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Essay on Pearl Harbor: Why did Japan attack & did the US know?
At 6:00 am on the morning of 7 December 1941, the first attack wave of 183 Japanese planes were heading for the US Pacific Fleet base in Pearl Harbor and surrounding airfields. Two Army operators at Oahu's northern shore radar station detected the Japanese air attack approaching and contacted a junior officer who disregarded their report, assuming they were American B17s due in from the US west coast.
Pearl Harbor was not in a state of high alert, nor in fact was it in any state of alert whatsoever.
Based on available intelligence, Pearl Harbor concluded there was no reason to expect an imminent air attack. Aircraft were left parked wingtip to wingtip on airfields, and anti-aircraft guns were unmanned with many ammunition boxes kept locked in accordance with peacetime regulations. No torpedo nets were protecting the fleet anchorage, despite the US Navy's recognition that air-launched torpedoes could run in the shallow waters of Pearl Harbor. The first Japanese assault wave, consisting of torpedo planes, dive bombers and high level bombers with fighter support commenced their attack. The raid lasted half an hour. US losses were five battleships sunk, three damaged, three light cruisers sunk, three destroyers sunk, and 188 aircraft nearly all destroyed on the ground. Casualties were 2335 servicemen and 68 civilians killed, and 1178 wounded.
The US Pacific Fleet had been moved from San Diego to Pearl Harbor after continuing Japanese aggressions in China. This move was intended to represent a 'deterrent' against continued Japanese aggression in Asia and the Pacific, The Japanese response to the presence of the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor was to welcome the opportunity to rid itself of a potential threat. Pearl Harbor proved that 'deterrence is an elusive doctrine that works only against those willing to be deterred. The forces of nature acting against dams can be restrained but, like the Japanese in 1941, are unwilling to be deterred.......
