Attack on Pearl Harbor (1941). Reference. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor turned into a disgrace for the US Army Distance from Japan to the pearl

On December 7, 1941, carrier-based aircraft of the United Imperial Japanese Fleet attacked the main US naval and air force bases in the Pacific Ocean

An event that still causes controversy among historians and politicians, an incident that radically changed the course of the entire Second World War - so what was it: a subtle calculation of the American intelligence services and the political establishment or the success of Japanese weapons? Most likely, we will not know the answer to this question soon. However, no one is stopping us from now trying to understand this military episode in order to draw our own conclusions. Moreover, it is well known, at least for its visualization in cinema: it seems that many people watched the Oscar-winning feature film of the same name and can imagine in general terms the events of that attack.

Preparing for war

It would not be out of place to inform our reader that the war in the Pacific Ocean was most likely a foregone conclusion. Japan abandoned its intentions to attack the USSR from the Kwantung Army in Manchuria. And the rejection of this (conditionally “Western”) plan implied the implementation of a certain “Eastern option,” that is, expansion in the Pacific Ocean. By the way, this state of affairs can be considered a victory for Soviet diplomacy in the pre-war years and another positive aspect of the Non-Aggression Pact between Germany and the USSR. Japan felt deceived, despite being a member of the Anti-Comintern Pact, and did not want to help the Germans.

One way or another, the Japanese headquarters - primarily the Navy, since Japan had a strict division of land and naval forces, which later played a cruel joke on them - began to plan a campaign to seize the Pacific Ocean. The particular cynicism of the Japanese militarists was that some regions were called, for example, “special resource regions,” where only raw materials were taken into account, and people, naturally, were subject to eviction, destruction and persecution. However, the massacre in Chinese Nanjing (200 thousand killed) left no doubt that the Japanese would act harshly.

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One of the leading Japanese strategists, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, developed a plan for the expansion of the Japanese Empire, based on the capture of islands as transshipment bases, resource centers and achieving supremacy at sea and in the air, primarily with the help of the fleet. The American embargo on oil supplies to Japan in July 1941 only accelerated the implementation of these plans. However, by that time the Japanese were already in French Indochina (Vietnam) and the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia). The ring around the Americans was narrowing.

A carefully thought out plan

Japanese intelligence, which worked well with the help of a residency right at the American base, constantly supplied data on the movements of American ships. With this information, Yamamoto developed a meticulously thought-out plan. Having carefully studied the experience of the British air raid on the Italian naval base in Taranto, where Japan's allies suffered heavy losses, Yamamoto borrowed many solutions. Thus, an aircraft carrier strike force advanced to the Hawaiian Islands from the Kuril Islands in complete radio silence. The group of 6 heavy aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku and Zuikaku was supported by impressive security. And 6 submarines were supposed to deliver midget boats to the bay to conduct torpedo attacks, and then begin patrolling.

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The main blow was delivered by carrier-based aviation, which had 414 aircraft of three types - B5N Kate torpedo bombers, D3A Val dive bombers and the famous A6M Zero fighters. Some of the torpedo bombers performed the unconventional role of high-altitude bombers, armed with 800-kilogram armor-piercing bombs; the rest carried torpedoes, but with special wooden stabilizer devices that did not allow the torpedoes to bury themselves in the ground when dropped in a shallow bay. The dive bombers traditionally threw 250-kilogram bombs, and the Zeros used cannons and machine guns to shoot at aircraft in open parking areas and personnel. The strike was supposed to be carried out in three successive waves of aircraft.

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Despite all these preparations, there were several (let's call them strange) circumstances that preceded the attack, as well as the US entry into World War II. Intelligence officers at all levels, as well as friendly intelligence services, including the legendary Richard Sorge, repeatedly warned the top US leadership about the possible outbreak of hostilities, and quite accurately. On December 6, 1941, the Americans were even able to decipher a secret Japanese note in response to an American ultimatum, which effectively meant war. President Roosevelt received it at 21.30 on December 6, that is, even before the attack, but no one warned the base. Finally, the “fantastic” things are noted! 50 minutes (!) before the approach, the armada of Japanese planes was detected by radar, but for some reason they were considered their own. Really, just think, more than 300 “our” planes are flying uncontrollably somewhere?! And shortly before the attack, all American aircraft carriers were relocated to the west coast of the United States and other areas - the key to future victories in the war at sea. Are there too many coincidences? Think for yourself.

Tora, tora, tora!

With this conventional phrase, the Japanese pilots confirmed the success and achievement of the surprise effect of the first wave of the attack to Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, who commanded the carrier strike group. Early on Sunday morning, while the personnel were still asleep and many were on leave, 183 Japanese aircraft appeared over Pearl Harbor. At first, many mistook the noise of the engines for exercises or the landing of heavy bombers. Each Japanese pilot had photographs of his target, and the targets themselves, primarily 9 battleships, were distributed in a "multiple overlap". The effect of the strike was stunning, and general panic and the lack of organized resistance aggravated the situation. Soon, in the smoke and fire above the water, a monstrous explosion was heard, with the bow broken in two, the battleship Arizona sank to the bottom, and the Oklahoma capsized. Japanese planes circled over the harbor like angry bees and continued to sting.

Sinking battleship Arizona

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On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft delivered a crushing blow to the American base in Hawaii. In two hours, the US Pacific Fleet was destroyed, more than 2,400 people were killed.

The next day, President Roosevelt, speaking to Congress, said that this day “will go down in history as a symbol of shame.” Another day later, the United States entered World War II. What took place on December 7 at Pearl Harbor: a surprise attack or a carefully planned government conspiracy?

The two-hour attack on Pearl Harbor (“Pearl Bay”) not only influenced the course of the war, but also changed world history. Volumes of military, historical and popular literature have been written about this episode (it cannot be called a battle or engagement), documentaries and feature films have been made.

