Pearl Harbor Research

Facts:

• The attack took place at 7:55am until 9:45am (110 minutes) on Sunday 7th December, 1941. The first wave of planes struck at 7:55am and the second wave at 8:40am.
• The Japanese attacked the US without warning.
• Pearl Harbor's naval base was attacked, which is near Honolulu, Hawaii.
• 2,335 US servicemen (sailors and soldiers) died during the attack, with 1,143 being wounded. 68 civilians were killed and 35 were wounded.
• 65 Japanese men were killed and 1 soldier was captured. 
• Nearly 20 American naval vesels were destroyed, 8 battleships and 200 airplanes.

• On Monday 8th December, 1941, President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan, which was approved.
• Germany and Italy (Japanese allies) declared war on the US 3 days later.
• This attack brought the US into WW2.
• Plans for the surprise attack begun as early as January in 1941.
• The codename used by the Japanese for the attack was "Operation Hawaii" which was changed to "Operation Z".
• The Japanese planes were launched in 2 waves which were approximately 45mins apart.
• Commander Minoru Genda was the plan's chief architect, but Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto initiated the plans for the attack.
• When the Japanese commander called out "Tora! Tora! Tora!" ("Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!") when flying over the harbor, it was a message to the Japanese navy telling them that they had caught the Americans by surprise (they chose to attack on a Sunday also for this reasoning).
• Airfields struck were Hickam Field, Wheeler Field, Bellows Field, Ewa Field, Schoefield Barracks and Kaneohe Naval Air Station.
• Japanese diplomatic codes were broken by the US before the attack, but unfortunately the warning sent from Washington arrived too late.
• Japan had originally planned to attack American military bases in the Philippines at the same time as Pearl harbor, but its planes were delayed by fog, eliminating the element of surprise. But when its planes flew over 8 hours later, the planes sat on the runways like sitting ducks.

• In September 1940, the US stopped exporting steel, scrap iron and fuel to Japan, due to Japan's takeover of northern French Indochina.
• In June 1941, Japan occupied Southern Indochina. This caused the US, Britain and the Netherlands to freeze Japanese assets. This prevented Japan from buying oil, which would eventually make its air force and navy useless.
• Toward the end of 1941, Japan tried to take Southeast Asia's oil resources. The US wanted to stop the Japanese but would not go to war to stop it. The US demanded that Japan withdraw from China and Indochina, but would have settled for a token withdrawal and a promise not to take more territory.
• Germany and Italy also declared war on the US, due to the signing of the Tripartite Pact. However, this pact was only supposed to apply if one of the countries got attacked by any other nation not already involved in the war - Japan started the attack on the US so this alliance should not have applied. This alliance was aimed at the US (as they were trying to stay mutual) - to force them to think twice before venturing in on the side of the allies. 

 

Conspiracy Theories

•  According to many news reports, virtually all conspiracy theories have now been ruled out. But will we ever really know if the attack was a conspiracy?
• The US provoked the attack due to the US freezing Japanese assets. Source: The Independent Institute. 
• Churchill knew about the attacks. Apparently Captain Eric Nave broke the Japanese codes before the attack and knew it was coming, reporting this to his superiors. But the information wasn't passed on as the British needed the US in the war to have any hope of winning against the Axis. Source: A New York Times obituary for Captain Eric Nave.
• Roosevelt knew about the attacks. Roosevelt knew about the incoming attack but let it happen so that the public would be outraged enough to fight back (prior to the attack, the public were not wanting to get involved in the war). The McCollum Memo (a plan drafted to get America into the war) contains points that indicate that America's intent was to get the Japanese to fire first so that they would gain popular support for the war. Source: RationalRevolution.net.
• America moved its carriers away to save them. Another point that supports Roosevelt knowing about the incoming attack is that the three US carriers that were normally stationed at Pearl Harbor were absent that day - possibly being held in a safe place for a couterattack that Roosevelt knew would be necessary. Battleships were being replaced as the primary instruments of warfare by carriers, as naval warfare changed during WW2. Source: Skeptoid.com.

Images

Ford Island - October 10th, 1941. Seen from the same angle as the Japanese viewed it when they attacked in December. By Robert J. Cressman and J. Michael Wenger.

Pearl Harbor Navy Yard (looking South) - October 13th, 1941. The Marine Barracks complex is to the left of the tank farm visible just to the left of the center. There are several temporary wooden barracks that ring the parade ground. National Archives.




References
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/pearl_harbour_01.shtml

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-tripartite-pact-is-signed-by-germany-italy-and-japan

http://www.history.com/topics/pearl-harbor   

http://history1900s.about.com/od/Pearl-Harbor/a/Pearl-Harbor-Facts.htm

http://www.warchat.org/pictures/worl_war_2_pearl_harbor_map.jpg

http://www.homeofheroes.com/footnotes/2007/02February1-fenno.html

http://www.pearlharbor.org/history-of-pearl-harbor.asp

http://www.rationalrevolution.net

http://www.skeptoid.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/books/17garner.html