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World War Two -- Pearl Harbor Attack
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Attack on Pearl Harbor – December 7, 1941
During the 1930s Japan began a military campaign to conquer China, resulting in full-scale war in 1937. Believing that Germany would prevail in the war in Europe, on September 27, 1940 Japan signed a pact with Germany and Italy. The agreement gave Japan control of eastern Asia. In 1941 Japan occupied French Indo-China and planned for an invasion of Thailand (Siam).
This aggression by Japan alarmed both the United States and Great Britain. Economic sanctions were placed on Japan and the United States military fleet in the Pacific was strengthened.
In October 1941 General Hideki Tojo became premier of Japan. Declaring that they wanted peace, in November the Japanese sent an envoy to the United States to broker a peace agreement. This was a ploy to throw the United States off guard, the plan for a surprise attack on the Pacific Fleet already being underway.
The attack was planned by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the commander of the Japanese fleet. The battle fleet, under the command of Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, included aircraft carriers, support vessels and submarines.
Avoiding shipping lanes, the Japanese fleet set out for Hawaii. On December 7, 1941, while the peace envoy was negotiating in Washington, the undetected Japanese fleet launched their early morning air attack on Pearl Harbor. Shortly before 8:00 A.M. they hit American ships and installations, their primary target being the battleships anchored at Pearl Harbor. Navy, Marine and Army Air Corps airfields were simultaneously attacked to destroy the planes before they could take off and intercept the Japanese fighters. After a brief lull, a second wave of the attack followed.
By the time the attack ended shortly before 10:00 A.M. more than 2,800 Americans had been killed, 21 ships were sunk or damaged. The battleships Arizona and Oklahoma were destroyed and six other battleships severely damaged. Almost all of the planes at the airfields were destroyed on the ground.
On December 8, 1941 President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his “a date which will live in infamy” speech declaring war on Japan.
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