Pearl Harbor Anniversary

Pacific War Kick-Off Chronology

 

Idler thanks for the link Elsie

 

No problem - it was only blatant self promotion

If you site-search "USS Ward" it brings up a couple of other relevant threads.

 

Thanks Owen,

Getting things correct is a labor of love for me, being corrected is something I rarely savor. I owe you one, now where's my check book. :P

 

There's still an excess vowel by my reckoning: why not "Perl Harbor" or "Purl Harbor"?

 

No doubt.

Good call.

 

In 1991, I attended the 50th anniversary of the New England chapter of the Pearl Harbor Veterans in Boston. Quite moving. Sadly, I think most of those I saw that day are already gone.

 

Remember them.

 

The Axis made three massive mistakes in WWII:

1. Ignoring the fortitude of the British and the British Commonwealth;
2. Invading the Soviet Union; and
3. Attacking Pearl Harbor.

Would we have seen the USA fight if not for mistake #3.?

Anyway, adding to some of the prior comments. 'Harbor' if meant to be an English word is spelt incorrectly and there is no such thing as American English, it is just English spelt wrongly. The same as there is no such thing as an English accent - English is English. Americans, Australians, Indians, et al, speak English with an accent.

Hawaii, the 50th US State, does have an excellent flag though, a Union Jack in the top left hand corner. Outstanding judgement and taste.

 

Yes, I think we would have gotten in eventually. We were getting closer and closer in late '41, and the bad guys were bound to make a provocative mistake sooner or later. As to there being no such thing as American English...well, there you might get an argument from some formidable scholars.

As it is now Dec.8th here, we shouldn't forget that Hong Kong, Malaya, and the International Settlement at Shanghai were all hit as well. Hats off for HMS Peterel, the defenders of Khota Bharu, and 205 Squadron RAF. One of 205's Catalinas may have been the first Allied force to come under fire in the Pacific War.

 

Hey wait a minute,wasn't the Sandwich Islands discovered by that supreme navigator from Whitby,James Cook.

He sheltered in a natural harbour and declared I name this place Pearl Harbour..........and Harbour it was and Harbour it is....honestly

 

Tell that to the people that own it.

 

[Hey wait a minute,wasn't the Sandwich Islands discovered by that supreme navigator from Whitby,James Cook.

He sheltered in a natural harbour and declared I name this place Pearl Harbour..........and Harbour it was and Harbour it is....honestly]


My reference to Pearl Harbour as above was a tongue in cheek light hearted comment and I have no evidence that Cook sheltered in what became Pearl Harbour.However the fact is that James Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands in January 1778 and declared I name these islands "The Sandwich Islands". This was a tribute to the 4th Earl of Sandwich who held the post of First Sea Lord during this era of the American wars of independence.Cook discovered these islands before the future of the British colony in America had been decided.(Earl Sandwich was also a gambler and sustained himself during long sessions at the gambling table with slices of bread and meat taken together.His mode of foodfare gave the English language,the sandwich.)

The Sandwich Islands appears to have been the preferred name for the Hawaiian Islands until the middle of the 19th century.

Getting back to Pearl Harbour,experience no matter what dimension, is usually drawn on by those who have to determine the outcome of new challenges...adverse experiences...stay clear or rectify/fine tune the response ....good and effective experiences...fine tune and probably template it.However along with the experience,an element of risk is introduced which can have short term or long term consequences.

From that looking at the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbour,the Japanese are thought to have adapted the strategy utlised by the RN air raid at Taranto which crippled the Italian fleet on 11 November 1940.The RN were able to catch the Italian fleet at berth at the Taranto naval base.

The Japanese raid was flawed to some extent by the lack of the overall intelligence picture.The Japanese took the risk and there would only one bite of the cherry, that the whole US Pacific fleet would be at anchor at Pearl Harbour.Fortunately the US carrier fleet was at sea and this would have long term consequences for theJapanese.As it was,the US naval/air victory over the Japanese at Midway during early June 1942 was the watershed of Japanese expansion in the Pacific.It would be a hard slog of island hopping to push the Japanese back to their homeland but nevertheless,the opportunity to overcome the Japanese due to their failure of the pre-emptive blow on Pearl Harbour must have been recognised by the US military leadership.With a superior developing technology and a high performing war economy,the US were able to deny Japan, the New Order for Asia that the Japanese military expansionists craved for.
.

 

It's important to remember the remains of the Battleship Arizona's sailors still rest there, just below the surface. More than one thousand men. RIP

Japan had no idea what they were in for.

When attacked, Yanks have a very long memory and sooner or later, retribution will occur.



PUT

 

7th December 1941
Japanese planes bomb Pearl Harbor
Japan has launched a surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and has declared war on Britain and the United States.

The US president, Franklin D Roosevelt, has mobilised all his forces and is poised to declare war on Japan.

Details of the attack in Hawaii are scarce but initial reports say Japanese bombers and torpedo-carrying planes targeted warships, aircraft and military installations in Pearl Harbor, on Oahu, the third largest and chief island of Hawaii.

News of the daring raid has shocked members of Congress at a time when Japanese officials in Washington were still negotiating with US Secretary of State Cordell Hull on lifting US sanctions imposed after continuing Japanese aggression against China.


He remembered that moment [Pearl Harbor] in later years as the end of one existence and the beginning of another

People's War memories »

At 0755 local time the first wave of between 50 and 150 planes struck the naval base for 35 minutes causing several fires and "untold damage" to the Pacific Fleet.

The Japanese squadrons dropped high-explosive and incendiary bombs.

A second strike followed at about 0900 when a force of at least 100 planes pounded the base for an hour.

At least two Japanese airplanes have been shot down but it is reported that at least 350 men were killed by one single bomb at the Hickam Army Air Field, an Air Corps post on Oahu.

Officials announced a further 104 Army personnel were killed and 300 were wounded in the raid.

It is believed the attack was launched from two aircraft carriers.

One radio report says US forces downed six Japanese planes and sunk four submarines.

There are reports the Hawaiian capital Honolulu was also bombed as well as the Pacific island of Guam and the capital of the Philippines, Manila.

A British gunboat, the Peterel, has also been sunk at Shanghai in China.

Reports from Singapore suggest a build-up of Japanese warships in the South China Sea and seem to be headed for the Gulf of Siam, towards Bangkok.

President Roosevelt is working on a message to Congress tomorrow in which he is expected to ask for a declaration of war with Japan.

The Times newspaper's Washington correspondent says the US Government expects Germany and Italy to declare war on the US within hours.

Although the attack has shocked the American people there is little doubt that it had been brewing for some years.

Relations with the United States have deteriorated since 1931 when Japan occupied Manchuria in northern China. Over the last decade conflict has intensified into a full-scale war between Japan and China.

Last year, the US imposed trade sanctions on Japan.

Then in September 1940 Japan signed a Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy. It became a formal member of the Axis alliance fighting the European war but continued to negotiate with America for trade concessions until today.

Japan's fury over the embargoes and allied support for China prompted a declaration of war.

BBC ON THIS DAY | 7 | 1941: Japanese planes bomb Pearl Harbor

 

Commentary: Salute the USS Arizona and the fallen of Dec. 7

A good read.