A Date that lives in Infamy

Today is the 67th Anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

There were basically two attack waves. We now know that there was internal debate among the Japanese about a third attack wave. The first two waves had focused on planes on the ground (to protect the bombers) and capital ships. This debated third wave would have gone after facilities: oil yard, dry docks, sub base and admin buildings (which held the codebreakers that would prove vital to later US victories).

Had the Japanese held a third wave, they would have really achieved the crippling blow they sought. But they chose to protect their forces and withdraw, thinking that blow had been landed. History tells us it was not the crippling blow they thought. By leaving the subs and the carriers intact, the US was forced into a new kind of naval warfare. So while the Japanese were waiting on the ultimate battleship faceoff, our planes and subs were able to keep them in check until the fleet had been remade.