military was requested to device the war pan and also get the oil embargo lifted precisely. In this context, the U.S knew that the attack was imminent bearing in mind; their relationship with the Japanese Military was broken. Prior to the attack, warnings had been sent from Washington, though it arrived late. Before the attack, Japanese planes were spotted, but it was implicated to be American’ Flights. On December 7th 1941, it was a peaceful Sunday morning on the Hawaiian island. The first wave of the Japanese airplanes left six aircraft carriers with struck Pearl Harbor before 8 AM local time. After two waves of terror lasting, the disaster had occurred. Over 3, 500 Americans were badly damaged by 18 ships, and a lot of resources were destroyed. The attack lasted approximately 2 hours, from 7.55 A.M to 10.45 A.M. The first Wave struck Pearl Harbor at 7.55 .A.M, and the second one around 8.50 A.M. With no doubt; the attack on Pearl Harbor was military strike organized by the Japanese against the U.S. WHERE IT STARTED The attack on Pearl Harbor started at Hawaii, on a Sunday morning. Many American servicemen were either eating breakfast or still in pajama when the attack began. This stands out that, the attack was least expected borne in mind; the day had begun as usual. As mentioned earlier, the 1st wave of Japanese airplanes struck Pearl Harbor and left 6 aircrafts carriers. More than three hundred planes left Japanese aircraft carriers, dropping the first bomb before eight clocks in the morning. In the Harbor, they were eight American battleships, and over eighty nine naval vessels. Among these, twenty one ships were destroyed along with three hundred planes. As the raid ended, more than 2, 300 victims had been wounded, and about the same numbers were killed. The battleship of Arizona was the biggest loss, which lasted for ten minutes. It is said that, the attack initiated the World War 11 since; it occurred before the declaration of the war (Fitzgerald 94). It stands out that, the attack was a factor that changed the U.S public opinion towards declaration of the war. WHY IT STARTED There are various reasons why the attack started. First, when the Japanese bombed the America, they had depicted that this would cause immediate forces to be naval. With this in mind, they bombed Pearl Harbor because it held the majority of American naval forces within Pacific. By attacking the navy, they controlled the American government from initiating plans towards ending the war. Secondly, geography is another factor that attributed to the starting of the attack. This is why the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor because it was closer to Japan than to the United States thus; it was a less distance to travel. This implies that, the closer Japanese became to Japan than to the U.S, the lesser the probability of being detected from causing the attack. If the attack was detected, they would be forced to pass Hawaii on their way back, and by this time, the army force would be trailing them. Thirdly, deception is a factor that contributed to the attack starting. While the Japanese was streaming towards attacking Hawaii, their ambassador was trying to convince the American government that Japan would attack the nation. Though this created suspense, tension and confusion was all over in the American government. Thoughts of how the nation would turn out to be bothered many particularly, economically. Fourthly, the attack occurred because Japan wanted to throw America out of the future war with the military government. By bombing Pearl Harbor, Japan knew that they had dominated the Pacific to gain a tactical to throw out America. However, this failed as two aircrafts carriers stopped the tactical plan on their routine of maneuvering practice, which led to the defeat of the Japanese empire. Fifthly, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because they wanted to with the intervention of Japanese affairs. One of these affairs was the prohibition of various resources such as exports of scrap iron, steel, and fuel. Because of all intervention to stop Japan from exporting their commodities they established the need of causing more trouble to the America. There was a great concern from the Japan of the U.S cutting off their 90% resources, which in turn, affected their economy, and most significantly military. Sixthly, Japanese felt that by attacking US, they would have a chance of becoming a super power. Japanese had depicted that intimating war would give them a chance to be in charge of the Pacific. Destroying the Pacific fleet would mean that, United States would not prevent Japan from penetrating to the South-East Asia, and most of the pacific. Finally, the Japanese started the attack because; they were worried about the U.S striking them so they pulled a strike first (Krensky 29). The above were the reasons why Japanese was so desperate in bombing the Pearl Harbor. Following the above reasons, it stands out that, Japan was into good terms with the American government because they had initiated polices that banned exportation of Japan resources. As a result, the Japanese were worried about their economy status, and out desperations came up with tactics that would attack Americans. When Japanese attacked America, they were aware that the immediate forces were naval thus; this would prevent them from being detected. Still, when they bombed Pearl Harbor, they were aware that they had dominated the pacific to overpower America. With no doubt; the above factors are worth mentioning when discussing the reasons that led to the attack occurring. WHO STARTED? It is documented that, the attack was started by Japanese military whereby, plans to attack the United States begun early January, 1941 (Gorman 19). Gorman continues to argue that, the attack was initiated by a Japanese Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku, while the Commander Genda Minoru was the plan captain architect. Overall, the attack was started by Japanese who purposely chose to do so on a Sunday morning. Sunday was a perfect day to cause devastations because; it is a day when people are more relaxed and less watchful on the weekend. In doing this, the Japanese attacked force station that was approximately 230 miles of the North of Hawaiian Island. They commenced their airplanes in 2 waves, that were forty five minutes a part. As mentioned earlier on, the first wave struck Pearl Harbor at around 7.55 A.M; while the second occurred at 8.40 A.M. Japanese were adequately prepared to attack Americans, which can be approved by the way the way they communicated during the attack. For instance, when Commander Fuchida Mitsuo shouted “Tora, Tora” meaning Tiger, it was a clear message to his fellow Japanese that they had won the battle for, having caught Americans by surprise. The Japanese main target was the aircraft carriers, and since all the American aircrafts were out of the sea, they focused on the battleships. During that time, there were eight battleships, which