However, historians and conspiracy theorists are still looking for answers to the questions: how did it happen that the Americans were not prepared for the Japanese attack? Why were the losses so great? Who is to blame for what happened? Did the President know about the coming invasion? Did he do nothing specifically to drag the country into hostilities?

"PURPLE" CODE: the secret becomes clear

The existence of a conspiracy is supported by the fact that by the summer of 1940, the Americans “cracked” the Japanese secret diplomatic code, called “Purple.” This allowed American intelligence to monitor all communications from the Japanese General Staff. Thus, all secret correspondence was an open book for the Americans. What did they learn from the encryption?

An aerial view of the battleships in the first minutes after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7, 1941. (U.S. Navy photo)

Messages intercepted in the fall of 1941 indicate that the Japanese were indeed up to something. On September 24, 1941, Washington read a coded message from the Office of Naval Intelligence of Japan sent to the consul in Honolulu, which requested squares for the exact location of US warships at Pearl Harbor.

At that time, the Japanese were negotiating with the United States, trying to prevent or at least delay the outbreak of war between the two countries. In one of the secret messages, the Japanese Foreign Minister urged the negotiators to resolve problems with the United States by November 29, otherwise, the code said, “events will happen automatically.”

And already on December 1, 1941, after the negotiations failed, the military intercepted a report in which the Japanese ambassador in Berlin informed Hitler about the extreme danger of war, “approaching faster than one might think.”

By the way, it is interesting that some headquarters of military units received machines for deciphering the “Purple” code, but for some reason Pearl Harbor did not receive such a machine...

"FLYING TIGERS": THE PATH TO WARRIOR

One of the most important questions concerns the role of the government and President Roosevelt. Was he trying to provoke the Japanese into attacking the United States in order to gain the support of the American population for his war plans?

As you know, relations with the Japanese began to deteriorate long before Pearl Harbor. In 1937, Japan sank an American warship in China on the Yangtze River. Both countries made public attempts at negotiations, but Roosevelt issued several unacceptable ultimatums to Japanese negotiators and openly lent money to the Chinese Nationalists, whom the Japanese were fighting at the time.

On June 23, 1941, the day after Germany attacked the USSR, Secretary of the Interior and Assistant to the President Harold Ickes presented a memo to the President in which he indicated that “imposing an embargo on oil exports to Japan could be an effective way to start a conflict. And if, thanks to this step, we indirectly get involved in a world war, then we will avoid criticism of complicity with communist Russia.” Which is what was done. And a month later, Roosevelt froze the financial assets of the “Asian Tiger” in the United States.

However, President Roosevelt was against imposing a complete embargo. He wanted to tighten the screws, but not for good, but only, as he himself put it, “for a day or two.” His goal was to keep Japan in a state of maximum uncertainty without pushing it over the edge. The President believed that he could use oil as a tool of diplomacy, and not as a trigger that could be pulled to unleash a massacre.

Meanwhile, the Americans began to actively help China. In the summer, the Flying Tigers aviation group was sent to the Celestial Empire, which operated against the Japanese as part of the army of President Chiang Kai-shek. Although these pilots were officially considered volunteers, they were hired by US military bases.

The income of these strange aviators was five times higher than the salary of ordinary American pilots. Politician and publicist Patrick Buchanan believes that "they were sent to fight Japan in the months before Pearl Harbor as part of a secret operation emanating from the White House and from President Roosevelt personally."

KNEW OR DIDN'T KNOW?

By provoking the Japanese by reading all the intelligence reports, President Roosevelt could not remain completely unaware of the impending attack on Pearl Harbor. Here are just a few facts that prove the awareness of the top person.

On November 25, 1941, Secretary of War Stimson wrote in his diary that Roosevelt spoke of a possible attack within the next few days and asked “how should we get them into a first-strike position without the damage being too damaging to us?” Despite the risk, we will allow the Japanese to carry out the first strike. The government understands that the full support of the American people is necessary to ensure that no one is left in any doubt about Japan's aggressive intentions."

On November 26, US Secretary of State K. Hull presented the Japanese representative with a note proposing the withdrawal of troops from all countries of Southeast Asia. In Tokyo, this proposal was considered an American ultimatum. Soon, a powerful aircraft carrier squadron located in the Kuril Islands area received an order to weigh anchor and begin moving towards the target in radio silence. And the goal was... the Hawaiian Islands.

On December 5, Roosevelt wrote to the Australian Prime Minister: “The Japanese must always be taken into account. Perhaps the next 4-5 days will resolve this problem.”

What about Pearl Harbor? Was the command of the military base really “blissfully unaware”? A few weeks before the attack, on November 27, 1941, General Marshall sent the following coded message to Pearl Harbor: “Hostile action is likely at any moment. If military action cannot be avoided, then the United States wants Japan to be the first to use force.”

The airfield at the US Navy base on Ford Island. In the background you can see flames from burning ships after the Japanese attack, December 7, 1941. (U.S. Navy photo):

DAY OF SHAME

It turns out that the army, navy and ruling circles knew everything perfectly and prepared for the attack in advance. However, what happened on December 7, 1941 in Pearl Bay can be called, in the words of Marshal Zhukov, “ignoring the obvious threat of attack.”

The day before the attack, another Japanese encryption was read, from which it became known that war was inevitable. How did “important and interested persons” react?

Roosevelt called the fleet commander, Admiral Stark, but he was in the theater and was not disturbed. The next morning, Washington learned the exact time of the attack - 07:30 on December 7, Hawaiian time. 6 hours left. Admiral Stark wanted to call the commander of the Pacific Fleet, but decided to report to the President first. Roosevelt received Stark after 10:00, the meeting began, but the president’s personal physician came and took him away for procedures. We conferred without the president and left for lunch at 12:00.

