Pearl Harbor Essay

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“On December 7, 1941-a date which will live in infamy-the United States was suddenly and DELIBERATELY attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. -Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in his address to Congress on December 8, 1941.” A quote from Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) giving people a taste of what happened on the sad day of December 7th. The destructive day recalled as Pearl Harbor was a day of goodbyes to 2,403 Americans who died that day. In addition 1,178 American’s were wounded. As proved in the Manitowoc Herald-Times Newspaper which quotes that “Washington was admitting over 3,000 Americans were wounded, or killed during the attack.” All eight United States (U.S.) Navy battleships were damaged, including four that were …show more content…

on December 7th, 1941, the day of the attack. At this time a submarine periscope was spotted by the minesweeper Condor. This instructed the first shots of the Pacific War. The spotting of the periscope signalled the USS Ward destroyer to destroy the periscope, calling it “A Shot for Prosperity” by Americans for being the first shot of the War. After being shot down the Americans were able to confirm the submarine as a Japanese Midget submarine. The Japanese Midget submarine was familiar after being used in World War II when they were originally constructed. The USS Ward contacted Pearl Harbor and Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, Commander of the Pacific Fleet, after the first shot. Kimmel neglected the spotting because this kind of behavior by hostile submarines was to be expected at this time with the expectations of an upcoming War, he decided “Wait for verification of the report.” Which leads to the next sign when an American PYB patrol plane spotted yet another periscope only three hours after the first. This periscope was also shot down by the USS Ward. Both periscopes spotted were a part of the five Japanese Midget Submarines that attempted to enter Pearl Harbor. All five of the midget submarines were sent out to attack certain targets within the Pearl Harbor base, but none of them succeeded. Out of the five submarines, only one of them confirmed the two torpedoes were shot. Another submarine was found without it’s two torpedoes, but it was not confirmed that they were fired at their targets. Both firings missed their targets and were unsuccessful. Ot of the remaining three Japanese submarines, one was destroyed, another ran aground without firing its torpedoes, and the last is a mystery. Seeing all five of these attacks and their effects, the Japanese periscopes attacks were classified as a failure. The Americans, knowing the Intelligence information from the previous paragraph and seeing the

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