The whole process, cause, process, details and unknown secrets of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II.

The attack on Pearl Harbor refers to the attack on the American military base planned by the Japanese government. 194165438+On the morning of February 7, the Japanese navy's aircraft carrier and mini submarine suddenly attacked the US Navy's Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the US Army and Navy's airport in Oahu. The Pacific War broke out. The attack finally involved the United States in World War II. This is the first time that another country attacked American territory after the Sino-Mexican War in the19th century. This incident is also known as the Pearl Harbor incident or the attack on Pearl Harbor.

1, event background

Japan began to develop into Southeast Asia in A.D. 194 1, which aroused the anxiety of the major countries in this region. In order to give Japan some color, the United States has frozen its economic and trade relations with Japan, the most important of which is high-octane oil. Without oil, Japanese planes can't ascend to heaven, ships can't sail in the sea, and Japan can't continue to expand abroad.

In addition, Japanese oil can only last for half a year. Japan understands that it should either withdraw its troops from China, stop its external expansion and move closer to the United States diplomatically. Either organize their own flags, go south to seize strategic resources and continue to strengthen foreign aggression. Nanyang has colonies of the United States, Britain and the Netherlands. Entering Nanyang is tantamount to declaring war on the United States and Britain.

Pearl Harbor in the Pacific Ocean is the main transportation hub. Hawaii is 2,000 nautical miles to 3,000 nautical miles from the west coast of the United States in the east, Japan in the west, the islands in the southwest and Alaska and the Bering Strait in the north. Planes crossing the Pacific Ocean from south to north all make a stopover in Hawaii. Japan believes that seizing the air and sea power in the Pacific first means that the road to the south is unimpeded and Pearl Harbor must be destroyed first, so Japan planned the Pearl Harbor raid.

The Japanese government decided to occupy the resources of Southeast Asia as an answer to the embargo. Can't they assume that if they start to act, the United States will stand by and watch? That's why Isoroku Yamamoto considered destroying American power in the Pacific beforehand. The plan of Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese Joint Fleet, to attack the Pearl Harbor Naval Base is a tactical step to achieve this strategic goal. According to Japanese data, Yamamoto began to consider the attack on Pearl Harbor at 194 1. A few months later, after doing some preliminary investigation, he was allowed to start preparing for the operation. The Japanese navy strongly opposes such actions. Yamamoto threatened to retire if the operation was suspended. In the summer of 194 1, this action was officially approved at a command meeting attended by the Japanese emperor himself. 165438+ 10, at another command meeting attended by the emperor himself, the decision to send troops to the Pacific Ocean was approved. At the meeting in 165438+ 10, it was also decided that the United States would give up its action only if it fully agreed with Japan's main demands.

The purpose of the attack on Pearl Harbor is to (at least temporarily) eliminate the main force of the US Navy in the Pacific Ocean. Isoroku Yamamoto, the mastermind of the Pearl Harbor attack, believes that a successful attack can only bring strategic advantages for one year. Japan started to fight China from 193 1, before Japan occupied Manchuria. From 194 1 year 1 year, Japan began to plan a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor to gain strategic advantages. After some discussions and disputes within the navy, the Japanese navy began to conduct strict training on this operation in the middle of the year.

Part of Japan's plan is to suspend negotiations with the United States before the attack (and it must be before the attack). As of February 7, 65438, the diplomats of the Japanese ambassador in Washington have been having extensive discussions with the US Foreign Office, including the US response to Japan's invasion of Southeast Asia. Before the attack, the Japanese ambassador received a long telegram from the Japanese Foreign Ministry and was ordered to give it to Secretary of State Cordell Hull before the attack (afternoon 1 p.m. Washington time). However, the ambassador failed to decipher and print the long credentials in time. Finally, this declaration was submitted to the United States after the attack. This delay increased American anger at the attack, which is the main reason why President Roosevelt called this day a "shameless day". Admiral Yamamoto seems to agree with this view. The movie Tiger co-produced by Japan and America! Tiger! Tiger! He was quoted as saying, "I'm afraid we have awakened a sleeping giant, and now he is full of anger." Yamamoto himself may never have said this sentence, even so, he seems to really feel this way.

