A T T A C K S O U T H
Operation Z
Attack Pearl Harbor
1st Air Fleet / Vice Admiral Nagumo
6 AIRCRAFT CARRIERS / First Line Fleet Carriers
Kido Butai - Mobile Force / Name given Carrier Task Force Op Z
SHIP TONNAGE SPEED AIRCRAFT
Akagi * 36,500 31 knots 66
Kaga * 38,200 28 72
Soryu * 15,900 34 63
Hiryu * 17,300 34 57
Shokaku ** 26,675 34 72
Zuikaku *** 26,675 34 72
* Sunk - Battle of Midway / June 1942 - 6 months after Pearl Harbor
** Severely Damaged - Coral Sea / May 1942 - missed Midway
*** Lost half of its air group - Coral Sea / May 1942 - missed Midway
U.S. Aircraft Carriers / Pearl Harbor
SHIP TONNAGE SPEED AIRCRAFT
Lexington * 36,000 32 knots 90
Enterprise 19,576 33 90
* Sunk - Battle of Coral Sea / May 1942
Early development of the aircraft carrier - 1930s.
Aircraft capacity was the prime design feature of American carriers.
26 July 1941
President Roosevelt:
* freezes Japanese assets in U.S.
* recalls Douglas MacArthur to active service
* U.S. Army Commander in the Far East
* major general / two stars
* tasked to mobilize the Philippine Army
14 August 1941
"The ability of the Philippine islands to withstand a determined attack
with present means is doubtful."
U.S. War Plans Division
U.S. Asiatic Fleet, Philippines
Philippines / military status - 1941 / beginning:
troops status
* U.S. Army 4,000 regulars
* Philippine 20,000 barely trained
* Aircraft 227
* Air Commander: L. Brereton, Major General
* Asiatic Fleet / commander Admiral Hart
`* cruisers 3
* destroyers 13
* submarines 29
* Navy leaders reluctant to commit naval forces to the Far East
* U.S. Navy - Philippines indefensible
* British Admiralty - Far East presence no more than bluff
* Royal Navy and U.S. combine to block Japan's access to oil
in Dutch East Indies
Japanese threat to Philippines, Malaysia, East Indies:
* Formosa - warships and bombers
* Indochina
* Cam Ranh Bay - troop transports
* Saigon - troop transports
Churchill sends Prince of Wales to Singapore
Malaysia
* half the world's natural rubber
* more than half the world's tin
* Singapore - Royal Navy: Changi Naval Base
* guard Britain's Far East Empire
* "Gibraltar of the Far East"
* vast oil-storage capacity
* huge dry dock for battleships - yet to be used
* 15 inch guns point out to sea
* dense jungle rear of fortress assumed impenetrable
* this jungle front is left nearly defenseless
* 1937 - British Chiefs of Staff made aware of
Singapore's vulnerability to attack from jungle
* Britain cannot find the troops to reinforce the Malay peninsula
* British troops committed to war with Germany
* U.S. Navy in Philippines prevents Japan from obtaining energy
self-sufficiency
* Asiatic Fleet a pushover but do you really want to take on
the U.S. Navy
3 September 1941
Japan Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe wants negotiated settlement with U.S.
* Military wants deadline placed on negotiations
* Navy Chief Admiral Nagumo warns:
* "Although I feel sure we have a chance to win a war right now,
I am afraid that the chance will vanish with the passage
of time."
* Konoe was given less that six weeks to reach a settlement
over China with the U.S.
* Japan prepared to wage war with U.S. and Britain by early
October 1941
6 September 1941
The Japanese military presents its case for war with Emperor Hirohito
"The purposes of war with the United States, Great Britain and the
Netherlands are to:
1. expel the influence of the three countries from East Asia
* U.S. in the Philippines
* Britain in Malaysia, Singapore
* Netherlands ruling East Indies
2. to establish a sphere for self-defense and the self-preservation
of our Empire
* South China Sea becomes Japan's protected Caribbean
3. to build a New Order in Greater East Asia."
