A Brief History
On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy conducted a devastating surprise attack on the Pearl Harbor Naval Base and the Hickam Field Airbase on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.
Digging Deeper
American Naval and Army forces were caught by surprise that fateful sunny Sunday morning and paid a terrible price for their lack of vigilance. All the American battleships were either sunk or disabled. Of the 390 American warplanes, 188 were destroyed and 159 damaged. Over 2,400 Americans died. The Japanese were met with some token anti-aircraft fire and air-to-air interception, but the results were scant. One U.S. destroyer managed to sink a Japanese midget submarine, but even that feat was not believed until proof was finally found decades later. Further Japanese losses included another 4 midget subs, 29 airplanes and 64 men lost.
Much has been made about the lack of American preparation for the attack, including the fact that American radar had detected the raiding air force but with no alarm being sounded. Although it is true that the Japanese were detected by radar, it was at the time assumed that the incoming planes were a flight of American B-17 bombers that were expected that day. Even if the alarm had been raised, the fact remains that fighter planes would still have had to scramble, so it is likely the attack would still have been successful, though perhaps not quite as successful.
If the U.S. had had sea and air reconnaissance forces combing the seas, the Japanese forces might have been detected earlier, which might well have prevented the disaster. Or, perhaps a U.S. preemptive strike or show of force may have averted the attack. On the other hand, the better trained and more experienced Japanese may then instead have dealt an even deadlier blow to the U.S. by sinking its aircraft carriers that were luckily spared from the real attack as they were out to sea at the time. Obviously, had the U.S. forces had interceptors scramble ready, anti-aircraft crews on notice and aircraft scattered on fields instead of bunched together the damage would have been far less. And had the battleships also been at sea, they would have been maneuverable and more elusive to the torpedo and dive bomber Japanese aircraft hunting them.
So, would Hitler still have declared war on the U.S. four days after the attack on Pearl Harbor had the Japanese been averted by detection? Perhaps the American entry into the war would have been delayed long enough for the Germans to be able to concentrate their forces against Russia, possibly changing the outcome of the war. War in the Pacific seems to have been inevitable, so exactly when and where the fighting would have started had things gone differently at Pearl Harbor is hard to say.
As it was, though the attack was initially seemed successful, the Japanese failed to sink the all-important American aircraft carriers, to permanently put the battleships out of commission (all but the Arizona were re-floated), to destroy U.S. fuel and dry-dock ship repair facilities and lastly to cow the U.S. into an immediate negotiated peace.
Some “what if” speculators have claimed the U.S. would still have suffered a crushing loss even with preparation and warning, assuming the Japanese would have sunk American ships at sea as easily as in the harbor. Better leadership by Admiral Kimmel and General Short might have made all the difference, but this will never be known for sure. Seventy plus years on: Rest in peace, all brave men who died that day.
Question for students (and subscribers): What if the U.S. had been prepared for Pearl Harbor? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Cowley, Robert. What Ifs? of American History: Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been (What If Essays). Berkley, 2004.
The featured image in this article, a photograph taken from a Japanese plane during the torpedo attack on ships moored on both sides of Ford Island shortly after the beginning of the Pearl Harbor attack, is in the public domain in Japan, because its copyright has expired according to Article 23 of the 1899 Copyright Act of Japan (English translation) and Article 2 of Supplemental Provisions of Copyright Act of 1970. This is when the photograph meets one of the following conditions:
- It was published before January 1, 1957.
- It was photographed before January 1, 1947.
It is also in the public domain in the United States, because its copyright in Japan expired by 1970 and was not restored by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="6846 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=6846">34 Comments
Pearl Harbor attack worked as intended. It forced USA into WW II combat. The aircraft carriers were saved to fight another day.
One of the conspiracy that I kept on reading on, is that the American knew about the attack, but let it happens so it give them an excuse to declare war….But is still an attack on American soil, so whether or not we knew the attack and prepared for it, it still give us an excuse to declare war, right?
Actually the P-40s and Buffalos we had at Pearl would have been easily destroyed by the Japs. If our battleships had been at sea, they would have been sunk like the Prince of Wales and Repulse were. The attack helped us as it immediately ended the “battleships vs. carriers” discussion. That was a problem for the Japanese right up to the end.
By the way, the Arizona was not the only total loss-we lost the Oklahoma as well as she was being towed back to the states.
The Buffalos were pathetic but the P-40’s may have done serious damage, especially to the torpedo planes.
If you think P-40’s are a bad match for Zeros, look up their performance numbers, especially at lower altitudes where they are 30 mph faster and can turn harder.
As far as the battleships maneuvering, had they been at sea the attacking force might not even have found them. Of course without air cover they are vulnerable (such as Prince of Wales) but in a fleet with escorts perhaps the air defense would be better. Still, the Japanese would have to find them, first, just as they did not find the absent carriers.
If Kimmel and Short had proper recon by submarines and airplanes, a preemptive strike on the Japanese fleet may have been launched, or perhaps the Japanese could have been warned away.
As with all “what if” scenarios, these are conjecture and what would have actually happened is only an educated guess. Plus, as always, chance is involved as well. Thanks for the response.
Interesting, I think if the US knew what was coming, the attack still would have been successful. They would be scrambling for time and resources.
I still think it would have been a devastating loss for the US even if they did have more indication of the attack. It is interesting to read about the “what if” situations, though, since it was such an important day in history.
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a terrible event that happened in U.S. history. If the U.S. were to prepare an hour before they knew the Japenese were coming I do not think much would of been different. These bombs being so deadly scattering into the water would not have made a big difference.
