Pearl Harbor

The Attack on Pearl Harbor

December 7, 1941

“A date which will live in
infamy.”

“Need-to-Knows”

* Date: December 7, 1941

* Location: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory

* War Results: 1.) Japanese major victory 2.) U.S. Declaration of
War on Japan 3.) Germany and Italy Declare War on the U.S. (Tripartite

Pact) 4.) U.S. Declares War on Germany and Italy

* Battle Results: 1.) All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged,
with four being sunk 2.) Three cruisers, three destroyers, an
anti-aircraft ship and one minelayer ship were sank or damaged 3.)
188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed (Pacific Fleet!)

* Deaths/Casualties: 1.) 2,402 killed 2.) 1,282 wounded

Results for American Government

* Domestic support for non-interventionism disappeared!

* Underground support of Britain
was replaced by an active alliance!

Multiple Choice

Was the US truly neutral?

• Yes

• No

1.) 1933, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations (after criticism for
Manchurian Incident, 1931)

2.) 1937, the second Sino-Japanese War broke out (and Japan essentially
controlled east coast of China until 1945)

Japanese Aggression Prior to

Attack on Pearl Harbor

3.) France Falls (June 1940), * Battle of Britain Ends * (Oct. 1940),
Japan Occupied French Indochina (Sept. 1940), G.B. and U.S.
react with an embargo on “strategic materials” of Japan!
(airplane fuel, scrap metal, oil, steel, etc.)

Japanese Aggression Prior to

Attack on Pearl Harbor

*** September 1940, Japan occupied French Indochina – Vietnam

(agreement with the French Vichy government – Tripartite Pact signed!) ***

*Why didn’t Great Britain enjoy Japan’s

presence in French Indochina? *

Japan proved to be a direct threat to British colonies in S.E. Asia! (Malaya)

* As a result of Japanese aggression, FDR sends “lend-lease” supplies
to China – who does that tick off even more??? (he also freezes Japanese
assets in the U.S. and send Douglas MacArthur to the Philippines to prepare a Pacific Fleet)

Multiple Choice

Why did Britain not like Japan having control of French Indochina?

• The British wanted to control of French Indochina.

• The British wanted to make a treaty for peace in SE Asia.

• The Japanese were too close to British colonies.

• The Japanese would cut off trade to Britain.

Hideki Tojo: Prime Minister of Japan (Former Minister of War)

"Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere"

* Why did the Japanese attack

Pearl Harbor? *

The ENTIRE Pacific fleet was stationed at Pearl Harbor; the Japanese
felt that if they could cripple the Pacific fleet, it would allow them to
move freely throughout the Pacific ocean! (Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere)

Multiple Choice

What was Japan's reason for wanting to attack Pearl Harbor?

• They wanted to provoke the US into joining the war.

• They wanted to move freely throughout the Pacific Ocean.

• They wanted more resources and military supplies.

• They just felt like attacking.

* Tokyo to Oahu= Approx. 3,900 miles (Miami to Seattle is only 3,300 miles!)

* How did the Japanese

battle fleet fly nearly
3,900 miles undetected

across the Pacific

Ocean???

* Six aircraft carriers, two battleships, two cruisers, and nine destroyers traveled
under strict radio silence and screened from view by a large weather front!(came
within two hundred miles of the Hawaiian Islands)

Multiple Choice

How was Japan able to travel undetected?

• They had invisibility technology.

• They were able to use American planes and ships.

• They traveled under strict radio silence.

• They were actually detected by the Navy.

The Attack!

The Attack!

* Morning of Dec. 7,
183 torpedo bombers
and dive-bombers took
off from the Japanese
fleet (250 miles NW of
Hawaii)

* The first wave was detected by U.S. Army radar, but was
misidentified as USAAFbombers arriving from the American
mainland!

* The Japanese
attacked in two waves
(first wave, primary attack –
second wave, the finisher!)

Multiple Choice

How many waves did the Japnese attack Pearl Harbor?

• 2

• 1

• 0

• 3

“Battleship

Row”

Outside of
Ford Island,
Pearl Harbor

USS Arizona

USS Arizona

Bombing of Wheeler Field

Ford
Island

USS Arizona Memorial

FDR Responds to Pearl Harbor

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of
America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of
Japan. The United States was at peace with that nation, and, at the solicitation of Japan,
was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the
maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had
commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the
United States and his colleague delivered to our secretary of state a formal reply to a recent
American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing
diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack. It will be
recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was
deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the
Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false
statements and expressions of hope for continued peace. The attack yesterday on the
Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret
to tell you that very many American lives have been lost.” – FDR, Dec. 8, 1941

Did You Know?The single vote against Congress's declaration of war came from Rep.
Jeannette Rankin of Montana. Rankin was a pacifist who had also voted against the
American entrance into World War I. “As a woman,” she said, “I can’t go to war, and I refuse
to send anyone else.”

Open Ended

Summarize FDR's speech in your own words.

* What point is the illustrator trying to make?