Pearl Harbor - a harbor on the island of Oahu, located in the water area of the Hawaiian archipelago. The main part of the harbor and its surrounding territories is occupied by the central base of the Pacific Fleet of the US Navy.
Pearl Harbor became world famous for the tragedy that occurred on December 7, 1941. Japan attacked American military bases, as a result of which the United States immediately declared war on the Japanese, and also entered World War II (1939-1945).
Pearl Harbor attack
The attack on Pearl Harbor from Japan was of a combined nature. The Japanese government used the following technique:
- 6 aircraft carriers with 441 military aircraft with appropriate weapons;
- 2 battleships;
- cruisers of different water supply;
- 11 destroyers (according to other sources 9);
- 6 submarines.
Attacking Pearl Harbor, the Japanese sought to neutralize the combat power of the American Pacific Fleet in order to ensure control in the waters of Southeast Asia. On the morning of December 7, their aircraft launched an operation to destroy airfields and ships stationed in Pearl Harbor.
As a result, 4 American battleships, 2 destroyers and 4 ships of the line were sunk, not counting three cruisers and one destroyer, which received major damage. In total, 188 US aircraft were destroyed and another 159 were seriously damaged. In this battle, 2,403 American soldiers were killed and 1,178 were injured.
In turn, Japan suffered much smaller losses, having lost 29 aircraft and 5 small submarines. Human losses amounted to 64 soldiers.
Results
Analyzing the attack on Pearl Harbor, one can conclude that Japan achieved overwhelming success in the operation. As a result, she managed to control most of Southeast Asia for about six months.
However, if you look at the full picture, then for the Pacific Fleet of the US Navy, the attack on Pearl Harbor did not turn out to be dire consequences. This was due to the fact that of all the sunken ships, the Americans could not restore only 4 of them.
In addition, while trying to destroy warships and aircraft, the Japanese did not touch a number of critical equipment and strategic reserves that the United States could use in future battles. The modern American aircraft carriers were then located elsewhere, thus remaining unharmed.
The military battleships destroyed by the Japanese were already obsolete. In addition to this, they no longer posed a serious threat to the enemy, since in that war, aviation represented the greatest destructive force. In addition, despite the fact that Japan destroyed a lot of US aircraft, it could achieve much greater results.
Ironically, or, conversely, intentionally, the Japanese fleet attacked Pearl Harbor at the time of the absence of aircraft carriers on it. As a result, these aircraft carriers turned out to be the main US naval forces in that war.