In fact, this credential was decoded by the United States before Japan submitted it to the United States. George catlett marshall immediately sent an urgent warning to Hawaii after reading the credentials, but the telegram had to be transmitted through the civil telecommunications bureau because of the chaos in the internal transmission system of the US military. It lost its "emergency" sign on the way. A few hours after the attack, a young Japanese-American postman sent the telegram to the US military headquarters.

In a spring training of 1940, he saw that the aviation had achieved ideal results in the training and said to the chief of staff, "The training was very successful, and I think it is possible to attack Hawaii." From this time on, Yamamoto began to imagine the Battle of Pearl Harbor. Based on Tougou Heihachirou's strategic thought of success in one fell swoop, he believed that if we want to win the war with the powerful United States and Britain, we must make a surprise attack and pre-empt the other side to collapse at the beginning of the war. The bold idea of attacking Pearl Harbor came out, which is the inevitable product of Yamamoto's strategic thinking.

2. Event overview

American John? Toran has a logical speculation about Yamamoto's plan to attack Pearl Harbor. 192 1 year, the United States published the book "Pacific maritime hegemony". Four years later, part of this book was written as a novel, named Pacific War, in which Japanese fleet attacked Pearl Harbor, Guam and the Philippine Islands. This book was translated into Japanese by the General Staff of the Japanese Navy and included in the curriculum of the Naval University. When this book was published, Yamamoto was working as a military attache in Washington. Yamamoto has studied naval science tirelessly, and his English attainments are profound. It is impossible not to notice this book. The plan to attack Pearl Harbor is also closely related to Yamamoto's character. It has been said in the west that only gamblers dare to take such a big risk against the attack on Pearl Harbor. Yamamoto is an adventurer, and he is crazy about gambling. Gambling and chance games are more important than diet. Playing poker, playing bridge, playing Go and betting are all experts. He gambled with his colleagues, with his subordinates, and often with geisha, and he gambled seriously. 19 10, Yamamoto gambled 3,000 yuan with his close friend for a trivial matter. The money could have bought a good house, but Yamamoto lost. Although he laughed it off, Yamamoto insisted on paying his debts and deducted them from his salary every month for more than ten years. When Yamamoto went to Europe, it was said that because of his superb gambling skills, he won too much money, and Yamamoto was even banned from Las Vegas casinos. He is the second gambler banned in Las Vegas. Yamamoto once said that if the emperor could give him a year to gamble, he could win back an aircraft carrier for Japan. In a word, the influence of Dongxiang, American novels and Yamamoto's personal character contributed to the formation of Attack on Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor is located in the Hawaiian Islands in the East Pacific between Japan and the United States, about 3,500 nautical miles from Japan and about 2,000 nautical miles from the United States. It is the most important base of the US Pacific Fleet. 194110/On October 7th, Yamamoto wrote to the secretary of the navy, Yue Shiro of Sichuan, and formally put forward the idea of attacking Pearl Harbor. Since then, together with several staff officers, we have secretly formulated the "Z" action plan. In June, after the formal plan was put forward, it caused controversy in the upper level of Japan. Some people don't believe that the huge fleet will cross 3500 nautical miles undetected, and they doubt the feasibility of this plan. Yamamoto was opinionated and even threatened to resign. In order to "March south", Japan approved this plan in June 5438+10/mid-October. As a result, Yamamoto commanded the joint fleet to choose Kagoshima Bay similar to Pearl Harbor and began full preparation and strict simulation training.

194165438+in the early morning of February 7, the first attack wave of 183 aircraft taking off from six aircraft carriers broke through the clouds and rushed to pearl harbor. At 7: 53, the signal of "Tiger, Tiger, Tiger" came back, indicating that the surprise attack was successful. Since then, the second wave of attack 168 aircraft attacked again. The American troops who rushed to fight suffered heavy losses. Of the eight battleships, four sank, one ran aground and the rest suffered heavy losses. Six cruisers and three destroyers were injured, and the 188 plane was destroyed, resulting in thousands of casualties. Japan lost only 29 planes and 55 pilots.