The Chief of Staff of the US Army, General Marshall, did not want to interrupt his morning horseback ride and appeared for duty only at 11:25. He also decided not to call Hawaii, but sent an encrypted telegram, ordering it to be transmitted through the army radio station. There was radio interference in Hawaii, so the telegram was taken to a commercial telegraph office, forgetting to mark it as “urgent.”

At the Hawaiian post office, the telegram was thrown into a box, where it waited for the messenger (by the way, Japanese), who regularly picked up all the mail for the American fleet. A messenger carefully delivered it to headquarters three hours after the Japanese sank the American fleet.

At Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941, at 07:02, two soldiers on radar duty spotted Japanese planes 250 km from the island. They tried to report this to headquarters by direct telephone, but no one answered there. Then they contacted the lieutenant on duty by landline phone, who was in a hurry for breakfast and did not talk to them for long.

The soldiers turned off the radar and also left for breakfast. And two waves of aircraft that took off from Japanese aircraft carriers (40 torpedo bombers, 129 dive bombers and 79 fighters) were already approaching Pearl Harbor, where all the armored forces of the US Pacific Fleet were located - 8 battleships (for comparison: the USSR had only three of them, with during the First World War). At 07:55 Japanese planes began to dive.

The commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Kimmel, began directing the battle in his pajamas from the courtyard of his villa, located on the mountain. He received the first report from his wife, who was standing nearby in a nightgown: “It looks like they covered the battleship Oklahoma!” - “I see it myself!” - the naval commander confirmed.

On American ships, the sailors had just had breakfast, but the officers were still eating. Half of the crew was on leave on shore; random sailors stood at the anti-aircraft guns. Five of the eight battleship commanders also had fun on the shore. The guns had no shells, and the keys to the shell stores could not be found.

Finally, the armored doors of the storerooms were broken down, and in the confusion they began to fire training shells at the Japanese planes. When Kimmel was brought to headquarters, according to an eyewitness, there was no panic there. “Ordered horror” reigned there.

Japanese bomber over Pearl Harbor

At 09:45 the Japanese took off. Summed up. All 8 battleships were disabled. The Japanese hoped to find aircraft carriers in the bay, but they were absent, so in a rage they bombed anything. Almost all of Pearl Harbor's aircraft were destroyed: 188 aircraft burned and 128 were damaged. 2,403 US military personnel were killed and 117 were wounded. There were 40 explosions in the city, killing 68 civilians and injuring 35. Of these explosions, only one was a Japanese bomb, the other 39 were American anti-aircraft shells.

The Japanese lost 29 aircraft and 55 people...

CONSEQUENCES

Yet, despite all the evidence, explicit and implicit, it is impossible to prove that there was a conspiracy, because Washington did not order a reduction in the level of combat readiness on the eve of the attack. And that's a fact.

The consequences of the attack on Pearl Harbor were more than important for both American and world history.

The attack served as the impetus for Hitler to declare war on the United States, and consequently for the unconditional inclusion of all American economic, industrial, financial, organizational, scientific, technical and military power in the cause of war. The attack on Pearl Harbor was one of the reasons (it is difficult to say how important) the use of atomic weapons against Japan.

We can add one more, probably the most important consequence of this attack - it opened a new chapter in everything related to US participation and intervention in all conflicts in the world.

Anastasia GROSS

In Hawaii on December 7, 1941, as a result of a well-played provocation by American politicians, Kazuhiko Togo, a famous Japanese political scientist, a high-ranking diplomat in the third generation, director of the Research Institute of World Problems at the Institute of Industry in Kyoto, author of more than a dozen books on the history of diplomacy and international relations.

His grandfather Shigenori Togo headed the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the most critical moments of the country's military history - from October 1941 to September 1942 and from April to August 1945. During Shigenori Togo's tenure in this post, two most important events occurred in the modern history of Japan - the attack on Pearl Harbor, which became a triumphant entry into a large-scale war, and a crushing defeat in it.

Kazuhiko Togo carefully studied historical evidence and documents of that era. From his mother’s stories, he knows that his grandfather was against the war and did everything in his power to avoid it. Later, in the spring of 1945, he tried to bring Japan out of the war and tested the ground for peace through the mediation of Stalin. However, this was never destined to come true. Togo was convicted as a war criminal at the Tokyo Trial, although he received, largely thanks to the position of the Soviet Union, one of the most lenient sentences - not the death penalty or life imprisonment, but 20 years in prison.

Brilliant provocation

“There is a theory according to which America wanted to arrange everything so that Japan would start the war. Roosevelt understood that Hitler was dangerous for the world and for America. And he understood that there was no other way to destroy him except military. To do this, it was necessary to unite with Stalin and hit Hitler together,” says Kazuhiko Togo.

However, according to the political scientist, a completely different position dominated in American society. “There has been a war in Europe for two years, Hitler attacked the USSR, and still the USA cannot enter the war, because public opinion is against it. This means it needs to be changed. And the best way for this could be an attack by Japan on the USA. Then American public opinion will have no other choice," Togo explains.

The clash of interests of two new players with imperial ambitions began long before December 7, 1941. But the spark that ignited the Bickford fuse of the war in the Pacific Ocean was the so-called “Hall Note,” transmitted to Japan by the US Secretary of State on November 26. Until now, historians in the United States and Japan do not have a common opinion about this document. Japanese scientists consider the note an ultimatum, while American scientists take exactly the opposite position. According to Japanese scientists, the “Hall Note” demanded from Japan the obviously impossible: the withdrawal of troops from China, withdrawal from the Tripartite Pact concluded by Japan, Germany and Italy in September 1940. The Japanese side perceived the note as a demonstration of the US reluctance to continue negotiations.