included the America Pacific fleet excluding one for Colorado. Seven of the U.S was lined up in rows. All the U.S. battleships were damaged, and only two returned to the active duty. In facts, the attack was so shocking to the Americans that, most of them had woken up or taking breakfast. IT’S OUTCOME TO THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN Historically, the war is said to have been so distressing to the United States for destroying lives and properties. The Americans never realized that the attack was over since; they expected another wave to occur. After the attack, the U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt declared that December 7, 1941 would be a date to live in infamy. On December 8, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan for having attacked the nation. To the United States, this indicated that, the battleship was no longer outlined as the significant weapon of naval welfare, but it was a day to come up with plans that would ensure that U.S. is protected from future attacks. With this in mind, the United States participated fully, and perhaps coming into clash with Japan. This suggests that, Japanese were right in guessing that, the United States was a threat to expansion. The Japanese bombing made the United States to declare war against Japan, and on December 11, 1941, Italy and German, and Japan declared war to the U.S. Typically, the attack brought American into World war 11, conflicts to which it emerged to be a free world. Still, the direct outcome of the attack was demoralizing because American losses were scary since; 2, 400 people were being killed. This number consisted 2, 008 Navy, 106 Marines, 68 Civilians, and 218 Army. Additionally, 1, 178 were wounded, which included (69 Marines, 710 Navy, 35 Civilians, and 364 Army. Half of those who were killed were on Arizona where the attack was so upsetting. Intrinsically, Japanese endured minimal losses, and 185 people were killed. HOW THE WAR ENDED The way ended on the same day of December 7, 1941. Much on how the war ended surprises many. As discussed previously, the attack occurred on a Sunday morning, and within a period of an hour, much had happened. Both lives and properties were destroyed, and most likely because, the attack occurred on the day that was least expected. The attack brought an awakening call to the American government to come up with quick strategies that would help to eradicate war. In this regard, President Franklin was convinced beyond measure of the need of declaring World War 11. In doing this, the American Army was equipped to fight for their country. A lot of resources were put into place to enhance peace in America. WHEN IT ENDED WHO ENDED THE WAR? In essence, the attack began and ended on the same day of December 7, 1941. Within an hour of the attack, major damages had occurred in the United States planes and ships. In this context, the sinking of the battleship convinced congress to permit President Franklin Roosevelt to proclaim war on Japan, and officially entered World War 11. From this, one can depict that, the war was ended by the congress, who in this case allowed president Franklin to declare World War 11 to Japan. The use of nuclear weapons by the United States brought quick termination of the attack, when the defeat of Japan was guarantee. The projected cost of the weapons used during the war was high, but the United States was willing to do all it would take them to terminate the war. Ultimately, Japanese surrendered because, it appeared more horrible to fight with the U.S. that was fully armed for the battle, which was contrary to the requests of the Japanese army. Japan could not replace lost resources in the way the America could. This discouraged Japan to give up on the war since; they were being forced to use a lot of resources in the war. On the other hand, the United States used strategic ways that guarantee their victory in the war. The use of nuclear weapons is one of the greatest aspects that made U.S to end the war. Up-to-date, the events that occurred on December 7th, 1941 still lingers in the mind of many to the extent, family and friends of the loved who were affected still gather to memorize the day. Conclusion From the above assumption, it follows that, the attack on Pearl Harbor was so demoralizing that, many people were killed while others were wounded. As discussed in the paper, over 2, 500 Americans died of the attack, while others were injured. The attack occurred on December 7th 1941, where the first wave of the Japanese airplanes left six aircraft carriers with struck Pearl Harbor before 8 AM local time, and after two waves of terror lasting, the disaster had occurred. The attack started at Hawaii, on a Sunday morning when it was least expected to many. There are various reasons that initiated the war. Overall, by bombing Pearl Harbor, Japan depicted that they had dominated the Pacific to gain a tactical to throw out America. In this context, Japanese knew that, by attacking US, they would be a chance of being a super power country. This means that, by destroying the Pacific fleet; the United States would not prevent Japan from penetrating to the South-East Asia, and most of the pacific. It borne in mind; the attack was started by Japanese military that had intention of fighting U.S. Generally, the attack was initiated by a Japanese Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku, and the Commander Genda Minoru who was the plan captain architect. The bombing made the United States to declare war against Japan, and on December 11, 1941, Italy and German, and Japan declared war to the U.S. This implies that, the attack brought American into World war 11, which in turn, made the American nation to be a free world. The attack began and ended on December 7, 1941 after the American government declaring war to the Japanese. To Whit (40), the use of nuclear weapons by the United States brought termination of the attack after Japanese surrendering to stop the war. Pearl Harbor left a legacy in that; many remember the events that took place during that day. Much has been documented in the history concerning the attack of Pearl Harbor to create great insight on the incidence. With this regard, this paper has effectively discussed Pearl Harbor. In discussing this, the essay has sought to answer various questions regarding the attack such as how Pearl Harbor Started, where it started, why it started, who started, its outcome to the United States and Japan, how the war ended, when it ended, and who ended the war. Works Cited Fitzgerald, Stephanie. Pearl Harbor: day of infamy. California: Compass Point Books, 2006. Print. Gorman, Jacqueline. Pearl Harbor: A Primary Source History. New York: Gareth Stevens Publisher, 2009. Print. Hoyt, Edwin. Pearl Harbor. California: G.K. Hall, 2000. Print. Krensky, Stephen. Pearl Harbor. Washington DC: Demco Media, 2002. Print. Whit, Steve. Pearl Harbor: A Day of Infamy. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2007. Print. Read More