Pearl Harbor

[Thomas F.]

In the early hours of December 7th Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor. The forces of General Kimmel and Short were put up againsdt the forces of Nagumo and Isoroku. The United states lost 5 battleships sunk and 3 damaged, 2 destroyers sunk and 1 damaged, 1 other ship sunk and 3 cruisers damaged. 188 aircraft were destroyed and 155 aircraft were damaged with about 3000 military personnel killed. The Japanese lost 4 submarines and 1 beached itself. They also only lost 29 aircraft and 55 men. Japan's strategy was to use its 6 aircraft carriers which held 405 aircraft. The Japanese planned to use all of these aircraft. They planned to send in two waves. The first wave to take out as much as they could and the second wave to take out the rest. Their strategy was very sound. The United States had no clue about the attack while Japan went in very confidently. The United States lost this surprise attack. They lost most of their navy and a lot of their air force. Japan succeeded in their objective of preventing the Pacific Fleet from interfering with their conquest of the east indies. It was also a major blow against the United States moral.
This attack officially brought the United States into WWII. It changed the momentum of the war greatly because the allies obtained another strong friend to help them fight off their enemies. This greatly affected the outcome of the war because if the United States hadn't of entered the fight, then the axis might have won the war. This would have happened because the U.S. wouldn't have interfered with Japan's and Germany's effort to take over other territories.
The lingering affect is kept known by many memorials. One of the most famous memorials is the USS Arizona memorial. These keep the memory of the horrible attack still alive in the mind of the public and the military that had to endure it. The Hawaiian island will always have the memory of the battle.
The primary source I chose is Roosevelt's address to congress. I think that this adds depth to my topic because it helps to show how quickly we reacted to this attack and entered the war. (the primary source will be in another blog post)