“The calculation worked here: the “Hall note” was supposed to force Japan to start a war, which is what happened. It was, in fact, a provocation. The most annoying thing is that Japanese politicians, including my grandfather, allowed themselves to be carried away by the situation. And here they cannot be justified, although they had no other choice. As a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor, American public opinion changed overnight,” says Kazuhiko Togo.

Mysteries of Pearl Harbor

Seven decades have passed since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and yet many mysteries remain in the events of those years. Scientists have been arguing for years about how it could have happened that the attack came as a surprise to American politicians, although the year before, from the end of 1940, they knew the diplomatic codes of Japan, and all diplomatic correspondence was no secret.

Many scientists note that strange and extremely favorable coincidence of circumstances when, despite the terrible losses suffered by the American fleet, the main goal of the Japanese - the aircraft carriers - happily escaped destruction: on December 7 they simply were not at the base.

“There is an opinion that the United States knew about the attack in advance, hid it and allowed itself to be attacked. But I do not have sufficient information on this matter. We do not know to what extent the Americans knew about the plans of the Japanese. At the same time, there are incomprehensible things. For example, shortly before the Japanese attack, all three American aircraft carriers were withdrawn from Pearl Harbor,” Kazuhiko Togo shared his doubts.

No less mysterious is the fact that the British leadership, having access to secret information of the Japanese naval forces, did not share it with the United States. Subsequently, these facts became the reason for accusing Roosevelt and Churchill that, by allowing the attack on Pearl Harbor, each in his own way sought to push America to enter the war.

Gift to Roosevelt

The attack on Pearl Harbor turned American public opinion around and hastened its entry into the war. But the Japanese bureaucratic machine gave Roosevelt another gift.

“Tokyo should have been notified of the attack half an hour before the attack. However, due to bureaucratic delays in printing the document at the Japanese embassy in Washington, notification of the attack was transmitted only half an hour after it began,” notes Togo. This changed the very nature of the attack: an insidious and unexpected crime gave Roosevelt a free hand.

“This was God’s gift to Roosevelt. And a critically stupid mistake by Japan,” the political scientist clarifies.

War is a defeat for diplomacy

Shigenori Togo hoped that negotiations would help avoid war. Japan understood that the forces were too unequal. The country's Foreign Ministry has prepared two plans for normalizing relations with the United States. One of them - short-term - according to Japanese diplomats, could be accepted by America. But in response to Japan's proposals, the United States conveyed the "Hall Note."

“I have a personal story about this. My mother, the daughter of Shigenori Togo, lived with him in the residence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. She said that before the “Hell note” my grandfather literally glowed with happiness,” Kazuhiko Togo shares his memories. “My his grandfather headed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and for him, as a diplomat, the opportunity to protect his country from war at a time when it was about to begin was the greatest happiness and meaning of his career. He worked with all his might. But when he came home at night after receiving the “note.” Hella," he was in despair. He understood that this was war," explains the historian.

During two attacks by Japanese carrier-based aircraft on the US Navy base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, four American battleships, one cruiser, two destroyers and 188 aircraft were destroyed. Four battleships, three light cruisers, one destroyer, two auxiliary vessels and over 100 aircraft were damaged. On the American side, 2.4 thousand people died. Japanese losses amounted to 29 aircraft, 5 submarines, and 55 people were killed. The raid on the base lasted 2 hours 5 minutes.

If you look at where Pearl Harbor is on the world map, it’s hard to believe that this paradise of the Hawaiian Islands became a real hell one Sunday morning. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor using the troops of Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, who was assisted by midget submarines delivered to the site by submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy. This date remains in the memory of the American people as a reminder of the horrors of a war that must not be repeated.

US Navy military exercises

The US Pacific Fleet, which was located at the Pearl Harbor military base, was considered one of the strongest fleets in the world. The military base was perfectly protected from attacks from sea and air. To test combat readiness, the Americans conducted large-scale military exercises.

In 1932, during the exercises, the American Admiral Yarmouth (commander of the “offensive” forces) behaved untypically, and instead of unleashing the full power of the naval squadron entrusted to him on the Pearl Harbor military base, he decided to attack only with the help of two fast aircraft carriers (which appeared in the fleet not so long ago). Having approached the target at a distance of 40 miles, the admiral sent 152 aircraft into battle. The attacking air forces brilliantly coped with the combat mission, conditionally destroying all aircraft at the enemy base.

Despite the complete defeat of the defenders, the US military command believed that in a real battle the aircraft carriers would be destroyed and most of the aircraft would be shot down, since the real results of the battle would differ significantly from the simulated attacks. The exercises of 1937 and 1938, as a result of which carrier-based aircraft again completely defeated the mock enemy, did not prove anything to the American military.

The thing is that battleships were considered the main force in the 1930s; attacking these powerful warships was considered a deliberately failed idea if the enemy did not have the same class of warships. All major world powers believed that the success of a war at sea depended on a single meeting of the navies of the two powers. Victory was guaranteed to be won by the side whose number of battleships exceeded its opponent. Although aircraft carriers played an important role in navies, their task was only to support battleships. The American military command was skeptical about the results of the exercises.

On November 11, 1940, a battle took place between the English aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious and the Italian battle fleet. Contrary to expectations, an attack by aircraft from a single aircraft carrier was able to destroy one Italian battleship and put two others out of action. The battle in the harbor of Taranto was considered by the American military to be luck and the result of the irresponsible attitude of the Italian military towards the battle.