* Whites no longer rule Asians
Army General Sugiyama briefed the Emperor on the previous day.
The quick takeover of the South Pacific was a military gamble.
* Japan would gain control of much needed oil
and natural resources
* A defensive perimeter of Pacific islands could make
Japan invincible
* expect a war of endurance with the United States
before obtaining a negotiated settlement leading
to peace
Emperor Hirohito pleas for patience with continued diplomacy
* chastises his military leaders for their preference for war
* Prime Minister Konoe has until 15 October to reach deal
with U.S. or all remedies point to military action
Prime Minister Konoe arranges clandestine meeting with
U.S. Ambassador Grew requesting immediate summit with
Roosevelt
* Roosevelt cool to idea of being cast as another
Neville Chamberlain in a "Far East Munich"
* Roosevelt insists Japan's troops leave China
* Japan has suffered over a million casualties in China
* Japan's military will never accept this loss of face
* No one believes Konoe can deliver on this demand
16 October 1941
Prime Minister Konoe resigns from office after having been ignored
one last time by Roosevelt.
War Minister General Hideki Tojo is appointed Japan's new leader.
* Tojo the only candidate supported by all military leaders
* U.S. radios war alert to all U.S. Pacific bases in response
to Tojo's rise to power
20 October 1941
Churchill orders a battle fleet sail for Singapore as a show of force to Japan
* Prince of Wales - battleship / largest, new / King George class
* Indomitable - brand new aircraft carrier
* Carrier runs aground on Bermuda reef: 2 November 1941
* Battle group deprived of protective aircover
* Churchill remains committed to providing sea power for
Singapore
* Repulse - old battlecruiser
* Admiral Sir Tom Phillips / 'Tom Thumb' - commander
* "Bombers are no match for battleships."
"The presence of the U.S. Fleet in Hawaii is a dagger pointed at our throats."
Combined Fleet, October 1941
3 November 1941
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's plan for attacking Pearl Harbor is
approved by Emperor Hirohito and the military's
Imperial General Command.
15 November 1941
George C. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff
* Reinforcement of Philippines to be complete by April 1942
* Discovery of reinforcement might prompt Japan's attack
* Flight of B-17 bombers due to arrive in Manila first part of
December
* U.S. aircraft carriers to ship fighter planes to Wake and Midway
* Provide fighter protection for B-17s from Japanese Zeros
based in the Marshal Islands
26 November 1941
Pearl Harbor strike force of 6 aircraft carriers puts to sea from Japan
* Vice-Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, commander
U.S. intelligence reports Japanese troop convoys sighted
south of Formosa
* Indochina believed to be the destination
27 November 1941
U.S. radios warning to all its Pacific commands:
"NEGOTIATIONS WITH JAPAN APPEAR TERMINATED ...
JAPANESE FUTURE ACTION UNPREDICTABLE BUT
HOSTILE ACTION POSSIBLE AT ANY MOMENT.
IF HOSTILITIES CANNOT <REPEAT> CANNOT BE AVOIDED
THE UNITED STATES DESIRES JAPAN COMMIT THE
FIRST ACT."
28 November 1941
U.S.S Enterprise - one of two Pacific Fleet carriers - sails for Wake Island
* ferries squadron of Marine fighters to protect flights to Philippines
4 December 1941
Operation Z - Japan's carrier strike force - refuels 1,000 miles north
of Midway
* Fleet turns southeast for final stretch run on Hawaii
5 December 1941
U.S.S. Lexington - the second of two Pacific Fleet carriers - sails from
Pearl Harbor
* carries Marine aircraft to reinforce Midway Island
6 December 1941
Pearl Harbor strike force 600 miles northwest of Hawaii
Japan's Hawaiian intelligence sources report Pacific Fleet in harbor
* 8 battleships
* 3 cruisers
* 16 destroyers
* no aircraft carriers - both carriers still at sea
27 Japanese troop transports set sail from Formosa headed for the Philippines
Pilots of 400 aircraft plan strike to wipe out Philippine-based American B-17s
_________
love
dad
© Tom Taylor
coldValentine
