Tag Archives: Attack on Pearl Harbor

By The Grace Of God, Mistakes Were Made

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The following post was posted on December 7th last year. It is worth rereading.

Eighty-three years ago, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. It was a surprise attack which occurred before Japan actually delivered a declaration of war to the United States. On that day, Japanese airplanes destroyed nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and over 300 airplanes. However, the Japanese made a few mistakes in their attack which allowed America to fight back after the attack. The obvious mistake is that they awakened the sleeping giant that was America’s manufacturing strength. The other mistakes had to do with their military planning.

According to the Pearl Harbor website, these are the major mistakes the Japanese made at Pearl Harbor:

1. The Shallow Waters of Pearl Harbor

One issue with attacking the ships lined up at Battleship Row was that the water wasn’t deep enough to hinder relief efforts. That meant the Japanese fleet would have to completely destroy the vessels to ensure they wouldn’t be able to return to service.

Of the eight battleships attacked on December 7th, only the USS Utah and USS Arizona were unsalvageable, meaning that the Japanese fleet failed in its objective of crippling the US Navy. By February of 1942, the first of the damaged battleships returned to service in the fight in the Pacific.

2. Missing Targets

That quiet Sunday morning in December of 1941 was carefully chosen by Japan’s Navy. The surprise attack was effective in that many sailors were on leave. A major flaw with the choice of that date, however, was that some of the highest-value targets—the American aircraft carriers—were absent from the Pearl Harbor.

The USS Lexington, USS Enterprise, and USS Saratoga were on missions that kept them at sea on the day of the attack. Though the Enterprise was scheduled to return the night before the attack, dangerous weather conditions delayed her return by a day.

3. Fuel Tanks at Pearl Harbor, October 1941

The battleships were far from the only vital target at Pearl Harbor. While the Japanese planes also targeted nearby airfields, they failed to pay any attention to other important assets. The dry docks in the harbor and the fuel depots were largely ignored by Japan’s assault force and both proved imperative in the relief, rescue, and repair efforts that followed.

As we remember that day, we also need to remember that by the grace of God, our nation was spared a devastating defeat.

Some Important Mistakes The Japanese Made At Pearl Harbor

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Eighty-three years ago, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. It was a surprise attack which occurred before Japan actually delivered a declaration of war to the United States. On that day, Japanese airplanes destroyed nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and over 300 airplanes. However, the Japanese made a few mistakes in their attack which allowed America to fight back after the attack. The obvious mistake is that they awakened the sleeping giant that was America’s manufacturing strength. The other mistakes had to do with their military planning.

According to the Pearl Harbor website, these are the major mistakes the Japanese made at Pearl Harbor:

1. The Shallow Waters of Pearl Harbor

One issue with attacking the ships lined up at Battleship Row was that the water wasn’t deep enough to hinder relief efforts. That meant the Japanese fleet would have to completely destroy the vessels to ensure they wouldn’t be able to return to service.

Of the eight battleships attacked on December 7th, only the USS Utah and USS Arizona were unsalvageable, meaning that the Japanese fleet failed in its objective of crippling the US Navy. By February of 1942, the first of the damaged battleships returned to service in the fight in the Pacific.

2. Missing Targets

That quiet Sunday morning in December of 1941 was carefully chosen by Japan’s Navy. The surprise attack was effective in that many sailors were on leave. A major flaw with the choice of that date, however, was that some of the highest-value targets—the American aircraft carriers—were absent from the Pearl Harbor.

The USS Lexington, USS Enterprise, and USS Saratoga were on missions that kept them at sea on the day of the attack. Though the Enterprise was scheduled to return the night before the attack, dangerous weather conditions delayed her return by a day.

3. Fuel Tanks at Pearl Harbor, October 1941

The battleships were far from the only vital target at Pearl Harbor. While the Japanese planes also targeted nearby airfields, they failed to pay any attention to other important assets. The dry docks in the harbor and the fuel depots were largely ignored by Japan’s assault force and both proved imperative in the relief, rescue, and repair efforts that followed.

As we remember that day, we also need to remember that by the grace of God, our nation was spared a devastating defeat.

Those Who Refuse To Learn The Lessons Of History…

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I believe that yesterday was a very sad day for America. The conviction of President Trump is a blight on our country and our justice system. In the 17th century, the French statesman Cardinal Richelieu famously said, “Show me six lines written by the most honest man in the world, and I will find enough therein to hang him.”  That sounds accurate concerning the ongoing attacks on President Trump. I am not saying that he is a perfect man–he may have slept with Stormy Daniels, but I don’t know a lot of men who are facing jail time for sleeping with someone. It is interesting to me that the Democrats loved him and invited him to all of their major events before he became a Republican and ran for President.

Simon Ateba is the owner and sole employee of the website Today News Africa, for which he was a White House correspondent. He is frequently excluded from events by the Biden administration because of his honest reporting and probing questions.

