The day the attack on Pearl Harbor started – level 2

07-12-1941

It’s December 1941. For 11 days, Japanese warships are sailing secretly through the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii, which is 6,000 km away. There is a US army base in Hawaii.

It’s called Pearl Harbor and it’s a popular place for American Marines because there are nice weather and beautiful beaches there. Americans think that they are in a safe place in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

On December 7, 1941, at 6 a.m., the Japanese warships and planes on board are only 400 km north of Hawaii. They are ready for the attack.

At 7:55 a.m. the attack begins. The Japanese send 350 planes in two waves. They are surprised that there is no strong defense from the Americans. All US airports around the base are destroyed. The Japanese also attack American warships with torpedoes. The ships are all sunk or damaged.

The whole attack takes only 90 minutes. The Japanese destroy 16 ships and over 350 American planes. Nearly 2,500 Americans die. The Japanese celebrate a victory.

Soon after the attack, the United States starts war on Japan and then also on Germany. The war which was a European war becomes a world war.

Difficult words: warship (a ship used in war), Marine (a soldier who serves on a ship), wave (a group or an amount of time), torpedo (a rocket which goes under water), sunk (put under water), damaged (broken).

What psychological impacts did the attack on Pearl Harbor have on Americans?

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