Welcome to all our new subscribers! I write a weekly newsletter, sent out every Sunday, about anything, as long as it’s interesting. If you enjoy th

An Attack on Pearl Harbor

submited by
Style Pass
2021-05-21 03:30:05

Welcome to all our new subscribers! I write a weekly newsletter, sent out every Sunday, about anything, as long as it’s interesting. If you enjoy the newsletter, please share it with a few friends/colleagues.

It was a winter Sunday morning and the island of Oahu was asleep — its military at Pearl Harbor less alert than they might have been any other day of the week.

The winter trade winds blow steadily from the northeast against the Hawaiian island, rushing along and then up and over the 3,000-foot Koolau Range, with the moisture they carry being wrung out along the way. That moisture often forms into towering clouds, creating a dark wall of rain and weather.

An admiral intent on catching the U.S. military base unprepared was aware of this meteorological phenomenon. After all, it was the perfect natural cover in which attacking ships and planes could approach the island with little fear of being detected in time for a proper defense to be mounted.

When he set off from his own military base far away, he had opted for a smaller task force of two aircraft carriers and a few destroyer escorts, leaving behind a larger fleet of cruisers and excess destroyers. The admiral believed that the future of any country’s navy was dependent on its superiority in the air, and he intended to prove the validity of his views in an attack on Pearl Harbor.

Leave a Comment