USA Position in the Pearl Hardbord

The Pearl Harbor attack was carried out by the Imperial Japanese Navy on the morning of December 7, 1941. The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, was directed at the Pacific Fleet of the U.S. Navy and air forces that were defending the area.

The goal of the attack, led by Vice Admiral Nagumo Chuichi, was to neutralize the enemy's fleet for a long period, with the aim of occupying the western colonies in Southeast Asia. Once weakened the U.S. militarily, Japan would look for a negotiation of peace with favorable conditions. The Japanese High Command wanted to avoid a long war, but although the Japanese Empire was victorious in action, failed to win a decisive victory.

U.S. forces in civilian and military intelligence information gathered between both of them, enough to anticipate the Japanese aggression weeks or perhaps months before the attack. There were numerous warnings to the armed forces at Pearl Harbor the day of the attack. These sources could have been able to increase the level of alert and make the attack had been a failure or at least less harmful. The U.S. Army and Navy had intercepted several meaningful messages but the distribution of this information was incomplete, contradictory or insufficient. Alerts were sent to the U.S. forces in the Pacific during November 1940. Despite the growing information suggesting a new phase of Japanese aggression, there was little specific information on Pearl Harbor.

U.S. commanders were warned that launching torpedoes in shallow water were possible, but they did not fully appreciate the danger posed by the Japanese secret torpedoes. Thinking that Pearl Harbor had natural defenses against torpedo attacks, the U.S. Navy decided that it was unnecessary to further protect the harbor

On the morning of the attack, the radar station "Opana Point" U.S. Army detected the Japanese force, but the alert was confused with the expected arrival of U.S. B-17 aircraft and was discarded. Several U.S. aircraft were shot down as it approached the attack, at least one of them radioed an alert something incoherent. Other alerts were still being processed or awaiting confirmation when the attack began.

The crews of the ships awoke to the sounds of bombs and screams of "fire and rescue teams take a stand" and "All hands on deck, we are bombarded". Despite the lack of preparation, which included ammunition stores closed and planes grouped, were U.S. military personnel who served during the Battle distinguished.In total, fourteen sailors and officers received the Medal of Honor. A special award, the Pearl Harbor Commemorative Medal, was later given to all military veterans of the attack.

The elimination of the battleships left the U.S. no choice but to rely on the few aircraft carriers and submarines, these being most of what was left unscathed, these were also the weapons that the United States halted and reversed the Japanese advance, only the actions of the USS Enterprise sank more of Japanese ships and shot down more aircraft than any of its Japanese peers.

The loss of the battleships proved to be really less important than Japan and the United States had thought before the attack and also right after it, in fact, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor led literally result in the sinking of the battleship concept as weapon.

By: Maria Claudia Villar and Andrea Alva