3. Event course

165438+1On October 26th, the Japanese navy's fleet consisting of six aircraft carriers left Japan for Pearl Harbor under the command of vice admiral's Zhong Nanyun. On the way, the fleet maintained complete radio silence. In addition to these six aircraft carriers, the Japanese fleet also includes two battleships, three cruisers, nine destroyers and three submarines. In addition, eight oil tankers and two destroyers are only on standby in the North Pacific.

On the morning of February 8, 65438, this fleet plane bombed all American airports on Oahu and many ships moored at Pearl Harbor, including battleships there. Almost all the planes on the ground were destroyed, and only a few planes were able to take off and fight back. 12 Battleship was sunk or damaged. 188 planes were destroyed, 155 planes were destroyed, and 2403 American troops were killed. The battleship Arizona exploded and sank alone, killing thousands of people.

The first shot and the first victim of this battle were the attack of American destroyers on Japanese mini-submarines. The mini submarine was sunk. Japan sent five mini submarines to torpedo American ships after the air raid began. All five ships sank later, and only four were found later. Only one of the ten sailors on these five ships survived, and the wine roll and the man were caught. He was the first American prisoner in World War II.

The Japanese aircraft carriers involved in this attack are Chicheng (flagship), Kaga, Canglong, Longfei, Xianghe and Ruihe. The six aircraft carriers carried 4 14 carrier aircraft, including fighter planes, torpedo bombers, dive bombers and horizontal bombers, of which 55 were destroyed. These planes attacked in two waves. Lieutenant General Nan Yun decided to give up the third attack and withdraw his main force.

According to various reports and military documents released by the US and Japan, the process of attacking Pearl Harbor is as follows:

3:42: An American minesweeper found a periscope in front of Honolulu Port.

6:00: The aircraft carrier Enterprise, which is 370 nautical miles away from Pearl Harbor, sends a 18 reconnaissance plane to Pearl Harbor from 370 nautical miles away.

6: 10: Lieutenant General Nan Yun ordered the first wave to take off after receiving the attack order. The Japanese fleet is now located 220 nautical miles north of Oahu.

6:20: The first wave 183 bombers and fighters take off for Pearl Harbor.

6:30: An American supply ship found a submarine outside Pearl Harbor. This discovery was transmitted to an American destroyer "Ward" and a reconnaissance plane was sent to the local area.

6:45: The destroyer Ward attacks the submarine. The submarine was sunk.

6: 53: The destroyer Ward reported that the submarine was attacked.

7:02: A radar station located in the north of Oahu found an unknown plane at 132 nautical mile of the island.

7: 10: the radar station reported to the air defense command that an unknown aircraft was found.

7: 15: The report of submarine attack arrives at the US military command. At the same time, 167 the second wave of Japanese planes took off.

7:20: The U.S. air defense command thinks that the unidentified plane is a B- 17 bomber from the mainland, and he orders the radar station to close.

7:40: The first wave reaches the north shore of Oahu.

7:49: The first wave of commanders gave the order to attack.

7:53: The first wave of commanders issued "Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! " The news reported that the sneak attack was successful.

7: 55-8: 25: The first attack of torpedo bombers and dive bombers.

7: 58: The US Navy issued a warning to all ships: "Pearl Harbor was attacked by air. This is not an exercise! "

8:00: The B- 17 bomber of the continental United States and the reconnaissance plane of Enterprise arrive at Pearl Harbor at the same time, but they are unprepared and unable to intervene.

8:02: The battleship Nevada begins to fire at the aircraft attacking from starboard. Two planes were shot down. The stern of the Nevada was torpedoed. Nevada was the only battleship that tried to escape from Pearl Harbor, but it had to run aground on the beach after being hit many times to prevent the ship from sinking.

8: 08: Radio KGMB stops its program and calls on all soldiers to return to their posts.

