Attack on Pearl Harbour

678 Words3 Pages
Attack on Pearl Harbour The attack that destroyed Pearl Harbour occurred on December the 7th, 1941; this attack was a complete surprise. The United States of America had remained neutral during most of World War II. Pearl Harbour newspaper accounts described that shocking even for the record books and outline how, within only minutes after the initial attack by the Japanese, seven of the eight battleships stationed at Pearl Harbour had taken massive hits from bombs and torpedoes. Sometime before the attack on Pearl Harbour; Pearl Harbour newspaper accounts reported the growing anti-Japanese groups rising in the United States in the late 1930s due to the bloody war that occurred in China with the Japanese, as well as from the sinking of a US Navy gunboat. Leading up to Pearl Harbor, the U.S., along with Britain, East Indies and the Netherlands, formed an oil and steel agreement against Japan that did not allow these materials to be traded with them, this embargo later caused major panic in Japan due to the restricted resources. The attack on Pearl Harbour occurred on the island of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii. It was here that the seven naval ships (of eight) were heavily damaged by the torpedoes and bombs dropped from the Japanese’s aeronautic surprise attack. The attack on Pearl Harbour was a major tactical victory by the Japanese, however as a result of the attack, the United States declared war on the Empire of Japan, resulting in the declaration of war from Germany and Italy; opposing the United States. This tactical feat included multiple significant leaders; Chuichi Nagumo and Isoroku Yamamoto were the Commanders/Leaders of the attack. The Japanese force that were included in this attack were a Mobile Unit, consisting of: 6 aircraft carriers, 2 battleships, 2 heavy cruisers, 1 light cruiser, 9 destroyers, 8 tankers, 23 fleet submarines, 5
Open Document