Data
Date	December 7, 1941.
Place	Pearl Harbor, Hawaiian Islands.
Belligerents	Empire of Japan vs. USA.
Outcome	Japanese victory.

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military offensive carried out by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii, in the framework of World War II .

The attack was carried out on Sunday, December 7, 1941, and was aimed at sinking the US Pacific fleet .

It was a pre-emptive strike whereby the Japanese wanted to prevent the United States from meddling in the military operations they planned to carry out in Oceania and Southeast Asia.

The attack was carried out by more than 300 Japanese aircraft that, in two waves, bombed and machine-gunned the naval base facilities and the ships anchored in the port.

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American Reaction against Pearl Harbor Attack

The day after the attack, the United States declared war on Japan. On December 11, and by virtue of the alliance that united the Axis powers , both Nazi Germany and fascist Italy declared war on the United States, which ended up promoting the entry of this country into the Second War. World .

After the end of the war, those responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor were brought to trial as war criminals, because the attack was carried out without a prior statement and without any obvious warning.

On November 26, 1941, a Japanese strike force consisting of 6 aircraft carriers, 2 battleships, 3 cruisers, 9 destroyers, 23 submarines, 5 mini-submarines, and 414 aircraft, departed from the port of Iturup, in the Kuril Islands.

The eleven days of crossing to Pearl Harbor were carried out in absolute silence, since the success of the attack depended on the surprise factor .

The Japanese fleet managed to remain hidden until 3:42 a.m. on December 7 , when one of the submarines accompanying the aircraft carriers was spotted by a US minesweeper, who fired at it but did not realize the seriousness of the situation.

At 6:10 am, a first wave of Japanese aircraft consisting of 183 aircraft attacked the naval base. The targets were the ships anchored in the port, the airfields, hangars, communications posts and anti-aircraft batteries.

After half an hour of bombardment, the Japanese torpedo launchers withdrew, but not the Zero fighters, which continued to raze the airfields to prevent an air response.

Just 45 minutes after the first attack, a second wave of Japanese jets made up of some 160 aircraft again bombed Pearl Harbor.

At 9:45 a.m., three and a half hours after the launch of the first attack, the Japanese ended their raid and withdrew.

Two hours later, when the Americans were treating their wounded and trying to put out the sources of fire, the American General Staff informed the commander of the naval base that an attack on Pearl Harbor was imminent and that he take appropriate precautions.

Amid the bewilderment, the only good news for the Americans was that the fuel tanks were intact and that all three Pacific carriers – the Enterprise, the Lexington, and the Saratoga – were off base when the attack occurred.

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Causes and consequences of the attack on Pearl Harbor

Causes

The main causes of the attack on Pearl Harbor were the following:

• The embargoes on Japanese oil imports decreed by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in response to the Japanese aggressions in China, which had taken place since 1937.
• The failure of the negotiations carried out during 1941 between the Japanese and the Americans, to reach a possible agreement that would end the war in China and the trade sanctions imposed by the United States.
• The intention of the Japanese high command to occupy the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia), to seize its oil reserves and natural resources. In order for this occupation to be possible, the Japanese were convinced that they must nullify the naval force that the United States had in Pacific waters.
• Failures in American intelligence , which could not prevent the attack in time, so the fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor was taken by surprise by the Japanese.

Consequences

Among the consequences of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the following stand out:

• The sinking of 8 large American ships, four of which managed to be refloated and repaired in the following months.
• The loss by the United States of 188 aircraft, 2,400 military and about 50 civilians. The Japanese, on the other hand, only lost 29 planes, 4 mini-submarines and 64 pilots.
• The almost complete destruction of the Pearl Harbor naval base , the take-off and landing strips, the aircraft hangars and the anti-aircraft batteries.
• The almost simultaneous attack launched by Japan against Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, Wake Island and Thailand, taking advantage of the state of confusion in which the US armed forces had been.
• The affirmation of the aircraft carrier as the center of naval power, replacing the battleship as the cornerstone of a war fleet. This stellar role of the aircraft carriers would be confirmed by the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway .
• The United States’ declaration of war on the Empire of Japan , which took place on December 8. The surprise Japanese attack made the supporters of participation in the war a majority in the face of isolationism that until then was the majority. Roosevelt broke his promise not to send American soldiers to fight abroad, but he did win overwhelming support from the Senate: 388 votes in favor and one vote against.
• The declaration of war by both Germany and Italy on the United States , on December 11, by virtue of the alliance that united the Axis powers.