8: 10: The ammunition depot in the front of the battleship Arizona was hit and exploded. Arizona sank in nine minutes, killing 80% of the crew.

8: 12: Hawaiian supreme commander walter short reports to the entire Pacific fleet and Washington: "The battle with Japan began with the attack on Pearl Harbor."

8: 17: The American destroyer Helm was the first American ship to attack a submarine in Pearl Harbor.

8: 26: Honolulu Fire Brigade reported that 3 people were killed and 6 people were injured (possibly hit by anti-aircraft gun bullets).

8: 39: A seaplane found a submarine in the harbor and opened fire on it.

8: 40-9: 15: Bomber attack.

8:40: An American destroyer collided with a Japanese submarine and began to drop depth charges. The submarine floated up after being injured. A local radio station reported the air strikes in Japan.

8:50: The commander of the second wave of attacks gives an attack order.

8:54: The second attack begins. 54 bombers and 78 dive bombers attacked, and 36 fighters protected air superiority.

9:00: A Dutch ocean-going ship is the first ally to participate in the war.

9: 15—9:45: dive bomber attack.

9:30: Ships outside the port and north of the island are attacked.

From 9:45: The attack is weakened.

10:00: The first wave of aircraft returned to the fleet parked in the north of the island 180 nautical mile.

1 1: 15: the governor of Hawaii announced the state of martial law on the radio.

It is reported that the Japanese army has landed in Oahu.

12: 10: the us reconnaissance plane flew to the north of the island, but did not find any enemy planes or ships.

12:40: the governor of Hawaii and the president of the United States agreed to introduce wartime laws and establish military government rule in Hawaii.

13:00: The captain of the Japanese flight team and Lieutenant General Nan Yun discuss the possibility of the third wave attack.

13:30: Nanyun ordered to return.

The governor of Hawaii signed the wartime law.

The second statement:

There are two theories about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. First, the attack on Pearl Harbor was a real attack. Second, the American plot is to deliberately make the sneak attack successful. The first statement is of course a recognized history, and the second statement is circulated among some military fans, especially some Japanese who have always insisted that the Pearl Harbor incident was a mega-conspiracy. Why do you say that? Because the Japanese raid seems to be very successful, but some inexplicable coincidences make the Japanese strategic intention not achieved.

First of all, talk about the strategic intention of the Japanese army. When it comes to the attack on Pearl Harbor, we can't help mentioning Isoroku Yamamoto. 1April 4, 884, was born into a humble samurai family in Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan. His father was fifty-six when he was born, so he was named fifty-six. 190 1 was admitted to the jiangtian island naval academy with the second place. 1904 After graduation, he participated in the naval battle against Malaysia in the Russo-Japanese War as a second lieutenant, and lost his left index finger and ring finger in the naval battle. The victory of naval battle made him admire Tougou Heihachirou, commander of the joint fleet at that time, and determined to make contributions like Dongxiang. 19 14 to 19 16 studied at Japanese naval university. 19 19 to 192 1, go to Harvard University to learn English and take fuel as an elective. After returning to China, I worked as an instructor at the Naval University. 1923, ordered to visit the navies of European and American countries. On his way to Europe, he showed his superb gambling skills in the casino, making him the second person in history who was refused admission to a famous Moroccan casino because of his superb gambling skills. Yamamoto loves gambling, and his gambling motto is winning or losing. This also has a great influence on his military thinking, and the future attack on Pearl Harbor is also full of desperate gambling traces. 1925 became the naval attache of the Japanese embassy in the United States. Since Japan regards the United States as the biggest potential enemy after the Russo-Japanese War, the candidates for this position are usually the most promising outstanding officers in the navy, so that we can have a more emotional and objective understanding of the United States. /kloc-returned to China in 0/928, and served as captain of cruisers, captain of aircraft carriers, technical director of naval aviation headquarters, commander of the first air force, director of naval aviation headquarters, and undersecretary of a naval province. Finally, in August of 1939, he was promoted to commander of the joint fleet. 1940 was also promoted to general. Yamamoto has been to the United States several times, either for study, investigation or service, and has a deep understanding of the economic and military potential of the United States. Therefore, at first, he strongly opposed the war with the United States, became a staunch anti-war figure in the Japanese navy, and was almost assassinated by radical young people. However, Yamamoto is by no means a pacifist. He only opposed the war with the powerful Britain and the United States, because he accurately predicted that even if Japan attacked the American Pacific fleet by attacking Pearl Harbor, it would only maintain its advantage for one to one and a half years. -So when he was commander of the First Air Force, he took an active part in the war of aggression against China. When the strategic policy of Japan's base camp to wage war against Britain and the United States was established, he changed his original intention and made every effort to plan and organize the policy of fighting against the United States, that is, he tried to destroy or attack the American Pacific Fleet by surprise attack at the beginning of the war, established Japan's military superiority, and constantly launched active attacks on the United States, so that it could not accumulate enough strength to confront Japan and win the war. The first step of this strategy is a gamble-a surprise attack on the US Pacific fleet. There are two important contents in its battle plan, one is to sink three aircraft carriers, and the other is to submit an ultimatum to declare war on the United States at February 7, 65438 13, 30 minutes before the attack. The purpose of this is that Isoroku Yamamoto knows the American character well, advocates a face-to-face duel, and blows the morale of the United States by declaring war in advance, thus forcing the United States to return to the negotiating table and sign a non-aggression agreement. However, on the day of the attack, the main targets of the sneak attack were three aircraft carriers and 22 other warships of the US Pacific Fleet, but the ultimatum was inexplicably delayed for an hour and a half, which turned the justified declaration of war into a despicable sneak attack.

