Pearl
Harbor is a series of large inland lakes
connected to Pacific Ocean. The harbor(s)
is located on the island of O'ahu, which
is one of the islands that make up the
state of Hawai'i. This series of “Bays”
(embayment in the singular) is an excellent
place to store ships, especially large
ships such as Aircraft Carriers. Most
of Pearl Harbor is a US Navy deep water
naval base, and soon became the headquarters
of the US Pacific Fleet.
Once a shallow inlet called “Wai
Momi” (meaning "Water of Pearl"),
the harbor was teeming with pearl-producing
oysters until the late 1800's. It was
originally too shallow to use for ships,
but since its discovery (by Captain Cook)
the United States (who annexed Hawai'i
after the Spanish-American War of 1898)
decided to turn it into one of the worlds
deepest and most useful harbours, and
one of the most strategic places in the
Pacific. By 1940 dozens of Battleships,
Cruisers, and Destroyers were stationed
there on a permanent basis.
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Of
course Pearl Harbor isn’t famous
just because of its climate or its blue
waters. It is famous because on the morning
of December 7, 1941, planes and midget
submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy
issued a surprise attack on the US under
the direction of the Vice Admiral Chuichi
Nagumo. That event cause eventually became
one of history’s most infamous surprise
attacks.
The attack on Pearl harbour was complex,
but it very nearly knocked the United
States out of the war. As the small planes
destroyed the Pacific Fleet almost single
handed, the age of the Battleship ended
and the age of the Aircraft Carrier began.
Overall, twenty-one ships of the U.S.
Pacific Fleet were sunk or damaged and
188 planes were destroyed. Over 2,400
Americans were killed, with another 1,200
people wounded. It caused such a shock
that America threw itself into the war,
which ended in the almost total annihilation
of the Japanese people.
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