Prerequisites for preparing the attack on Pearl Harbor

It is still unknown exactly why Japan decided to attack Pearl Harbor. The prerequisites for this were already evident in 1927. This year, the future Chief of Staff of the 1st Carrier Fleet, Kusaka Ryunosuke, who had just graduated from a specialized naval staff college and was at that time a captain of the second rank, began developing plans to attack the US naval base at Pearl Harbor.

Shortly after graduating from college, he was appointed to teach an aviation course to 10 important government officials, among whom was Nagano Osami (admiral and future marshal of the Imperial Japanese Navy). It was during this course that Kusaka Ryunosuke wrote a document stating that if a general battle with the American fleet did not take place, since it refused to go to the open sea, it would be necessary to urgently seize the initiative and strike at Pearl Harbor. This operation can only be carried out by aviation.

This document was published in only 30 copies and secretly distributed to the command staff. Most likely, he came to the attention of Admiral Yamamoto, after which he formed a plan in his head to attack Japan on Pearl Harbor. The results of the naval exercises forced the Japanese to take a different look at the use of aircraft carriers, and the battle in Taranto harbor convinced them of their idea.

Although Admiral Yamamoto did not approve of Japan's entry into World War II (he especially did not like the conclusion of the Tripartite Pact), as a professional military man, he did everything necessary to prepare the Japanese fleet for future hostilities. In particular, he increased the number of aircraft carriers and carried out the attack plan on Pearl Harbor.

It should be understood that Admiral Yamamoto could not have carried out the plan to attack Pearl Harbor on his own. When the situation between Japan and the United States became so tense that war became almost inevitable, Yamamoto turned to Rear Admiral Kaijiro Onishi, who commanded the 11th Air Force, for help. Kaijiro had at his disposal only Zero fighters and G3M and G4M torpedo bombers, which due to insufficient range could not participate in this operation. Onishi advised the distressed Yamamoto to contact his deputy, Minoru Gende.

Why was Genda chosen? This man, in addition to being an ace pilot (his combat fighter unit was nicknamed “Genda magicians”), had an excellent sense of tactics. In addition, he was considered the best specialist in Japan in the combat use of aircraft carriers. Genda carefully studied all the possibilities of attacking the US Pacific Fleet at the Pearl Harbor base and calculated how much material and human resources would be needed. To successfully carry out the operation, according to Genda, 6 heavy aircraft carriers were needed. It was necessary to place only the best pilots on all planes, and the operation itself had to be carried out in the strictest secrecy to ensure complete surprise.

Detailed study of the combat operation

The development of the plan for the attack on Pearl Harbor was entrusted to one of the main officers of the United Fleet, Kuroshima Kameto. This officer was distinguished by his eccentricity and originality. When he “created”, he locked himself in his cabin for several days, stripped naked and sat on the table in this form, fumigating the entire room with incense. It was this strange man who developed the entire tactical plan for an attack on a US military base, taking into account all possible nuances.

The finished detailed plan was submitted to the naval general headquarters for trial, where it unexpectedly met with strong distrust and opposition. Many officers, not believing the effectiveness of aircraft carriers, believed that as a result of this operation they could all die. In addition, some were distrustful of such a large-scale operation, in which too much depended on various factors:

The factor of surprise could fail, and the aircraft carriers would be shot on the approach to the base;
The number of ships at the base was unknown, as was their readiness for surprise combat;
The state of the military base's air defenses was also unknown;
Weather conditions could also interfere with the military operation.

Admiral Yamamoto fiercely defended his plan, as he was a very gambler, ready to put everything he had on the line. When the General Staff was ready to abandon the risky operation, Admiral Yamamoto threatened to resign. Due to the fact that Admiral Yamamoto was a highly respected person, his departure would be a disaster, so the Chief of the General Naval Staff, Nagano, had no choice but to accept Yamamoto’s plan. Admiral Nagumo also doubted success. To convince him, Yamamoto stated that he was ready to personally lead troops into battle if Admiral Nagumo was afraid. In order not to “lose face,” Nagumo was forced to agree.

Why did Japan go to war with the USA?

Many still do not understand how Japan entered into a war with such a powerful power as the United States of America. This was due to several reasons:

In 1937, Japan began a war with China, which was an economically backward country. For 3 years, Japanese troops advanced to the border of Indochina, which led to an escalation of the conflict with England and the United States;
In 1940, Japan concluded the Tripartite Pact, which was a military alliance between three countries (Germany, Italy and Japan), which greatly influenced the deterioration of relations with the United States;
In July 1941, when Japanese troops invaded Indochina, the United States, Holland and Great Britain imposed an embargo on oil exports to Japan.

It was this last point that was the last straw in the aggravation of relations between Japan and the United States. Japan's oil fuel reserves would last for 3 years, after which the powers with oil fields could demand any price for oil, so the Japanese command decided to seize the oil fields of Southeast Asia. Naturally, the United States did not like this decision, so the Japanese command was faced with two options for possible events:

Capture oil fields and give battle to the American fleet on the high seas (which was quite problematic, since the forces of the American fleet were significantly superior to the Japanese fleet);
First, defeat the enemy’s navy (through a surprise attack), and then concentrate forces on the occupation.

As you might guess, the second option turned out to be preferable.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The Japanese military unit left the Kure base between November 10 and 18, 1941. On November 22, the combat formation was in Hitokappu Bay, in the Kuril Islands area. All the necessary equipment was loaded onto the warships, including canvas covers for guns and barrels of fuel for aircraft. The people who were given a full set of winter uniforms were not forgotten either.

On November 26, the ships set off for the collection point. They all took different routes so as not to attract suspicion. It was at the gathering point that it was to be decided whether war with the United States would begin or not.

On December 1, Japan decided to start a war with the United States, which was announced to Admiral Nagumo, who commanded the entire operation, the very next day. The attack on Pearl Harbor was scheduled for December 7, which was transmitted in a coded order that read "Ascend Mount Niitaka."

