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Posts Tagged ‘Pearl Harbor’

Day of Infamy Speech

20 Apr

President Franklin Roosevelt’s “Day of Infamy” speech delivered December 8, 1941.

Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives:

Yesterday, December 7th, 1941- a date which will live in infamy- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that nation, and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands. Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island. And this morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.

As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.

But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces—with the unbounding determination of our people—we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God.

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.

 World War II History - Declaration of War Proceedings in Congress - 8 Dec 1942: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 
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Posted in Country - USA, Facts, Media, Pacific Theater, Podcast

 

World War II History for January 27

27 Jan

Today in WWII History

World War II History for January 27

27 JAN 1941 - Ambassador Grew advised Washington of reports circulating in Tokyo of a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor being planned by the Japanese military in case of “trouble” with the US. Grew wrote that “the attack would involve the use of all the Japanese military facilities. My colleague (a member of the US embassy and the source of the reports) said that he was prompted to pass this on because it had come to him from many sources, although the plan seemed fantastic.” [3]

27 JAN 1941 - Matsuoka told a budget committee of the Japanese Diet that Japan must “dominate” the western Pacific if it were to achieve its goals” “My use of the word ‘dominate’ may seem extreme and while we have no such designs, still in a sense we do wish to dominate and there is no need to hide the fact. Has America any right to object if Japan does dominate the western Pacific? As Minister of Foreign Affairs, I hate to make such an assertation, but I wish to declare that if America does not understand Japan’s rightful claims and actions, then there is not the slightest hope of improvement of Japanese-American relations.” [4]

27 JAN 1942 - The British began their retreat to Singapore across the causeway from Johore Baharu.[5]

27 JAN 1942 - The US Submarine Seawolf arrived at Corregidor, delivering ammunition and evacuating all available pilots.[6]

27 JAN 1942 - Soviet forces captured the rail center of Lozovaya on the Donets front.[7]

27 JAN 1942 - Free France agreed to open French possessions in the Pacific as Allied military bases.[8]

27 JAN 1943 - During World War II, the first all American air raid against Germany took place when about 50 bombers attacked the Wilhelmshaven port.

On this day, 8th Air Force bombers, dispatched from their bases in England, fly the first American bombing raid against the Germans, targeting the Wilhelmshaven port. Of 64 planes participating in the raid, 53 reached their target and managed to shoot down 22 German planes-and lost only three planes in return.

The 8th Air Force was activated in February 1942 as a heavy bomber force based in England. Its B-17 Flying Fortresses, capable of sustaining heavy damage while continuing to fly, and its B-24 Liberators, long-range bombers, became famous for precision bombing raids, the premier example being the raid on Wilhelmshaven. Commanded at the time by Brig. Gen. Newton Longfellow, the 8th Air Force was amazingly effective and accurate in bombing warehouses and factories in this first air attack against the Axis power. [1]

27 JAN 1944 - The Soviet Union announced that the two year German siege of Leningrad had come to an end.

On this day, Soviet forces permanently break the Leningrad siege line, ending the almost 900-day German-enforced containment of the city, which cost hundreds of thousands of Russian lives.

The siege began officially on September 8, 1941. The people of Leningrad began building antitank fortifications and succeeded in creating a stable defense of the city, but as a result were cut off from all access to vital resources in the Soviet interior, Moscow specifically. In 1942, an estimated 650,000 Leningrad citizens perished from starvation, disease, exposure, and injuries suffered from continual German artillery bombardment.

Barges offered occasional relief in the summer and ice-borne sleds did the same in the winter. Slowly but surely a million of Leningrad’s young, sick, and elderly residents were evacuated, leaving about 2 million to ration available food and use all open ground to plant vegetables.

On January 12, Soviet defenses punctured the siege, ruptured the German encirclement, and allowed more supplies to come in along Lake Ladoga. The siege officially ended after 872 days (though it is often called the 900-day siege), after a Soviet counteroffensive pushed the Germans westward. [2]

27 JAN 1945 - Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland.

[1] “Americans bomb Germans for first time,” The History Channel website, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6692 (accessed Jan 27, 2009).

[2] “Siege of Leningrad is lifted,” The History Channel website, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6693 (accessed Jan 27, 2009).

[3-8] Goralski, Robert. World War II Almanac 1931-1945: A Political and Military Record. New York, NY: Perigee Books, 1981.

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Posted in Asian Theater, Europe Theater, Pacific Theater, Today

 

World War II History for November 17

17 Nov

Today in WW II History

World War II History for November 17

1887 - Bernard Law Montgomery was born in London, England.


Bernard L. Montgomery


Montgomery at El Alamein

1941 - Joseph C. Grew, U.S. ambassador to Japan, cabled the U.S. State Department that he had heard that Japan had prepared a plan to attempt a surprise attack at Pearl Harbor. The attack was “planned, in the event of trouble with the United States.”

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Posted in Country - Japan, Europe Theater, Today

 

World War II History for November 3

03 Nov

Today in WW II History

World War II History for November 3

1941 - Japanese Ambassador John Grew warned that the Japanese may be planning a sudden attack on the U.S.

1941 - The order is given: Bomb Pearl Harbor

On this day in 1941, the Combine Japanese Fleet receive Top-Secret Order No. 1: In 34 days time, Pearl Harbor is to be bombed, along with Mayala, the Dutch East Indies, and the Philippines.

Relations between the United States and Japan had been deteriorating quickly since Japan’s occupation of Indochina in 1940 and the implicit menacing of the Philippines (an American protectorate), with the occupation of the Cam Ranh naval base only eight miles from Manila. American retaliation included the seizing of all Japanese assets in the States and the closing of the Panama Canal to Japanese shipping. In September 1941, Roosevelt issued a statement, drafted by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, that threatened war between the United States and Japan should the Japanese encroach any further on territory in Southeast Asia or the South Pacific.

