Posted on 12/07/2019 12:18:50 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Very good essay. Thanks for sharing. True. The Japanese used the tactic of surprise, because they were defeated when they started. Why the atom bomb? Because the Japanese leaders rejected the conclusion that they were defeated. Strange how a person would rather die than admit defeat.
To a large degree the Japanese had no choice. The Japanese were already allied with the Nazi’s, a war with the US was coming, it was a matter of when. Since war was inevitable, the question then becomes, war on whose terms?
The Japanese leadership decided that it was better to strike decisively early, before the US entered the war in Europe and the US war machine had kicked into high gear.
I think Japan had already decided to attack us before they signed the Tripartite Pact.
I went to see Midway the day it opened. I thought it was well done and historically accurate. I recommend that movie as well.
I think I’ve read this same article about 100 times before. Why does this author think this is something we don’t already know?
In the Japanese movie The Admiral there is more background. Nagumo was under strict orders to return all of the carriers safely to Japan. Since the American carriers were not at Pearl Harbor he worried that they were in the area and could attack at any moment. He was following orders.
John Rabe the living buddha of Nanking. Amazing story.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rabe
Thanks.
Actually until Admiral Yamamoto was promoted to head of the Japanese Naval forces, the Japanese hadn’t planned attacking at Pearl Harbor because up until 1940 most of the U.S. Pacific Fleet was at San Diego. The Japanese did figure that when they invaded the Philippines, the U.S. fleet would sail with relief forces and along the way Japanese submarines, light forces and planes would attrition this force until a Jutland style battle would decided it. The battleships of the Yamato class were built as Japan figured the U.S. wouldn’t build any battleship larger than could fit through the Panama Canal. Admiral Yamamoto changed this strategy as he had a pretty good idea that a long war would end in defeat for Japan and he wanted to strike first (the Essex class carriers were already being laid down). The new movie Midway states it was our greatest Intelligence Failure, that statement was wrong, it was our greatest Command and Control failure, including the command of U.S. forces in Hawaii (between the Army and Navy, there was some 300 U.S. planes based there, but only 3 PBY planes were out doing general recon’s and no Combat Air Patrol above the base). FDR was pushing Japan to attack because he knew that the U.S. needed to get into the war, but due to complacency and arrogance on our part, very few thought that Hawaii would be subject to a major attack. As for our carriers, one was supposed to be in harbor that day (the U.S.S. Enterprise), but a storm delayed its return to Pearl Harbor (talk about a lucky break!). During the Japanese attack, Dauntless dive bombers from the Enterprise flew in and six were shot down from our own Anti-aircraft no less.
Nope, but despite repeated war warnings being issued by Washington to Pacific commanders, war sure came as a surprise to Adm Kimmel.
The Japanese attack at Pearl was intended to prevent a significant American response for about a year while their thousands of Emperor-worshiping citizens already in the U.S. went to work at sabotage and spying...
However, FDR totally cut their strategic balls off when he interned most of the Emperor worshipers and eliminated virtually all of the planned spying and acts of sabotage...
The nips not only counted on the American Pacific Fleet carriers being in port, but they counted on their sleeper spies and saboteurs being in place and ready to do Tojo's & the Emperor's bidding...
The sad part is that here we are 75-years later and the Nation's two (2) major enemies (ChiComs & moslems) with a desire to destroy America each have hundreds of thousands of their citizens/sleepers firmly implanted within American society, industry, academia, and the state & federal governments...
Nothing has been learned, from history, by any of those who rule us...
It has been said time and time again on these Pearl Harbor posts over the years, the US was cracking the Jap diplomatic Purple code, not their naval codes.
We knew they were ready for war and that was imminent. We didn't know where but the presumption was the Philippines or the Dutch East Indies.
When the fleet sailed in November, they actually were prepared for any of four options using the following coded message from their government:
1) Attack the British- West Wind Clear.
2) Attack the Russians- North Wind Cloudy.
3) Attack the Dutch East Indies -South Wind Stormy or
4) Attack the Americans- East Wind Rain.
Their battle fleet didn't get the code for attack until 5 Dec
Yes, as a matter of fact the Japanese used their own time and in this case, dates much like we used GMT instead of local time. They document the attack as Dec 8 Tokyo time.
Then the commies demanded we intervene.
Love it! And the Nazis were earth worshippers and the Soviets were state worshippers.
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Unfortunately for Japan and fortunately for the U.S., Admiral Nagumo was the wrong person for the job, he was promoted to command of the Carrier Strike Force due to his seniority. He was competent but no experience with carriers (few at that time did have it). He did have enough leeway is his orders to take advantage of the situation, but was opposed to the attack in the first place. If the third strike had been launched, the U.S.S. Enterprise would have most likely been found and sunk.
He had reports that our submarines were in the area. This was his biggest concern.
Not the case. The tripartite pact was signed in Sept. 1940. Planning for the strike South and at Pearl Harbor did not start until early Spring 1941.
You got it.
A third strike would have been against the fuel farm and the PHNSY. Enterprise still would have been out to sea and Fuchida’s aircraft would have concentrated on those targets.
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