Pearl Harbor Battle Analysis Essay

On a pleasant and beautiful Sunday, December 7, 1984, Japan implemented a surprise attack on the US Naval Base in Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii which gave United States a door to enter into World War II. Even though Japan did not follow through with the attack causing the third wave of bombers to break contact from dropping bombs to finish off the rest of the fleet docking in Pearl Harbor, it was a well prepared, and carefully orchestrated attack on the Americans because the Japanese followed almost all the nine Principles of War. However there was one principle that the Japanese did not executed causing them to surrender later on in World War II. There are nine Principles of War, that is; unity of command, mass, objective, offensive, surprise, economy of force, maneuver, and security. The attack include mass–concentrating the combat power at the decisive place and time. The objective was clear and directed every military operation towards a clearly defined, decisive attainable objective. The attack was clearly offensive where it seize, retained, and exploited the initiatives. Surprise was the definitely the most important principle used striking Pearl Harbor on a given time when it was unprepared. Economy of force was allocated to the wave of attacks where essential combat power was given as a secondary effort. The maneuvers were clearly executed where Japan placed United States in a position of disadvantage through the flexibility application of combat power. There was unity of command in which the Japanese ensured each objective had a responsible commander. Unity of command was visible within the Japanese fleet. The commander for the December 7th 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor was Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (People–Japan, ). Yamamoto was responsible for the combined Japanese fleet where he devised the strategy for the attack, and because of his careful, organized, and educated planing, Pearl Harbor was almost fully destroyed. Under Yamamoto is Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumoto who was in command of the First Air Fleet. Nagamuto relied heavily on the experience of his subordinates Comander Minoru Genda, and Rear Admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka. â€Å"No one can truly understand what happened at Pearl Harbor without at least a nodding acquantance with these men, for the plan’s inception, preparation, execution, and stunning success were shaped by the personalities and experience of these men† (Goldstein, 1991). By element of mass with in the nine Principles of War, the Japanese attack forces was well equipped for the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. Japan understands that their country cannot defeat United Staes in a â€Å"conventional war, lacking as it did sufficient man power and raw materials (notably oil) for such a sustained effort however Japan was able to put together combined fleet large enough to go toe to toe with the United States Navy in Hawaii† (Long, 2007). Japanese air attack forces consisted of six carriers named Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku, and Zuikaku. Support forces consisted of two battleship and two heavy cruisers known as Tone and Chikuma. Screening forces consisted of one light cruiser and nine destroyers named Akuma. Patrol forces had three submarines. In addition, the supply forces ha eight oilers. Together these combined fleet was named the Kido Butai, or task force which was the largest number of aircraft carriers ever to operate togeth er (Carlisle, 114). Admiral Yamamoto and the Kido Fleet’s objective was to destroy the naval ships in Pearl Harbor and knock out the U.S. Pacific Fleet. In retrospect, this attack is also an offensive attack as a significant Japanese fighting force so that the Americans could not oppose on Japan’s conquest of South East Asia and the Pacific Islands. Another reason for the attack is because President Roosevelt had banned all exports of scrap iron, steel and oil to Japan. The reason for the embargo was the Japanese invasion of China. Japan had lost more than 90% of its oil supply (Carlisle, 2006). The economic isolation crippled their economy and military. In addition, Japan were keen on expanding their empire and had to make a decision between surrendering or going to war with the United States. Lastly, United States had not yet entered the Second World War, because they were still reeling from depression due to the First World War. United States did, however, still possess the strongest naval fleets. In that perspective, the Japanese were almost as strong as the American navy. As time passed, America favored more and more towards joining the war. The Japanese anticipated a full-blown naval war with America and therefore, decided to act first by bombing Pearl Harbor which was a key terrain feature in the Pacific due to it’s massive and deep harbor for naval ships. The element of economy of force was also present during the attack on Pearl Harbor. This allowed Japans zero bomber to allocate minimum essential combat power towards the attack. With the economy of force, the element of maneuver also played abig role towards the raid. There were two aerial attack waves, totaling 353 aircraft that was launched from the six Japanese aircraft carriers. In actuality, Admiral Yamamoto’s plans consisted of three waves of attack. The first wave of attacked was launched at 0740 with 163 aircrafts that was coming from the