chapter24allen

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor is located in Hawaii and is an American naval base. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese surprise attacked the United States. At 7:48 a.m. the Japanese sent out two waves of airplane attack which included 353 fighter planes and bombers. Out of the eight U.S. Navy battleships that were at Pearl Harbor, all were damaged and four were sunk. The SS Arizona was the only ship that was not recovered and the other three were retrieved from the water and repaired. 188 U.S. aircrafts were destroyed and 2,403 Americans lost their lives with an additional 1,178 injured. The attack was a complete shock to the American people, but the Japanese had seen the US cutting them off as an act of war in itself. With no warning and no declaration of war, the attack of Pearl Harbor is a war crime, and the date now lives on in history. The attack led to America's entry into World War II. The purpose for the attack was for Japan to be taking preventative measures, but they did not realize that they were just throwing rocks at the gator, and it would soon fight back. Another reason for the attack was that FDR had cut off sales of iron and oil to Japan and Japan was pretty salty about it.

Citations: "Attack on Pearl Harbor." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 29 Feb. 2016. .