[(Washington time 1 40 pm), 40 minutes later than the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs scheduled to submit an ultimatum. At this point, the Battle of Pearl Harbor has already started for 20 minutes. American Secretary of State Hull knew that Pearl Harbor had been attacked before meeting with the Japanese representative, but President Roosevelt asked him to accept the Japanese reply and send the Japanese representative away coldly. So Hull pretended to read the Japanese reply carefully, and then said with unspeakable anger, "This is the meanest government and such a hypocritical and distorted document I have ever seen in my 50 years in power!" It is precisely because Japan launched an attack before submitting the official declaration of war document that it caused great indignation in the United States. After receiving the telegram of victory, Yamamoto didn't feel the joy of victory at all. He just said to his subordinates who came to congratulate him, "We just woke up a sleeping giant." It is these two coincidences that have become the reason to suspect that the attack on Pearl Harbor is an American conspiracy theory. Although the United States has explained why the three aircraft carriers are not in Hong Kong and why the declaration of war documents are late, it still cannot dispel everyone's doubts.

Other questions are:

Before the attack, the US military suddenly dispatched a large number of medical supplies and medical staff to Pearl Harbor, and was informed the day before the attack to cancel the next day's vacation and be on duty for combat readiness (the day of the attack was Sunday). This is well documented.

Second, some unreasonable military actions. Before the attack, the US military scattered some fighter planes to remote small airports, while the planes left in the main airport were empty hangars and neatly placed on the runway, giving people the illusion that all the planes were there. After the attack, all the planes that took off for combat took off from small airports, which were described in the big movies Tiger, Tiger, Tiger and Pearl Harbor.

Third, after the attack, the US military salvaged the sunken warships at an alarming rate and repaired and refitted them in a very short time, thus raising the combat effectiveness of these warships to a new level. The modification of warships is very complicated, and the influence of new equipment on warships should be considered. When so many warships need to be modified, it will take months to draw drawings, not to mention purchasing and producing all kinds of equipment and materials. When these warships began to rebuild, the workers found that everything was ready-made, including drawings, weapons and radar, as if waiting for this day. "California" and "West Virginia" were later salvaged and re-entered the war. The US military also explored the sunken Arizona to see if it was possible to salvage it. Finally, when there was no hope, it dismantled the hull that was exposed to the water and left it at the bottom of the sinking place. 1962 65438+On February 7th, Pearl Harbor Memorial Hall was built on the wreck of a ship, and now it has become the most famous tourist attraction in Hawaii. The Oklahoma was righted and towed away. Although it was repaired for nothing, it was retired in September of 1944. 1May, 947, was sunk by the wind and waves on the way back to the United States. "Utah" is an old warship launched at 1909. Most of its equipment has been dismantled and downgraded to a target ship, so the US military is hopeless. Built in 1907, the minelaying ship Oglala is the oldest warship in Pearl Harbor, and it rarely sets sail. It is said that even seabirds nest in chimneys, so the US military will naturally not repair them. Therefore, in fact, only these four warships were ultimately lost by the US military in the attack on Pearl Harbor. 〕