I think it was interesting that we were able to refloat and salvage most of our aircraft carriers other than the Arizona after the attack. I actually remember going to the Marine Corps Museum near Washington D.C and we got to talk to a veteran that worked there about it. He said that these same ships were fixed up and sent out. I remember he even said something about some of them being used on D-Day as well. I think its a great show of American courage and our ability to get back up after such a horrible event.
This question will always be asked and will most likely never be answered. While it is easy to speculate the fact of that matter is that we were no where near prepared for this devastating attack and we lost many lives because of it. What is amazing is how we did come back so strong from these losses. That can be seen so clearly in the refurbishing of all of the ships.
Such a tragic event. Over 2,400 American soldiers lost their lives that day. Like many have said, I do not think there would have been much of a difference if the U.S. knew about it, the attack was so dense and quick, I believe the damage would have been nearly the same.
The United States could never have been prepared for the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor. Thankfully for the United States, the aircraft carriers were out at sea when the attack occurred. Had the carriers been in the port at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese attack would have been even more deadly and successful.
I didn’t realize how many men died during Pearl Harbor. Over 2400 Americans died with only 64 Japanese deaths. Luckily, the important American ships were out at sea and not destroyed. It’s hard playing the what if game when it comes to history. If Pearl Harbor was prevented and an even more devastating Japanese attack occurred America may have been even worse off.
The bombing of Pearl Harbor was one of the biggest tragedies in US history. It is very unfortunate that even though the Japanese bomber fleet was spotted on radar, but misinterpreted as friendlies. The one small light found in this bombing is the entrance in the war of the US. Not that I condone the bombing of Pearl Harbor, it was a huge motivator for US citizens to want to get involved in the war. RIP to all that were affected that day.
While Pearl Harbor was one of the worst tragedies in US history, its occurrence rallied Americans to support the war effort in both the Pacific and European theaters. I cannot help but think that if we successfully defended it, we would not have had such a great public support for the war. One of the reasons we won the war was because of the American people. Without their supprt, it would have been entirely different.
I had never previously realized that Pearl Harbor was such a huge American tragedy. I cannot believe that 188 of the 390 warplanes were destroyed and 2,400 Americans were killed! I am sure that the people who had detected the Japanese coming in before the attack felt extremely guilty due to the amount of damage they caused American soil.
This article raises the question of how big an impact the attack on Pearl Harbor had on the U.S. entering World War II. It had a huge impact. The U.S. now felt part of the war because of this tragedy, and because it seemed the U.S. would be weak after the attack, Hitler’s Germany decided to take advantage and declare war on us four days later.
The article brings to light many things the U.S. might have been able to do to possibly prevent this attack from happening, but they’re all just what-ifs. Many believe that even if we did have knowledge the attack was coming, even if we had sounded the alarm about the planes on our radar, we would have been attacked. Our ships would have been hit. Lives would have been lost. No one can say for sure how the war would have been different had we prevented this attack from happening.
This event sounds like a tragic incidence for the U.S and a great loss for them. However, I am not surprised that so many battleships were sunk and 2,400 people died because they were caught by surprise. I do not think this loss was because of lack of preparation. Any nation that was attached out of nowhere would likely have had such a big loss as well.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor changed the face of WWII and took the war in a different direction. Though a tragedy, the attack allowed for American civilians to form opinions about the war and put what the rest of the world was going through into perspective.
It’s difficult to say what would have happened differently if the US had been expecting an attack. There are certainly measures that the US could have taken to prepare for such an event, but as the article said, it still might not have made much of a difference.
The attack on Pearl Harbor was devastating and many lives were lost unexpectedly. It is hard to say whether or not the outcome would have been different if the U.S. knew the attack was coming. I would hope it would have had a different outcome if they expected it and many of our ships, aircraft carries, and people would have been saved.
It is still sad to hear the tragedy that happened in this Pearl Harbor attack. 2,400 people dying is a lot in that small area and it was all because the US was ill-prepared.
It is terrible that 2,400 people died because the US naval base was not prepared for an attack. This was a devastating time for the USA but luckily they did not lose to much. This gave the United States something to fight for.
It is hard to know whether or not the outcome could have been avoided. Ultimately I still think that the US was destined to join the war. Unfortunately we entered it having just having taken the deadly attack on Pearl Harbor.
The 2,400 people we lost versus the 64 that Japan lost is astounding. It takes serious pride for the American soldiers to still fight back after such a devastating attack.
Unfortunate deficit for the US due to lack of preparation. Although the outcome may have still been similar even if they were prepared for the attack. Hindsight is always 20/20 and lesson learned to always be on guard.
I think the end result of joining the war after this event would have occurred, whether we lost or won the battle. America would take l;losing American lives to a conflict and putting their foot down.
One of the most if not most devastating days in American history.
I do not really understand, if they were detected, why were the Americans at this base not more prepared for something like this to happen?
The bombing of Pearl Harbor was defiantly a sad day in American history and many know about it today. The Americans had many ships sunk and lost 2,400 men that day but the Japanese did loose four midget subs and sixty four men died.
Pearl Harbor is my favorite event in history to research. Fun read.
It is shocking that the American radars were able to detect this air raid but did not take action to prevent the eminent strike. 2,400 lives lost is a large number and it sad that there is a possibility this nightmare day for United States history could have been lessened.
I don’t know if I would prefer Hitler not to declare war on the US. I believe that if we entered the war later than we did, Nazi Germany might have become too strong to defeat.
Why countries have to bomb one another makes no sense to me. Why can’t we mind our own business?