Roosevelt knew the Japanese were going to attack Pearl Harbor. Ian R Crane, lecture ‘History Cannot Be Permanently Falsified’
Many years before the attack on Pearl Habor officers of the Japanese Navy drew up their first operations plan to destroy the American fleet in the Pacific. Charles Wheeler, The Road to War: Japan, BBC 1989
It was a surprise attack that brought a reluctant America into the War in 1941. Charles Wheeler, The Road to War: USA
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor they did so intending to smash in one single blow America’s resolution and its inability to retaliate. They failed miserably on both counts. The Japanese sank or badly damaged seven antiquated American battleships, but since they were lost in harbor many of their crews were saved. Battle of Midway, Movies4men 2013
Two years into World War II Britain stood alone against Nazi Germany. The one ally it needed – the USA – was determined to avoid war. On 7th December 1941 the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor changed all that. Secret History: Pearl Harbor: The New Evidence, Channel 4 2016
How was the world’s most powerful nation caught by surprise? ibid.
Rumours persist that Churchill and Roosevelt conspired to bring America into the war. ibid.
President Roosevelt had seen an intercept from Tokyo that gave a date for the end of diplomatic relations and called together his war cabinet. ibid.
Were the thousands of American soldiers killed at Pearl Harbor sacrificed by their own president? Conspiracy s1e4: Pearl Harbor Cover-Up, History 2019
For some it [Pearl Harbor] was masterminded by none other than the President of the United States – Franklin D Roosevelt. ibid.
Herbert O Yardley who lived an extraordinary life … He was the man who launched American cryptology … There’s even been talk of treachery … The remarkable allegation that Herbert Yardley in the summer of 1928 had sold American crytographic secrets to the Japanese for the sum of $7,000. Document: Pearl Harbor, BBC Radio 4 2013
Pearl Harbor is one of the most extraordinary events of World War II … The largest gathering of naval air power in history sets out on a top secret mission. 30 ships carrying 408 aeroplanes and 16,000 men are travelling 4,000 miles across the Pacific ocean. Greatest Events of World War II III: Pearl Harbor, Discovery 2019
One of the most audacious military gambles in all history. ibid.
December 7 1941: Japan is about to attack the United States of America. World War II: The Apocalypse: American Allies aka Apocalypse: The Second World War: World Ablaze, France 2 2009
The attack would turn a European War into a World War. ibid.
Yet Japanese forces had not landed in Hawaii nor did they take Pearl Harbor. They had sunk part of the American Pacific fleet but only by now the outdated battleships. ibid.
A massive armada captures the US Pacific fleet unawares at anchor in Pearl Harbor. The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire II, Discovery 2011
Pearl Harbor: A myth that would cast the US president as a traitor and a liar … The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise offensive, Roosevelt said. Unprovoked and without warning. But was that true? History’s Greatest Myths s1e3: War and Conflict, History 2023
December 7th 1941: An aerial strike force gathers and executes a surprise on the US Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor. Its aim: to bring a nation to its knees. Thousands die in one of the most devastating defeats in military history. Seconds from Disaster s4e2: Attack on Pearl Harbor
In spite of their often heroic efforts, the sailors struggled to cope with the combined aerial assault of low level torpedo bombers, dive bombers and high altitude bombers. ibid.
Flying in precise formation, ten high-level bombers target USS Arizona. ibid.
20 to 30 minutes after the first wave of bombers hit, another 170 aircraft strike … The other main targets are the airfields. ibid.
Over 180 US aircraft are destroyed with more damaged. In total 4 American battleships are sunk, 4 damaged, and 13 more major ships destroyed or seriously damaged. In return, the Japanese have lost just 29 planes. ibid.
It has in fact totally failed … The attack is launched even though there is no chance of hitting the US Navy’s vital aircraft carriers. It is a critical mistake. ibid.
Ship repair yards were ignored … ‘18 of those ships were salvaged within a few months’ … The attack misses another important target … In the end it’s the submarines operating out of Pearl Harbor that strangle Japan into submission totally cutting it off from supplies of food and resources. But perhaps the most devastating blow the Japanese could have struck on the day was an attack on the US Pacific fleet’s fuel storage facilities. ibid.
Nagumo’s decision not to launch the second strike is the final critical mistake in the execution of the attack on Pearl Harbor. ibid.