Discuss Time Rider
Notes: As this story
focuses on the attack on Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941, here are
some facts of that historic attack.
According to wikipedia.org,
On September 4, 1941, at the
second of two Imperial Conferences concerning an attack on Pearl
Harbor, the Japanese Cabinet met to consider the attack plans
prepared by Imperial General Headquarters. It was decided that:
“ Our Empire, for the purpose of self-defense and self-preservation,
will complete preparations for war ... [and is] ... resolved to go
to war with the United States, Great Britain and the Netherlands if
necessary. Our Empire will concurrently take all possible diplomatic
measures vis-à-vis the United States and Great Britain, and thereby
endeavor to obtain our objectives ... In the event that there is no
prospect of our demands being met by the first ten days of October
through the diplomatic negotiations mentioned above, we will
immediately decide to commence hostilities against the United
States, Britain and the Netherlands.
Japan had drawn plans to attack Pearl Harbor, in the mistaken belief
war with Britain would inevitably bring in the U.S.
The intent of these plans to attack Pearl Harbor was to make a
pre-emptive strike in order to neutralize American naval power in
the Pacific, if only for a year or so. They were later incorporated
into a theater-wide, near-simultaneous coordinated attack against
several different countries if differences between Japan the United
States were not solved. Thus, the future of Imperial Japan hinged on
her successfully dealing with the Pacific Fleet. The difficulties in
such an attack were twofold. First, for classic battleship warfare,
the relative isolation of Hawaii would make it difficult for any
naval fleet to be outflanked. Second, for aerial attack, Pearl
Harbor's shallow waters all but eliminated the possibility of using
conventional air-dropped torpedoes.
Attacking Pearl Harbor was probably strategically the dumbest move
Japan could have made of course. Most Americans didn't want to get
involved with the problems going on around the world. It was the
attack on Pearl Harbor that brought almost the entire country
together focused on the war effort.
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