In addition to aircraft carriers, about 30 different submarines took part in the combat operation, 16 of which were powerful submarines with a long range. 11 submarines each carried 1 seaplane, and 5 carried small submarines.

At 6 o'clock in the morning, combat aircraft began to take off from aircraft carriers that were 230 miles from the Hawaiian Islands. Each plane took off with precise synchronization relative to the pitching of the aircraft carriers.

First wave of attack on Pearl Harbor

The first combat wave, which went to bomb the US naval base, included:

40 Nakajima B5N2 torpedo bombers, whose torpedoes (especially for attacks in shallow water) were equipped with wooden stabilizers;
49 aircraft of the same type, which carried huge 800 kg bombs - deeply modernized and converted battleship shells;
51 aircraft of the Aichi D3A1 type (dive bomber), each of which carried a bomb weighing 250 kg;
43 Mitsubishi A6M2 fighters, whose task was to cover the bombers.

Perhaps the US Navy could have prepared for an attack in advance if it had promptly responded to the discovery of one of the Japanese mini-submarines. At 3:42 a.m., one of the US minesweepers noticed the periscope of a submarine that was located near the entrance to the harbor. The information was transmitted to the destroyer USS Aaron Ward, which unsuccessfully searched for her for 3 hours. At 6 o'clock this or another submarine was discovered by the Catalina flying boat, and already at 6-45 the destroyer sank it. 10 minutes after the destruction of the submarine, the destroyer transmitted a message to the duty officer, which reached him only at 7-12.

The approach of Japanese planes was noticed at 7-02 by a radar station. Privates Joseph Lockard and George Elliott, who were operators of the radar station, reported this to duty officer Joseph MacDonald, who in turn reported this information to Lieutenant K. Tyler. Knowing that B-17 bombers were about to arrive at the Pearl Harbor military base, the lieutenant reassured those on duty, saying that there was no cause for concern. The radio station, which pilots often used as a bearing, also spoke about this. That is why numerous danger signals were ignored.

The commander of the Akagi air group, Futida, in the memoirs he wrote after the war, rather inaccurately describes the signal for the attack. Although he gave it at 7:49, it was a repeated signal. The first signal, sent at 7:40, was a black flare, which was not noticed by Lieutenant Commander Itaya, leading the group of fighters. The second signal was noticed by the dive bomber commander, who immediately launched an attack.

Despite the suddenness of the attack, military musicians on the battleship USS Nevada performed the US national anthem at exactly 8:00, while bombs rained down from all sides. The musicians only lost their rhythm a little once, when one of the bombs almost hit the battleship.

Since the Japanese understood the danger enemy aircraft carriers posed, they were the main target of their attacks. But since the American aircraft carriers were not at the base during the attack, Japanese aircraft focused their attention on the battleships, since they were a fairly important target.

The most important Japanese aircraft that participated in this operation were undoubtedly torpedo bombers. 16 aircraft, due to the absence of aircraft carriers at the base, were left without a specific target and were forced to attack targets at their own discretion, which introduced a certain amount of confusion into a clearly planned attack.

The first targets to be attacked were:

Light cruiser USS Raleigh;
The old battleship USS Utah, which was mistaken for an aircraft carrier;
Light cruiser Detroit.

While the attack was underway, Captain Commander Vincent Murphy discussed details of the report from the destroyer USS Aaron Ward (which sank the Japanese submarine) with Admiral Kimmel. The arriving liaison informed the commander that the attack on Pearl Harbor was not an exercise, which Vincent immediately informed the admiral about. Kimmel, in turn, conveyed this news to all parts of the navy that were at military bases and on the high seas.

Rear Admiral W. Furlong, who was on board the minelayer USS Oglala during the Japanese attack, saw enemy planes in the sky, immediately realized that this was an enemy raid and signaled all ships to leave the bay. At that moment, a Japanese torpedo passed directly under the keel of the USS Oglala, which miraculously escaped damage. It would seem that the minelayer was lucky, but the torpedo, hitting the side of the cruiser USS Helena, damaged the starboard side of the USS Oglala with an explosion, causing the ship to sink to the bottom.

The huge battleship Arizona was sunk in 10 minutes, without having time to fire a single shot. 1,177 sailors went to the bottom with him. In total, 18 ships of the American navy were disabled:

Three battleships were sunk;
One ran aground;
One turned over;
The rest received significant damage.

In addition to warships, targets for Japanese aircraft were:

The airfield, which was located on Ford Island;
Hickam Air Force Base;
Wheeler Air Force Base;
Seaplane base.

Japanese fighters began destroying American B-17 aircraft, which were nicknamed the “Flying Fortress.”

Heavy aircraft on the ground were an excellent target that was unable to fight back. After the destruction of the B-17, the American carrier-based Dontless bombers became the target of the Japanese fighters.

Second wave of attack on Pearl Harbor

The second wave of Japanese air attack consisted of 167 aircraft. There were no more torpedo bombers in the second wave, since the second attack was only the final stage.

It was during the second Japanese attack that American pilots were able to provide at least some resistance to Japanese aircraft. Haleiv airfield was able to organize two combat sorties consisting of 5 aircraft. These flights took place between 8:15 and 10:00. As a result of combat missions, American pilots were able to shoot down 7 Japanese aircraft, losing only one of their own. This is an indication that US combat aircraft were significantly superior to Japanese ones.

Results of the attack on Pearl Harbor

Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor was not so much a daring raid as a necessary measure, since Japan's fuel resources were under threat. Despite all the efforts of politicians and diplomats, the oil embargo issue could not be resolved peacefully, so the command of the Japanese army was forced to launch a surprise attack on the American naval base.

This operation was planned by excellent Japanese naval specialists, who took into account every detail with Japanese scrupulousness. Japan's best aviators were selected to take part in the attack.