North Shore. Their objective was to destroy airfields at Wheeler, Ewa, Hickam, and Pearl Harbor. The second wave was launched an hour later to the Windward side of the island with 167 aircraft bombers. Their mission was also to destroy airfields in Kaneohe and Bellows, Hickam, and Pearl Harbor. Admiral Yamamoto called off the third wave because he believed the second strike had essentially satisfied the main objective of his mission which was to cripple United States Pacific Fleet. In addition Admiral Yamamoto did not wish to risk further losses. With Admiral Yamamoto’s careful planning of the Pearl Harbor attack, Japan was successful on completing their objective in the Pacific by destroying the Naval fleet. However, they failed to follow through with the element of security. Security states that Japan should have never permitted United States from acquiring an unexpected advantage. With Admiral Yamamoto calling off the third wave, this allowed United States to get back up on its feet. Japan may have won the battle on Pearl Harbor, however that decision â€Å"woke up the sleeping giant† causing Japan to surrender the war to the Americans. The biggest impact on the Japanese attack was the element of surprise which was Japans key tactic on Pearl Harbor and other military bases on Oahu that struck Americans as a â€Å"dastardly attack† — â€Å"stab in the back.† On December 7th, 1941, everyone went about their daily routine. Naval and military commands in Hawaii did not suspect that this day would be the day they would get a huge surprise by getting attacked. Washington and Honolulu were aware of the Japanese threats to attack areas in Southeast Asia but they didn’t think a surprise attack at Pearl Harbor was in the plans. The commands in Washington and Honolulu had no idea because based on their intelligence they received mostly from U.S radio intelligence and diplomatic code breaking, the intelligence received told them that the Japanese were moving south and they weren’t going to be in â€Å"danger†. Washington received intelligence from the office of naval intelligence a few hours before the attack indicating that the all of Japan’s fleet carriers were in their home waters. This was one way how the Japanese completely fooled and the U.S. intelligence and surprised them with a damaging attack on Pearl Harbor and other military installations. Sunday mornings are normally a time of leisure for military personnel, and during this time, especially in the morning, some are still asleep, or at church with their families. With the Japanese knowing this, this was the best time to launch their surprise attack because they knew people would not be able to respond to the attacks quick enough to fight back and it would be the perfect opportunity to destroy all of their fleets and aircrafts Japan’s careful and well orchestrated attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, destroyed almost all the American Naval fleet in the Pacific. This allowed Japan to continue its imperialism towards Southeast Asian without United States interference. Even when Japan failed to follow through with the element of security towards United States, they still followed almost all the nine Principles of War in order for them to have a successful raid. The third wave of attack could have the destroyed the fuel storage, maintenance, and dry dock facilities that would have crippled the U.S. Pacific Fleet far more seriously than the loss of its battleships. If they had been wiped out, United States could not have been able to bounce back, join the war, and eventually forced Japan to surrender. Work Cited Carlisle, Rodney P. December 7, 1941: One Day in History : The Days That Changed the World. New York: Collins, 2006. Print. Long, Tony, July 27, 2007. â€Å"Dec. 7, 1941: Attack at Pearl Harbor a Bold, Desperate Gamble.† Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2013. http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/12/dayintech_1207 Goldstein, Donald M. The Way It Was Pearl Harbor. The Original Photographs. Washington: Brassey’s, 1991. Print. â€Å"Global Research.† Pearl Harbor: A Successful War Lie. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2013. http://www.globalresearch.ca/pearl-harbor-a-successful-war-lie/22305 â€Å"How Did Japan View the Pearl Harbor Attacks?† ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2013. http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0214300/nzjapaneseview1.html Hoyt, Edwin Palmer. Pearl Harbor Attack. New York: Sterling Pub., 2008. Print. Kam, Ephraim. Surprise Attack: The Victim’s Perspective. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1988. Print. â€Å"People-Japan–Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, IJN, (1884-1943).† People-Japan–Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, IJN, (1884-1943). N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2013.http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/prs-for/japan/japrs-xz/i-yamto.htm â€Å"The Attack by the First Japanese Wave.† The Attack by the First Japanese Wave. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2013. http://www.pacificwar.org.au/pearlharbor/FirstWaveAttack.html Tures A. Tures, LaGrange. â€Å"William ‘Billy’ Mitchell, the Man Who Predicted the Pearl Harbor Day Disaster.† Yahoo! News. Yahoo!, 06 Dec. 2011. Web. 23 Jan. 2013. Wisniewski, Richard A. Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial: A Pictorial History. Honololu, Hawaii (P.O. Box 8924, Honolulu 96830): Pacific Basin Enterprises, 1986. Print.