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Intercepted Communications
A group of cryptographers were brought into a unit under the Division of Naval Communications in early 1923. They took weeks cracking the ever changing codes that was created by the Japanese and intercepted by radio. The translated intercepts were copied and distributed to high-profile officials including the president. Many of the messages intercepted leaked out the Japanese empire’s reaction to American policies and world events, as well as a possible surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. -
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Intercepted Communications
A group of cryptographers were brought into a unit under the Division of Naval Communications in early 1923. They took weeks cracking the ever changing codes that was created by the Japanese and intercepted by radio. The translated intercepts were copied and distributed to high-profile officials including the president. Many of the messages intercepted leaked out the Japanese empire’s reaction to American policies and world events, as well as a possible surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. -
Japanese Invasion of China
The Japanese army started the Second Sino-Japanese War in July, 1937, by invading mainland China. The Japanese army was better organized and better armed, not to mention brutal. One of the most atrocious moments of WWII was a battle called “the rape of Nanking.” By 1939, the Japanese military controlled most of east China and its ports. -
USA Oil Embargo
In response to Japanese invasions into Southeast Asia to about 800 miles from American-occupied Philippines and Britain-occupied Singapore, President Roosevelt cut off Japan’s trade with the US on July 26, 1941. Japan lost a majority of its access to overseas trade and most of its imported oil. They didn’t have enough oil to last 3 years without war, so they were in the position of whether they should take back their troops, or taking the risk of seizing Southeast Asia to take away the West’s ti -
First Wave of Bombers
The first wave of attack upon Pearl Harbor happened at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time, December 7, 1941. An assault consisting of 183 planes: 50 Nakajima B5N bombers with armor piercing bombs and 40 B5N bombers with Type 91 torpedoes who targeted the battleships; 54 Aichi D3A dive bombers with general purpose bombs who targeted the planes in the hangars; and 45 Mitsubishi A6M air fighters who took care of the planes that got airborne. The early attack on a Sunday surprised most soldiers, causing chaos -
Sinking of the Arizona
During the first wave at 8:10 a.m., an armor piercing bomb was dropped on the front deck of the USS Arizona. The bomb set off a more than a million pounds of gunpowder, causing a huge fireball and the deaths of 1177 crewmen. The ship lifted about 15 feet in the air and broke into two. After 9 minutes, the battleship reached the bottom of the harbor. -
Second Wave of Bombers
The second wave consisted of 35 fighters, 78 dive-bombers, and 54 high altitude bombers rained down on the harbor at 8:50 a.m. The bombers that were targeting the battleships in the first wave switched places with the fighters that were targeting the hangars in the first wave. The new squad of bombers in the harbor had modified torpedoes that could stop the descent quicker in the water. The second wave lasted until 10:00 a.m. -
Martial Law
The imposition of military control in Hawaii was declared meer hours after the attack and lasted until October 24, 1944. The military government had specifically harsh consequences for citizens of Japanese descent. They put a “selective internment” policy to keep the essential Japanese workers that took the bulk of the workforce in their own homes under martial law. -
US Declares War
On the morning of December 8, 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt addressed Congress in person. In one of his most famous speeches, FDR pleads that Congress would agree to declare war on Japan from the actions that happened on “a day which will live in infamy.” -
Japanese Internment Camps
In February 1942, under bad advice and popular opinion, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which sent all Japanese-American citizens on the West Coast into internment camps. This order was based off of the fear that the Japanese-Americans were spies that could sabotage or double-crossers if the Japanese invaded. The camps were harsh and barely hospitable and would be described more like a prisoner of war encampment rather than a prolonged boy scout camping trip.