The main objectives that Japan set for itself when planning the attack on Pearl Harbor were:

Completely destroy the American navy so that it does not interfere with the seizure of oil fields;
Demoralize the spirit of the American people.

If the first task was partially completed, then the second one came true exactly the opposite. The entire war with Japan took place under the slogan “Remember Pearl Harbor.”

Since the American aircraft carriers survived, they were able to turn the tide of the Battle of Midway, after which the Japanese fleet lost 4 aircraft carriers and about 250 aircraft, forever losing the ability to operate without coastal artillery cover.

Due to the excessive caution of Admiral Nagumo, who did not strike at the base’s infrastructure, the docks and oil storage facilities remained intact. Continuing the offensive in this direction could have consolidated the success, but the Japanese command decided to transfer aviation to southeast Asia, hastening to seize rich oil fields.

Pearl Harbor Memorial

The Pearl Harbor Memorials consist of two large complexes:

USS Arizona Memorial;
USS Missouri Memorial.

The Arizona Memorial is located above the site of the sinking of the battleship of the same name. Since its construction in 1962, more than a million people have visited this memorial. There is a tradition in the United States that every president of this country must visit this memorial at least once.

The second Missouri Memorial is located aboard the decommissioned battleship Missouri, which is a museum ship. It was on this warship that the Japanese surrender was signed in 1945.

The attack on the Pearl Harbor military base killed approximately 2,500 people. This operation did not bring Japan a complete victory over the American navy, but showed the superiority of aircraft carriers over battleships.

Exactly 75 years ago, Japanese carrier-based aircraft dealt a severe blow to the US naval base at Pearl Harbor. No less was the psychological effect this attack had on all Americans - from top management to the last farmer. Nevertheless, a similar course of events was predicted and even simulated during American naval exercises 10 years before the actual Japanese attack. How did this happen and what conclusions were drawn?

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Quiet Sunday morning, winter, the seventh on the calendar. The US fleet stands peacefully in the harbor. Suddenly, dozens of planes appear from the northeast, having taken off from secretly approaching enemy aircraft carriers. Fighters at low level attack American aircraft in parking lots, and dive bombers drop their deadly cargo on ships, airfields and headquarters. The defenders of Pearl Harbor are taken by surprise. Having completed the tasks, enemy aircraft return to their carrier ships without interference. The admiral in charge of the operation watches what is happening with satisfaction, but his name is not Chuichi Nagumo, but Harry Yarnell. On the calendar - February 7, 1932, US Navy exercises are in full swing, ten years remain before the actual attack on Pearl Harbor...

"Great War" and "Winged Defense"

One might ask: Why did the United States even train to attack and repel Pearl Harbor at a time when World War I had long since ended? The fact is that the so-called “yellow peril” threatening the white race from Asia has been a favorite topic of many books in the West since the end of the 19th century. Japan's crushing victories over China and Russia, as well as the capture of the German base of Qingdao in 1914, only strengthened these fears.

Aircraft carrier Saratoga, 1932.
https://www.reddit.com

Back in April 1925, the Englishman Hector Bywater, the author of several works on the fleet, completed the book “The Great Pacific War.” In it, based on an analysis of the real contradictions between the United States and Japan, as well as the state of their fleets, he argued that a future Japanese-American war in the vast Pacific Ocean is very real, although by no means inevitable.

In Bywater's scenario, the Japanese government decides to go to war for two reasons. Firstly, to freely develop Chinese resources that are vital for Japanese industry. This is hampered by the United States, with its superior economic power, which won a large contract to develop coal and iron ore deposits in China. The conclusion of the contract strengthens the resolve of all Chinese parties to fight against Japanese influence. Secondly, to unite the nation in the face of a common enemy - the same United States, which is preventing the “legal” rule of China, and at the same time avoid the impending revolution, which the Japanese communists are actively preparing.

Next, the Japanese demand that the United States refuse to further transfer forces to areas west of the Hawaiian Islands, and moreover, to deploy transports with troops already heading to Manila. The USA, naturally, refuses.

Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga, 1930.
http://ww2db.com

The fictional war begins in 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the sudden explosion of a Japanese kamikaze transport that cripples the Panama Canal. The outdated US "flag show" fleet hopes to sell its lives dearly by taking the Japanese landing force into the Philippines - if the Japanese send warships and transport ships simultaneously, as they did at Chemulpo, and land outside the firing range of shore batteries, as in Port Arthur. But in the novel, the Japanese first destroy enemy ships and only then send transports with troops under the cover of an aircraft carrier.

According to the plot, Guam will fall behind the Philippines. Most ships of both the US and Japan now simply do not have enough fuel on board to get from their bases to the enemy. It must be said that the author was not far from the truth, given the number of tankers required for the actual attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

The war Bywater modeled is costly for both sides, but the United States, due to its superior population, economic and industrial development, endures losses more easily than Japan - as will happen in reality, 20 years after the book was written. After just over two years, Japan can no longer continue the war and is looking for ways to conclude peace on acceptable terms. The US is winning, but at too high a cost, and is leaning towards isolationism while the UK and Germany dominate the world...

Twenty years before the Pearl Harbor attack: the destruction by aircraft of the obsolete battleship Alabama, September 1921

Although Bywater's book is considered a prophecy of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, it ironically does not say a word about the attack on Pearl Harbor! But in September 1931, Japan actually invaded Manchuria and occupied it, despite the protests of the League of Nations. This caused understandable concern among neighbors.

The defense of the Hawaiian Islands from air attack was not ignored by another author - General William “Billy” Mitchell, an experienced pilot and air commander of the First World War. His book Winged Defense was published the same year as Bywater's book.