Doubts abound, and many people think Pearl Harbor is an American conspiracy. Japan's attack plan has long been known to the United States, and the Pearl Harbor incident was just Roosevelt's bitter plan. At that time, American isolationism was very serious, which blocked many plans of President Roosevelt to help Britain, the Soviet Union and middle countries. As an outstanding statesman with far-sightedness, Roosevelt knew very well that if he did not help the struggling anti-fascist countries such as Britain, China and the Soviet Union in time, after the Axis really controlled Eurasia, the United States would be unable to resist the Axis of Germany, Italy and Japan alone. Therefore, it is better to go to war early than late, but domestic isolationism only seeks immediate interests and is unwilling to go to war. Therefore, Roosevelt did not hesitate to awaken the people's awakening and enemies and crush isolationism at the expense of Pearl Harbor. At the same time, the Japanese sneak attack must be successful in order to arouse the determination to crush isolationists to participate in the war.

Whether Pearl Harbor is a bitter plan or not, no one dares to draw a conclusion. Maybe history will tell people the truth.

4. Direct results

As far as its strategic purpose is concerned, the attack on Pearl Harbor is a brilliant victory in the short and medium term, and its result far exceeds the farthest imagination of its planners. In the whole history of war, such achievements are rare. In the following six months, the US Navy was insignificant in the Pacific battlefield. Without the threat of the US Pacific Fleet, Japan's power over other big countries in Southeast Asia is completely negligible. Since then, it has occupied the whole Southeast Asia and the southwest Pacific Ocean, and its influence has been extended to the Indian Ocean.

5. Long-term effects

In the long run, Pearl Harbor is a complete disaster for Japan. In fact, Admiral Yamamoto, who planned Pearl Harbor, predicted that even if the attack on the US Navy was successful, it would not and could not win a war against the United States because the productivity of the United States was too high. Four main warships of the US Navy were sunk and three were injured. One of Japan's main targets was three American aircraft carriers, but none of them were in the port at that time: Enterprise was on its way back to Pearl Harbor, Lexington had just left a few days ago, and Saratoga was being repaired in San Diego. The navy and other observers around the world believe that sinking most American warships is the greatest achievement of this campaign. Without these battleships, the US Navy had to rely on its aircraft carriers and submarines. In fact, at that time, there were only a few ships in the US Navy, and these ships were also the main force to resist and counterattack Japan in the later period. Facts have proved that the effect of destroying warships is far less than expected.

Perhaps most importantly, Pearl Harbor immediately mobilized a country with different opinions. It united the United States and defeated Japan together, which may be the reason why the Allies later demanded unconditional surrender. Some historians believe that whether Japan hit the repair shed or the aircraft carrier at that time, the attack on Pearl Harbor itself had already decided the fate of Japan's defeat.

6. Historical significance

This battle is of historical significance. Because Japan failed to sink the American aircraft carrier, it had only a small military role. But even if Japan sinks an American aircraft carrier, it will not help Japan in the long run. This attack completely involved the United States and its powerful industrial and service economy in World War II, which led to the collapse of the Axis countries all over the world. Since then, the victory of the allied forces and the dominant position of the United States in international politics have changed.

From the perspective of military history, the attack on Pearl Harbor marks a turning point for aircraft carriers to replace battleships as the main force of the navy. However, the United States, the world's naval power, didn't understand this until after the naval battles of Coral Island and Midway Island.