The Attack on Pearl Harbor – A Research Paper Sample
Abstract
On December 7th, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack killed over 2,400 American service members and civilians and prompted the United States to officially enter World War II. This paper will examine the events and causes leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor through an analysis of primary source documents, historical accounts, and scholarly research on the subject. It will explore Japanese strategic thinking and planning for the attack as well as American perceptions of and preparation for the threat posed by Japan in the lead up to December 7th, 1941. Overall, this paper aims to provide an in-depth sample of the type of research and analysis that could be conducted for a college-level research paper on the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Introduction
The Japanese surprise attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 marked a pivotal turning point in World War II. The attack succeeded in its goal of severely damaging the United States Pacific Fleet and led directly to America’s formal declaration of war against Imperial Japan the next day. In the aftermath, Congress established the joint congressional committee to investigate the attack and the committee’s inquiry formed the basis of many historical accounts of events leading up to December 7th. While the details of the attack itself are relatively well known, the political and strategic goals, planning, decision making, and missed opportunities on both sides deserve further scholarly examination. This paper aims to provide such an examination through an analysis of primary source materials related to Japanese and American perceptions and preparations in the lead up to the attack on Pearl Harbor. An investigation of Japanese strategic thinking and American intelligence failures offers critical insights into the origins and consequences of this infamous surprise attack.
Japanese Strategic Goals and Planning for War
By 1940, Japan had been embroiled in war against China for several years as part of its imperial ambitions to control Asia and its resources. The Japanese military had become the dominant political force in Japan’s government and advocated for an expansion of Japanese control of more territory to ensure the raw materials needed to sustain Japan’s growing industry and population. Embargoes imposed by the United States and other Western powers threatened to strangle Japan’s economy and military capabilities. As World War II intensified in Europe, Japan saw an opportunity to further its goals while the Western powers were preoccupied defending their European interests. Key Japanese military planners like Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto advocated attacking the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in a surprise opening move to a wider war in the Pacific that would give Japan time to consolidate its control over Asia and the western Pacific before America could mobilize its industrial might for a counterattack.
Yamamoto and other planners were aware of the risks of provoking the much larger United States but calculated that a devastating initial blow against the American battleships at Pearl Harbor could convince the U.S. to negotiate a settlement preserving some level of Japanese control in Asia rather than face a costly war of attrition against America’s resources and population. Careful planning went into preparations for the attack, including training pilots for months and modifying aircraft carriers and planes for the mission. The attack force was placed under the overall command of Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo. Strategic deception measures were also taken, including having Japanese diplomats in Washington continue unsuccessful negotiations for a non-aggression pact to lull the U.S. of any threat of immediate war and even having some military messages partially decrypted to mislead American codebreakers of Japan’s true intentions. Yamamoto and Nagumo took careful precautions to maintain strict operational security and delivered the devastating surprise attack on December 7th, 1941 as planned.
American Intelligence and Preparations
While Japanese planning and deception achieved the element of strategic and tactical surprise they desired, the American government and military did receive some warnings of increasing tensions with Japan and the growing possibility of military conflict. As early as January 1941, American military intelligence was decrypting some lower-level Japanese navy codes and messages that revealed plans for increased patrolling and maneuvers in the western Pacific. Diplomatic and military leaders did not appreciate the significance of this intelligence at the highest levels. The United States had broken the Japanese diplomatic cipher, known as “Purple”, as early as 1940 but only had a handful of trained codebreakers and translators deciphering intercepted messages during 1941.
Insufficient resources meant many messages went untranslated for weeks or months, reducing their immediate value for warning policymakers. Some messages from fall 1941 did reveal high-level discussions in Japan’s government advocating for launching war against the Anglo-Saxon powers but were not recognized as definitive indications of impending attack. Some historians argue better cooperation between the army, navy, and federal codebreaking units could havePieced together a more cogent picture of rising Japanese-American tensions from signals intelligence. Systemic failures to properly analyze and distribute critical intelligence meant responsible decision-makers were still operating under naive assumptions that Japan would not risk war with America in the lead-up to the Pearl Harbor attack.
The United States naval base at Pearl Harbor itself had been established partly as a check on Japanese power in the Pacific. Several factors severely reduced its defensive readiness on December 7th, 1941. Due to global commitments spreading American forces thin, only a small fraction of the overall Pacific Fleet was present at Pearl Harbor on any given day as ships rotated in and out. The base command had not placed forces on high alert status either, assuming the fleet was safe from air attack behind Pearl Harbor’s shallow entrance channel. Many of the fleet’s best fighter planes were dispersed to outer islands for exercises on the morning of the attack. Admiral Husband Kimmel and General Walter Short believed sabotage and sabotage were greater threats and had not taken defensive precautions against air attack, such as dispersing targets or establishing adequate radar coverage that may have provided more warning time.
Impact and Analysis
The surprise Japanese attack achieved the tactical objectives of severely damaging American battleships and warplanes with the loss of over 2,400 American military personnel and civilians. All eight U.S. Navy battleships present were damaged, with four sinking, and over 180 aircraft were destroyed. Japan had successfully delivered a crippling initial blow to U.S. naval power in the Pacific. The attack also unified American public support for war against Japan in a way that eliminated the possibility of a negotiated peace. Within hours of the attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appeared before a joint session of Congress to declare “a date which will live in infamy” and request a declaration of war, supported by some of the most one-sided bipartisan majorities in history.
In the aftermath, multiple investigations including the Roberts Commission and the joint congressional Pearl Harbor investigation identified both successes and failures in the American response. While Japan had achieved tactical surprise through excellent planning and deception, some warning signs had been missed that could have raised alert status and potentially provided more defensive preparations. The investigations found no evidence of willful negligence, just a “dereliction of duty” through assumptions of safety and overconfidence. Systemic failures in signals intelligence processing and inter-service cooperation to assemble a comprehensive picture from disparate warnings available contributed to a disastrous surprise. With forces concentrated as a deterrent, Pearl Harbor was also vulnerable to the type of attack it experienced due to over-reliance on its defensive sea channels without sufficient air defenses or dispersal of targets.
Overall, the Japanese attack succeeded in its goals of severely wounding American naval capabilities in the Pacific but ultimately backfired strategically by galvanizing US public support for ” total war.” Through an examination of primary Japanese planning documents and American intelligence reports alongside historical analysis, this research paper sample has aimed to provide an in-depth scholarly study of the political, military, and intelligence factors leading to the infamous surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. Further research remains ongoing to continue understanding this pivotal turning point in World War II with lessons applicable today regarding wartime deception, intelligence analysis failures, and maintaining adequate defensive postures.
Conclusion
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a high-risk strategic success for Japan tactically while having the opposite of its intended strategic effect by drawing the United States fully into World War II. Careful Japanese planning and operational security achieved critical elements of tactical and strategic deception and surprise. Warning signs were partially visible to American intelligence that could have raised alert status and defenses with better analysis and communication. Overall, this paper has attempted to provide an extensive research paper sample examining the attack on Pearl Harbor through analysis of primary source documents and historical research to understand the multiple perspectives and factors that combined to produce this infamous event that changed the course of history. Further scholarly examination remains important for continuing to learn from both the successes and failures demonstrated in the lead up to and execution of Japan’s surprise attack against the United States at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941.
Andrew Stroud