User:Dsaevains

'The Attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7th 1941, a failure for the Japanese Empire.'

“Yesterday, December 7th 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of Japan.” These are the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, speaking the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor in an address to Congress and the American nation. Generally the attack is thought to be a success for the Japanese. They successfully surprised the Americans and managed to severely damage their Pacific Fleet. However they failed to, achieve their main goals, destroy key targets, press home the advantage and by the nature of the attack infuriate the Americans and leave them thirsty for revenge. Over the course of my essay I will show you that the attack on Pearl Harbor was in actual fact an overall failure for the Empire of Japan.

On the 26th of November 1941 six aircraft carriers escorted by two fast battleships, two heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, nine destroyers, three submarines and eight tankers for underway refueling set sail for Pearl Harbor. Furthermore an Advanced Expeditionary Force included a further twenty submarines and five midget subs. This was the largest force committed to a single operation in the whole of WW2 and it managed to steam across the Pacific, through the Vacant Sea, undetected to Pearl Harbor. At 7:53, Hawaiian time, American soldiers were woken by the sounds of the Japanese bombardment and ran to there stations in a desperate effort to repel the assault. Total surprise was achieved and the Americans were caught totally unprepared. With relative ease and little opposition the Japanese laid waste to Pearl Harbor. The onslaught lasted for ninety minutes. In that short time 2,335 American servicemen were killed, 1,178 were wounded, five battleships were sunk, three more were badly damaged, three cruiser were damaged and a further three destroyers sunk. In addition 188 planes were destroyed and 155 damaged.

To say it was a total failure would be untrue. In most areas it was well planned and thought out by the Japanese. Tactically it was quite a successful operation. They surprised the U.S. forces and as a result they were unprepared and unorganized for combat. The element of surprise was a crucial aspect of the plan. Also let us not forget that the Japanese managed to inflict serious damage on the American Fleet. This gave Japan a foothold in the Pacific as the U.S. was unable to play any part in the Pacific for six months until their fleet was refitted and repaired. Along with all the damage inflicted this attack was a huge physiological blow to the United States. Immediately they were on the back foot. The Japanese had devastated there main military force in the Pacific and they had done nothing to them, and would be unable to for six months. So as you can see the attack did have its successes, but as you will soon see it was overshadowed by its failures.

The main objective of the attack was to destroy the U.S. Fleet stationed at Pearl. The primary targets were the American aircraft carriers stationed there, the Enterprise, the Lexington and the Saratoga. On December 7th, none of these ships were anchored in the Harbor. This was a huge blow to the Japanese. As well as the absence of the carriers, other major ships in the U.S. Pacific arsenal were away, including the heavy cruisers Minneapolis, Louisville, Pensacola, Indianapolis, and the battleship Colorado. To add to this many light cruiser, submarines and destroyers were absent also. In total 44 units of the fleet, more than one third weren’t present on December 7th. Just imagine if all units of the fleet were present on that day. If the Japanese had even waited just a few more days then the Enterprise, the Lexington, and their escort groups would have been there. If the Japanese had waited for the three aircraft carriers to return then the damage done to the Fleet would have been far greater and longer lasting. Who knows how long it would have taken America to recover. The timing of the attack was poor and as a result the Americans still vitally had the use of their aircraft carriers and other units which were absent on the day.

Even with the absence of the carriers, the Japanese still had an opportunity to inflict longer lasting damages then the destruction of ships. The Japanese had the opportunity to destroy the shore facilities which would have rendered Pearl Harbor itself useless as a major focal point of U.S. operations. The failed to destroy the work shops, dry docks, and repair facilities. All of which were essential in the speedy repair of the fleet after the attack. Moreover power facilities and fuel tank and oil storage facilities were untouched during the assault. Another target they failed to destroy were the submarines based at Pearl. This would come back to haunt them as the submarines would bring Japan’s economy to its knees in later years. Furthermore the Pacific Fleet was old and in need of modernization. The attack just transformed the fleet into a more advanced, modern fighting unit and since the shore facilities were intact the fleet would be operational in a relatively short period of time. “The Japanese attack was directed against the tools, and not the basis, of sea power.”

The fact that they didn’t destroy these targets goes hand in hand with Vice-Admiral Nagumo’s decision to withdraw after two strikes. Many senior officers wanted to push ahead with a third strike to destroy these facilities and more ships but he wouldn’t allow it. He reasoned that they had lost the element of surprise and the Americans were alerted, but this was a major mistake. Even if a third strike had gone ahead who is to say these targets would have been destroyed. However it is safe to say one thing, the Japanese missed a massive opportunity to render Pearl Harbor useless as a base of operations and prepping facility for U.S. ships. The nearest equipped facility to harbor the Pacific Fleet was San Diego. If this was accomplished it would have dealt America a far more severe blow and put them out of Pacific affairs for far longer than six months.

In terms of long-term impact the attack on Pearl Harbor didn’t do the Japanese and its allies any favors. It brought America into the war which was a major boost for the Allies and a huge turning point. The sheer deceitful nature of the attack infuriated the American nation. The Japanese were talking of peace and then the go and launch a massive preemptive strike on the U.S. America wanted justice and out of Pearl Harbor emerged a deep hatred of Japan and a burning desire for revenge. The American government used the attack to there advantage, with slogans such as ‘Avenge Pearl Harbor’, to enlist men. Many Americans enlisted just to get back at Japan. When victory came for the Allies in Europe the war in the Pacific still loomed. America then dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They reasoned that it would put a quick end to the Pacific war without further loss of U.S. servicemen. However the atomics bombing were undoubtedly influenced by the attack on Pearl Harbor. There was an element of revenge in the bombings. Then once the war was over, America emerged as a major world power.

In conclusion, it is unfair to say that the attack was a total failure for the Japanese. It did manage to cripple the U.S. Pacific Fleet and give Japan a major advantage. However as you can see when you look at the bigger picture, in reality it was an overall failure. The attack failed in several major ways. Probably the main one being that they failed to destroy Pearl as a base of further operations for America. The Japanese were naïve in the assumption that victory could be achieved over the vast industrial power that was America in the 1940’s. Overall the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7th 1941, had its small successes but was vastly outweighed by its failures and long-term impact. The attack merely awoke a sleeping giant and brought the full force of its wrath crashing down on the Empire of Japan.