Pearl Harbor Research Paper

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The devastating Japanese naval air raid on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii embarked the United States into the Second World War. President Franklin Roosevelt described the day as “a date that will live in infamy.” This attack crippled the United States’ battle fleet, and when Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor, all eight of the United States battle ships suffered damage, and only five of them received repairs. Because of the fatal disasters on December 7, 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor still stands as one of the utmost catastrophic adversities in American Military History. At 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time, a Japanese dive-bomber bearing the red symbol of the Rising Sun of Japan on its wings appears out of the clouds above the island of Oahu. A swarm of 360 Japanese …show more content…

Japan fought China for many years; in 1937, they launched a war to dominate the country, and by 1939, Japan controlled parts of Eastern China. As a result, President Franklin Roosevelt issued a warning by threatening a trade embargo with Japan if they did not withdraw from China. In February 1941, Mr. Roosevelt moved the U.S. pacific fleet from San Diego, California to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii as a further notice of warning to Japan. Japan continued with the occupation of the northern parts of French Indochina, present day Vietnam, in August of 1940. When Japan tried to further their occupancy to the southern parts of Indochina, Mr. Roosevelt ordered a freeze on trade with Japan. (Mcintyre …show more content…

Roosevelt and his advisers knew that an imminent Japanese attack was probable, but he did not order to increase security at the important naval base at Pearl Harbor. It was Sunday morning, and many military personnel had passes to attend religious services off base. At 7:02 a.m., two radar operators spotted large groups of aircraft in flight toward the island from the north, but, with a flight of B-17s expected from the United States at the time, they did not sound an alarm. Thus, the Japanese air assault came as a devastating surprise to the naval base. The attack on Pearl Harbor had wounded the pride and shook American confidence to its core. The next six months would witness a harrowing series of Japanese victories has been checked at the battle of midway in June 1942. Overall, the United States Navy battle line was either sunken or damaged at its moorings, the American airpower was crushed in Hawaii, and thousands of United States service members lost their lives. Japan simultaneously hit every major airfield across the breadth of Oahu. December 8, 1941, the day after major military history was made; President Roosevelt declared war on Japan. (Mcintyre

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