Pearl Harbor - Warning Signs essays

Pearl Harbor - Warning Signs essays On November 26, 1941 a fleet of Japanese ships under the command of Chuchi Nagumo moved into a position 200 miles northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. Their instructions, providing good weather, were to attack Pearl Harbor with maximum efficiency, dealing the U.S. a mortal blow (Stinnent 292) by destroying all battleships and airplanes in the vicinity. Nine days later, with good weather, Pearl Harbor saw the first wave of a crippling Japanese attack. 183 bombers, fighters and torpedo planes unleashed the initial and most killer wave of hostile fire. Just an hour and a half later the second wave of Japanese aircraft were returning to their respective carriers, while the U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor were not only shocked but also suffered damage in large amounts. 2,403 U.S. personnel were lost along with 188 airplanes. Eighteen U.S. ships were sunk or damaged. The most famous, the Arizona sank with most of its 1,300 men onboard. The Japanese lost a little fewer than 100 men and sixty airplanes, a very small loss compared to that of the U.S. Although the U.S. lost no aircraft carriers, the Japanese surprise attack hit the U.S. forces in the Pacific hard. The beautiful waters of a harbor known by the Hawaiians as Wai Momi (pearl waters), because of the pearl oysters that once lived there, were stained with a clear Japanese victory. Without a doubt the men stationed at Pearl Harbor had little, if any, clue that they were going to be attacked. This is clearly exhibited by ratio of U.S. loses to Japanese losses. However, there is strong evidence that suggests that high ranking officials in the U.S. government not only knew about the attack, but also provoked its happening. The first thing that must be considered when understanding the attack on Pearl Harbor is the position Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in. Roosevelt and his state department realized the danger of Nazi success. If the Nazis happened to captu...