He posted the following on Twitter:

In ancient Rome, a group of men loyal to the Republic feared that Julius Caesar was going to make his dictatorship permanent and establish a monarchy. In 44 BC, they decided to assassinate him, thereby restoring the Republic.

In the ensuing chaos and power vacuum, Caesar’s great nephew Octavius quickly rose to the top, assumed power, and permanently ended the Republic by establishing a de facto monarchy. After Caesar’s death, it came out that he had never intended to create a monarchical system. The conspirators brought about precisely what they had tried to stop.

In 19th-century India, under British colonial rule, authorities decided there were too many venomous cobras in the streets of Delhi, making life uncomfortable for the British residents and their families. To solve this, they offered a reward for every dead cobra residents would bring in. Soon, enterprising locals began to breed cobras in order to make a living from the bounty. The government caught on to this and canceled the program. The breeders, resentful of the rulers and angered by their actions, decided to release their cobras back on the streets, thereby tripling the population from before the government program.

Other notorious examples would include the 18th Amendment establishing prohibitions in the United States in 1920, which was designed to stop the spread of alcoholism but only ended up increasing alcohol consumption by a substantial amount.

Another example is the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1941, designed to decimate the US Naval force in one blow and bring America to its knees. Instead, it shook the American public out of its deep isolationism, ensuring the total mobilization of the country’s superior manpower and resources to not only defeat the Japanese but also to obliterate its military for good. The very success of the attack guaranteed the opposite of the intended result, Robert Greene writes in his spectacular book, “The Laws of Human Nature.”

Be careful what you wish for.

 

Compromise or Not? 

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Author:  R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D    

Historically, the “spirit of compromise” has been touted as one of the elements of our Republic that has helped it survive for almost 250 years. The question arises as to whether compromise is always the best strategy. Given the circumstances, compromise may allow the country to move forward with each opposing side believe that they achieved some of their objectives but not all.  Knowing when to compromise and when not to is critical. Let’s look at some examples. 

Compromising makes the most sense, when both sides agree on the ultimate goal but disagree how to get there.  A good example was World War II.  Both the United States and Great Britain agreed that Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan both had to be defeated militarily.  Great Britain wanted the United States to focus almost exclusively on defeating Germany first. The United States, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, wanted to defeat Japan first, since in 1941 Japan appeared to be the most immediate threat to our country.  Churchill and Roosevelt came to a compromise which allowed the majority of focus on the war in Europe and a steady war against Japan, but with less resources. Clearly the compromise worked since both Axis powers were eventually defeated. 

Currently, the struggle between preserving our Republic as we have known it is incompatible with the Left’s desire to make this country Socialist.  Make no mistake about it, many if not all on the left, want exactly that.  Since these two forms of government are incompatible, it must be one or the other.  As they just decided in Brazil, socialism does not and never has worked for the people, and they elected a conservative leader to go back to freedom and capitalism.  Either the people retain the power to run their own lives, or we turn governance over to a few elected leaders and the bureaucrats. The outcome of the elections in 2024 will once and for all determine whether we preserve our Republican form of government or not. 

Let’s take another example:  Climate Change.   Short of an all-out war, this issue has the greatest potential to completely destroy our country. We all want a clean environment, but the goal of the Left is to eliminate all fossil fuels without which no modern civilization can survive.   Look what is happening in Europe–their energy costs have sky rocketed and  they have had to re-open coal fired electrical plants.  The Left’s unverified  belief that climate change is caused by mankind and not natural forces is being used to justify their goal of zero carbon emissions while China, India and other countries are not only building more coal fired plants, but are using coal from our country to do it.  Meanwhile, the United States only contributes 13% of carbon emissions worldwide.  Instead of fighting against this, many of our so-called conservative elected officials compromise and go along with outlandishly expensive subsidies for the wind and solar developers and electric vehicles.   Seventeen Republicans voted for Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which was a cover up for billions of dollars in support of so-called green energy programs.  Compromisers! 

Another area is saving our public schools from the socialist indoctrination being advanced by the Left.  Instead of coming out and stopping Critical Race Theory, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and transgender indoctrination, our Boards of Education have shown a strong tendency to compromise instead of prohibiting these things.   

Compromising with evil should never be allowed to happen.  We need to elect candidates that have clear, strong values and beliefs, and are not afraid to stand up and fight for what is right.  It is the only way to save this country. 

The Three Mistakes The Japanese Made At Pearl Harbor

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I know this article is a day late, but it is amazing. In 1941, God was watching over America. I pray that He continues to do that today.