The Japanese military had long dominated Japanese foreign affairs; although official negotiations between the U.S. secretary of state and his Japanese counterpart to ease tensions were ongoing, Hideki Tojo, the minister of war who would soon be prime minister, had no intention of withdrawing from captured territories. He also construed the American “threat” of war as an ultimatum and prepared to deliver the first blow in a Japanese-American confrontation: the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

And so Tokyo delivered the order to all pertinent Fleet commanders, that not only the United States-and its protectorate the Philippines–but British and Dutch colonies in the Pacific were to be attacked. War was going to be declared on the West.

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Posted in Asian Theater, Country - Japan, Facts, Pacific Theater, Today

 

Tora Tora Tora

20 Oct

“I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

While this quotation may never have been stated by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, it defines the ending of the 1970 film Tora, Tora, Tora!

Some of the other quotes in this movie did happen, including the codes phrases used by the Japanese.

On 2 December 1941, Nagato sent the signal Niitakayama nobore 1208 “Climb Mount Niitaka on 12/08 (Japanese Time)” that committed the Carrier Strike Force to the attack on Pearl Harbor.

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Posted in Country - Japan, Media, Sea

 

World War II History for September 24

24 Sep

Today in WW II History

World War II History for September 24

1941 - The Japanese consul in Hawaii was instructed to divide Pearl Harbor into five zones and calculate the number of battleships in each zone.

Relations between the United States and Japan had been deteriorating quickly since Japan’s occupation of Indo-China and the implicit menacing of the Philippines, an American protectorate. American retaliation included the seizing of all Japanese assets in the States and the closing of the Panama Canal to Japanese shipping. In September 1941, Roosevelt issued a statement, drafted by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, that threatened war between the United States and Japan should the Japanese encroach any farther on territory in Southeast Asia or the South Pacific.

The Japanese military had long dominated Japanese foreign affairs. So, although official negotiations between the U.S. secretary of state and his Japanese counterpart to ease tensions were ongoing, Hideki Tojo, the minister of war who would soon be prime minister, had no intention of withdrawing from captured territories. He also construed the American “threat” of war as an ultimatum and prepared to deliver the first blow in a Japanese-American confrontation: the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

In September 1941, Nagai Kita, the Japanese consul in Hawaii, was told to begin carving up Pearl Harbor into five distinct zones and to determine the number of warships moored in each zone. Little did Japan know that the United States had intercepted the message; unfortunately, it had to be sent back to Washington for decrypting. Flights east were infrequent, so the message was sent via sea, a more time-consuming process. When it finally arrived at the capital, staff shortages and other priorities further delayed the decryption. When the message was finally unscrambled in mid-October–it was dismissed as being of no great consequence.

It would be found of consequence on December 7.

1942 - Glenn Miller ended his broadcasts for Chesterfield Cigarettes so he could go to World War II.

1948 - Mildred Gillars, known as “Axis Sally,” pleaded innocent to charges of treason. She ended up serving 12 years for being a Nazi wartime radio propagandist.

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Hero Ships: USS Arizona

22 Jul

Watch the full episode of “Hero Ships: USS Arizona” the tale of the beginning of World War II for the United States and the attack on Pearl Harbor Dec 7, 1941. USS Arizona only lasted about 10 minutes into WW II but remains one of the wars most historic monuments. 1,177 men died on the Arizona.

“You could see them grinning when they were firing at us.” – Seaman 1/c Vernon J. Olsen

http://link.history.com/services/link/bcpid1612750155/bclid1641831861/bctid1646174210

 
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Posted in Country - Japan, Country - USA, Media, Pacific Theater

 

Map: Pacific Theater 1941-1945

12 Jun


The Second World War
The Pacific Theater
1941-1945

First Phase
From 7 December 1941, until June 1942, the Japanese successfully attacked the Pacific Fleet’s base at Pearl Harbor, took Wake Island and Guam, invaded and conquered the Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaya, and seized the British base of Singapore. They conquered Burma thereby cutting off China from all overland routes to the western allies, and seized the Netherlands East Indies and British Borneo, thereby securing a much-needed source of oil. The Japanese advance came to a halt with the American victories at the Battle of Coral Sea (May 1942) and the Battle of Midway (June 1942).

Second Phase
The second phase in the Pacific War was one of relative stalemate. From June 1942 until late-1943, neither side could muster the land, sea, or air power required to take the offensive and seize the initiative from the other. The Battle of Guadalcanal was an example of this stalemate.

Third Phase
The third phase, from mid-1943 until September 1945, can be characterized as the period of the Allied offensives. Two drives were under American control; General Douglas MacArthur’s Southwest Pacific Campaign and Admiral Chester Nimitz;s Central Pacific Campaign. MacArthur’s drive was characterized by a series of Army amphibious operations up the Solomon Island chain and along the northern coast of New Guinea, with the Philippine Islands as the ultimate objective. Nimitz’s strategy was designed to move directly toward Japan and to draw the Imperial Japanese navy into a decisive fleet engagement as happened at the Battles of the Philippine Sea (June 1944) and Layte Gulf (October 1944). MacArthur’s and Nimitz’s campaigns merged into one for the invasion of the Philippines. Afterwords the Central Pacific campaign continues with the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Fourth Phase
During the latter stages of the war the Army Air Force, operating out of the Mariana islands and flying the B-29 Superfortress, which begun to fire bomb the cities of Japan. These raids culminated with the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. Japan surrendered to the Allies on 2 September 1945.

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Posted in Country - Japan, Country - USA, Facts, Media

 
 
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