The Attack on Pearl Harbor

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In addition to leading the Geography and History team, he oversees coverage of European history and military affairs....</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Michael Ray</span></div> <div class="font-serif font-12 text-gray-700"> <span class="qa-fact-checked-by">Fact-checked by</span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 qa-editor-popup font-12" href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 text-black">Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div></div> </div> <article class="topic-content content mt-20"><figure class="md-assembly md-feature-assembly print-false" data-type="1" data-descid="1"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/96/192896-050-665CC9A3/Explosion-USS-Shaw-magazine-attack-Pearl-Harbor-Dec-7-1941.jpg" target="_blank" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center " data-href="*"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/96/192896-050-665CC9A3/Explosion-USS-Shaw-magazine-attack-Pearl-Harbor-Dec-7-1941.jpg?w=600&q=60" alt="Explosion of the USS Shaw's forward magazine during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941. The Shaw was repaired and served in the Pacific through World War 2." data-width="1000" data-height="799" loading="eager"><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class=""><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div><cite class="credit d-block mt-5">© Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com</cite></figcaption></figure><p class="topic-paragraph">On December 7, 1941, more than 2,300 U.S. military personnel were killed, more than 1,100 were wounded, and eight <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/battleship-naval-ship" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">battleships</a> were damaged or destroyed when the American naval base at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pearl-Harbor" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Pearl Harbor</a> was, in the words of U.S. Pres. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Franklin-D-Roosevelt" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Franklin D. Roosevelt</a>, “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Pearl-Harbor-attack" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">suddenly and deliberately attacked</a> by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” The attack, orchestrated by Japanese Adm. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yamamoto-Isoroku" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Yamamoto Isoroku</a>, was as much of a tactical success as it was a strategic failure. The U.S. Pacific Fleet’s three <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/aircraft-carrier" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">aircraft carriers</a> were all at sea and thus escaped harm, and the overwhelming majority of the ships damaged on December 7 were repaired and returned to duty. While the USS <em>Arizona</em> was completely destroyed and the <em>Oklahoma</em> capsized (these two ships accounted for roughly two-thirds of American casualties), recovery of the remaining ships was aided by numerous factors. Pearl Harbor has an average depth of just 45 feet (13.7 meters), meaning that many ships that were “sunk” were resting with their decks well above the waterline, and the harbor’s shipbuilding and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/dry-dock" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">dry dock</a> facilities were largely unscathed. In addition, the extensive oil-storage facilities on the island were not treated as a high priority by Japanese planners, who focused on military rather than <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/logistics-military" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">logistical</a> targets. Had these crucial forward-deployed fuel reserves been destroyed, the war-making capacity of the Pacific Fleet would have been severely hampered. U.S. Adm. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Chester-W-Nimitz" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Chester Nimitz</a> stated that the destruction of the oil tanks “would have prolonged the war another two years.”</p><span class="MOD1"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">It is often forgotten, but the attack on Pearl Harbor was just one element of a larger Japanese offensive that was unfolding that day. On December 8 (local time—the following locations are on the other side of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/International-Date-Line" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">International Date Line</a>), several hours before the first planes were sighted over Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces began an <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/amphibious-warfare" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">amphibious</a> invasion of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Malay-Peninsula" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Malaya</a>; by that evening, the Japanese had established a strong beachhead and had devastated the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Royal-Air-Force" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Royal Air Force</a>’s offensive capability in the area. Japanese bombers from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Taiwan" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Formosa</a> struck U.S. airfields in the Philippines, destroying more than half of the U.S. Army’s aircraft in the Far East and wiping out the largest contingent of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/B-17" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">B-17 Flying Fortresses</a> outside the continental United States. Japanese bombers launched from the Marshall Islands targeted the American garrison on <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Wake-Island-Pacific-Ocean" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Wake Island</a> as the prelude to a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Wake-Island" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">land invasion</a> (the repulse of an initial amphibious assault on December 11 was the first tactical defeat suffered by the Japanese navy in World War II). British air power in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Hong-Kong" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Hong Kong</a> was destroyed by a Japanese air raid, and Japanese land forces invaded Thailand. Air raids on <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Guam" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Guam</a> preceded an invasion that the island’s meager defensive units were ill equipped to repel; American forces surrendered on December 10. In <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Shanghai" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Shanghai</a>, the gunboats USS <em>Wake</em> and HMS <em>Peterel</em> (U.S. and British flagged, respectively) presented the only obstacles to Japanese occupation of the city’s International Settlement. The <em>Peterel</em> was sunk by Japanese fire after a spirited but ultimately futile defense, while the <em>Wake</em>’s skeleton crew was overwhelmed by a Japanese boarding party; it was the only <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-United-States-Navy" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">U.S. Navy</a> ship to be captured during World War II.</p><span class="MOD2"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">These successes were entirely in keeping with Yamamoto’s appraisal of the situation in the Pacific prior to hostilities. “In the first six to twelve months of a war with the United States and Great Britain I will run wild and win victory upon victory. But then, if the war continues after that, I have no expectation of success.” (This is likely the inspiration for the apocryphal “sleeping giant” quote commonly attributed to Yamamoto.) Indeed, almost exactly six months after Pearl Harbor, the tide would permanently turn in the Pacific at the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Midway" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Battle of Midway</a>. Yamamoto’s sweeping, excessively complex battle plans, which had served him well in December 1941, would prove to be his undoing at Midway. American naval pilots, aided by decrypted Japanese communications and no small amount of luck, destroyed Japan’s first-line carrier force and effectively deprived Japan of the ability to prosecute an offensive war in the Pacific.</p><span class="MOD3"></span><span class="AM-END-OF-ARTICLE am-inline"></span></article><div class="related-info grid"><div class="col"><div class="learn-more"><h3>Learn More About This Topic</h3><ul class="list-unstyled"><li><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Pearl-Harbor-and-the-Back-Door-to-War-Theory-1688287" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">This widely disputed theory posits that Roosevelt intentionally provoked a Japanese attack to force the U.S. into the war</a></li><li><a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/P-38" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">This type of aircraft was used to execute “Operation Vengeance,” the targeted killing of Yamamoto, on April 18, 1943</a></li><li><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jeannette-Rankin" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">This outspoken pacifist was the only member of Congress to vote against a declaration of war on Japan</a></li></ul></div></div><div class="col-md-auto col-100"> <div class="related-feature mb-30"> <div class="box"> <a href="/list/11-of-the-worlds-most-famous-warplanes" > <div class="feature-type">List</div> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/49/106949-131-0783F166/US-Air-Force-cruise-missiles-attack-B-52G.jpg?w=225&h=120" alt="B-52G with cruise missiles, USAF, short range attack missiles SRAMs; guided missile" /> <strong>11 of the World’s Most Famous Warplanes</strong> <p>Which warplanes shaped modern history?</p> </a> </div> </div> </div></div> </div> </div> </div> <aside class="cm-rightrail d-none d-md-block ad-rail"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div class="grid gx-0"> <div class="col"> <div class="md-loading hidden display-4 font-weight-normal"></div> <div class="text-center my-20 mb-100"> <button class="md-infinite-load-next btn btn-blue" data-value="next-page">Load More</button> </div> </div> <div class="col-md-da-320 hidden-xs"> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Story","templateName":"SPOTLIGHT","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":11,"pageId":6041,"pageLength":null,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.133.9"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/dist/story-page.js?v=3.133.9' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"A","adLeg":"A","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Story","pageSubtype":"SPOTLIGHT","articleTemplateType":null,"gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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