Received in my email from a friend:

On Christmas Day, 1941, Admiral Nimitz was given a boat tour of the destruction wrought on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Big sunken battleships and navy vessels cluttered the waters everywhere you looked.  As the tour boat returned to dock, the young helmsman of the boat asked, “Well Admiral, what do you think after seeing all this destruction?” Admiral Nimitz’s reply shocked everyone within the sound of his voice.  Admiral Nimitz said, “The Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could ever make, or God was taking care of America.  Which do you think it was?”   Shocked and surprised, the young helmsman asked, “What do mean by saying the Japanese made the three biggest mistakes an attack force ever made?  Nimitz explained:

Mistake number one:

The Japanese attacked on Sunday morning.  Nine out of every ten crewmen of those ships were ashore on leave.  If those same ships had been lured to sea and been sunk–we would have lost 38,000 men instead of 3,800.

Mistake number two:

When the Japanese saw all those battleships lined in a row, they got so carried away sinking those battleships, they never once bombed our dry docks opposite those ships.  If they had destroyed our dry docks, we would have had to tow every one of those ships to America to be repaired.  As it is now, the ships are in shallow water and can be raised.  One tug can pull them over to the dry docks, and we can have them repaired and at sea by the time we could have towed them to America. And I already have crews ashore anxious to man those ships.

Mistake number three:

Every drop of fuel in the Pacific theater of war is in top of the ground storage tanks five miles away over that hill.  One attack plane could have strafed those tanks and destroyed our fuel supply.

 That’s why I say the Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could make or, God was taking care of America. I’ve never forgotten what I read in that little book.  It is still an inspiration as I reflect upon it.  In jest, I might suggest that because Admiral Nimitz was a Texan, born and raised in Fredericksburg, Texas — he was a born optimist.  But any way you look at it–Admiral Nimitz was able to see a silver lining in a situation and circumstance where everyone else saw only despair and defeatism.

…The first attack wave consisted of 183 planes. Army radar picked up the incoming planes but presumed they were the scheduled arrival of six U.S. B-17 bombers.

U.S. servicemen on the ground identified the invading planes as Japanese because of the “meatballs,” what they called the large, red circle (the Rising Sun) on the bottom of Japanese planes.

The Japanese traveled 3,400 miles across the Pacific to execute their attack on Pearl Harbor. Ships and aircraft carriers were stationed approximately 230 miles north of the Hawaiian island of Oahu.

The United States’ aircraft carriers, the primary target of the attack, were not at the base at the time. Because of this, the Japanese canceled a planned second attack.

There were eight battleships at Pearl Harbor that day, which included all the battleships of the U.S. Pacific fleet except for one (the Colorado). All eight U.S. battleships were either sunk or damaged during the attack.

The USS Arizona exploded when a bomb breached its forward magazine (i.e., the ammunition room). Approximately 1,177 U.S. servicemen died on board.

The day before the attacks, the USS Arizona took on a full load of fuel, nearly 1.5 million gallons. According to the History Channel, the Arizona continues to spill up to 9 quarts of oil a day.

After being torpedoed, the Oklahoma listed so badly that it turned upside down. A total of 429 crew died when the ship capsized.

To aid their airplanes, the Japanese sent in five midget subs to help target the battleships. The Americans sunk four of the midget subs and captured the fifth.

The attacks came in two waves. At 7:53 a.m., the first bomb fell at the foot of the seaplane ramp at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese withdrew around 9:45 a.m.

A total of 2,335 U.S. servicemen were killed and 1,143 were wounded. Sixty-eight civilians were also killed and 35 were wounded.

When Japanese Commander Mitsuo Fuchida called out, “Tora! Tora! Tora!” (“Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!”) upon flying over Pearl Harbor, it was a message to the entire Japanese navy telling them they had caught the Americans totally by surprise.

The attack happened without a declaration of war and without explicit warning. It led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proclaim Dec. 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy.”

Of the eight battleships targeted during the attacks, all but two were eventually repaired and returned to the U.S. Navy’s fleet. The USS West Virginia and the USS California had both sunk completely, but the Navy raised them, repaired them and reused them.

Where Are We Now?

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Today is the anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. We need to remember the families who were impacted by that attack and look at what we can learn from that attack.

Between 1940 and 1941, the American military had increased from 458,365 Army, Navy, and Marines to 1,801,101 (these figures are from the National WWII Museum Website). What was going on in the world? The Japanese seized Manchuria in 1931. Japan withdrew from the League of Nations in March 1933. In October 1933, Hitler withdrew from the League of Nations. In March 1935, he denounced the armament limits placed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles and began rebuilding the German armed forces. The world was clearly becoming a very dangerous place, and America sought to remain uninvolved (although it was beginning to rearm). In researching this article I came across a few articles that stated that President Roosevelt knew about the attack on Pearl Harbor ahead of time and chose to remain silent in order to bring America into the war. I have no opinion on that.

PearlHarbor

Today, America is still striving for peace. We are currently a war-weary nation, but unfortunately, the world around us is not a peaceful place. The lesson we need to learn from Pearl Harbor is that aggression in other parts of the world can easily spill over to America. This is not the time to be considering cutting the defense budget–it is a time to increase our military strength in order to keep America safe.