According to Mitchell's book, with the average price of a strike aircraft of that time being $25,000 versus the price of a battleship of $100 million, aviation is much more efficient: instead of one battleship, 4,000 aircraft can be built. Based on test experience, Mitchell argued that the aircraft could sink any ship, even the largest and most protected one, with torpedoes and bombs. Battleships are too expensive, difficult to maintain, vulnerable and should become a thing of the past - while aircraft carriers will find their niche. Moreover, he insisted on something completely unheard of, declaring that army and navy officers would have to obey air force officers in the defense of the islands! They could no longer tolerate this. Nevertheless, Mitchell's ideas were worth testing - especially those where he proposed strengthening the defenses of the Hawaiian and Philippine Islands. To defend the island of Oahu alone, Mitchell proposed stationing about a hundred fighters on it, not counting the 300-aircraft air force common to Hawaii.

"Blue" versus "black"

In 1932, the fleet of the Japanese Empire was the third in the world, second only to the American and British. It consisted, according to US intelligence, of 10 battleships, eight heavy and 19 light cruisers, 110 destroyers, 67 submarines and three aircraft carriers. Therefore, US strategists were extremely interested in finding out what the fleet of a potential enemy was capable of. In the absence of a “real” war, large-scale exercises were carried out. Standard colors were used to designate sides - as, for example, when working out plans for war with Canada.

Admiral Yarnell.
http://www.navsource.org

On January 1, 1932, large army and navy exercises began. The Blues (“Japanese”) were supposed to attack the island of Oahu in Hawaii, where the most important US naval base (“Blacks”) was located in the Pacific Ocean. Oahu was defended by anti-aircraft batteries and about 100 aircraft - exactly as many as General Mitchell wanted.

Since the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese navy has been known for its love of attacking without declaring war. For a surprise attack on the base, two new aircraft carriers were allocated: USS Saratoga and USS Lexington, which were supposed to operate under the cover of four destroyers.

The naval group was commanded by 57-year-old Rear Admiral Harry Yarnell. Unlike most admirals of his time, Yarnell had flight training and also spent a year in command of the Saratoga. Although virtually all participants in the exercise thought that aircraft carriers would be discovered and sunk by coastal aircraft and submarines long before they approached the target within the range of carrier-based aircraft (about 100 miles, or approximately 185 km), Yarnell believed otherwise.

Admiral Yarnell disembarks from the heavy cruiser Augusta, 1938

He took into account that in winter, squally winds and low clouds would help hide his ships from the eyes of patrol aircraft - especially if he did not go to the target directly, but made a detour, avoiding busy trade routes and passenger lines. In addition, taking into account the prevailing northeast winds, Pearl Harbor harbor is protected from the same bad weather by the Koolau volcano. Therefore, the attacking pilots, having crossed the ridge, would be able to attack in clear skies - almost like at a training ground. An additional element of surprise was created by the timing of the attack: early Sunday morning, most of the crew members would be off duty, if not ashore at all.

The operation itself began on the night of February 6, when Yarnell's group plowed through rough waves 60 miles northeast of Oahu. There were no lights, no radio conversations. Everything went like clockwork, the attack was a complete success. Of the 152 aircraft launched into the air, not one was lost during takeoff. 20 tons of “bombs” were dropped, which represented signal flares and sacks of flour. All the ships in Pearl Harbor were “sunk”, and even a day after the raid, the enemy still did not find the ships that attacked him: no one could believe that the attack was carried out by a small, and therefore inconspicuous, group of ships, and not by an entire fleet.

Saratoga en route to Hawaii, April 1932. In a dramatic shot, a small biplane lands on the deck of the Old Sarah.
wikimedia.org

The “black” commanders literally stood on their hind legs. In their opinion, the air defense forces in real conditions would have shot down about 45 of Yarnell’s planes. They also argued that “their” battleships, in the event of a real war, would have been at sea at the moment of impact and would have quickly found and punished the insolent people. The conclusions from the exercises stated that if the defenders have strong aviation, attacks against Oahu are unlikely to occur without significant danger to the aircraft carriers themselves and large losses in carrier-based aircraft.

In 1936, the Japanese Naval Academy published a monograph on the strategy and tactics of a possible war with the United States. Among other conclusions, it contained the following: if the US fleet is anchored at Pearl Harbor, it is worth starting military operations with a surprise air attack. In 1937, Japan moved to open war against China. In 1938, the aircraft carrier Saratoga again “attacked” Pearl Harbor during a war game, and again successfully - but again no conclusions were drawn from this. In 1939, Admiral Yarnell, having convinced no one, resigned.

Reality: December 7, 1941.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp

In August 1941, one of the oldest literary magazines in the United States, the Atlantic Monthly, quoted the former head of naval intelligence, William T. Pulleston, who categorically stated: “The Hawaiian Islands are overprotected; The entire Japanese navy and air force cannot seriously threaten Oahu.". There were no more than four months left before the real attack on Pearl Harbor...

Bibliography:

Bywater Hector. The Great Pacific War: A History Of The American-Japanese Campaign Of 1931–1933. - Applewood Books, 2002.
Dr. John "Jay" Boyd. The Great War of 1932: Making the Organized Reserve a “going concern”. - Office of Army Reserve History (www.history.army.mil).
Fleming Thomas. Early warning. February 7, 1932 – A Date that Would Live in Amnesia. American Heritage. July/August 2001, Volume 52, Issue 5.
Mitchell, William. winged defense; the development and possibilities of modern air power-economic and military. - New York, G.P. Putnam's sons, 1926.
Bywater G.C., Ferrabee H.S. Strange intelligence. Memoirs of the Secret Service of the British Admiralty / Translation from French. V. Kryukova. - Military literature, 2007.
https://www.ussflierproject.com.