When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, it changed the U.S. perspective and drug them headlong into World War II. The attack brought the unthinkable to fruition and devastated the Pacific Fleet, but it did not end them.
Another Attack
That day 21 Navy ships were destroyed or damaged, including three battleships that could not be salvaged. However, many of the ships were repaired and put back to work.
The Japanese may have harmed the ships, but they did not hit the facilities and storage as hard at the waterline. However, it wasn't due to a lack of planning.
In fact, the Japanese officers called for another wave to hit that part of the bases, and one officer even wanted to invade the island. But, the third attack did not happen, thankfully for the U.S.
An attack that took out the installation and storage facilities would have hurt the Navy even more than sinking some of the ships had. According to Admiral Chester Nimitz, the fleet would not have been operational for over a year if the attack had happened.
On top of that, the war would have likely continued for two more years past when it ended.
Reasons It Didn't Happen
The first reason the Japanese halted any further attacks was they had lost the element of surprise. American defenses were operational by the second wave, and they were able to down 20 Japanese planes and hit 74 more. A third wave may have given the Americans more time to scramble a stronger defense.
The second reason was that the Japanese realized that many battleships were not at Pearl Harbor. They were all out on missions, and three battleships were completely unaccounted for, which presented unknown dangers.
The Japanese did not have daylight in their favor. By the time the third wave was ready, they would have to land in the dark, something they couldn't do.
The fleet was close to Pearl Harbor but to the north, which worked for the attack and avoiding the Enterprises planes. However, another wave would have brought their fuel supply dangerously low.
Lastly, Japanese Admiral Chuichi Nagumo thought he had won the battle and completed his mission. At the time, he thought the attack had destroyed all the ships. Therefore, he chose not to risk any planes or men in a battle he thought was already over.
Shouldn't have started that SHIFF!
The Japanese also realized thatr there were no aircraft carriers in the harbor and were afraid they might show up and intervene
Many historians have surmised that FDR and the military intelligence knew of an imminent Japanese attack but ignored the warnings and allowed the attacks to happen so that American sentiment would be pro-war and American involvement!
So much treasure and lives were lost because of the US government not warning the military of a Japanese attack!
The Globalist have started wars for years to take treasure, blood,, and freedoms from hard-working, tax paying Americans!
George Washington warned us to “ avoid foreign intanglements “ . He was very wise!!
Excellent review of history of WW2. Enjoyable read.
I try to imagine how radio-only long-range communication was limiting information in 1941, but then I am made aware of how easily we can be distracted from information now that we access 5 Gigabits/second of overload 80 years later (quantity vs quality)