This year marks the 81st anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. On Dec. 7, 1941, America was caught flat-footed by a surprise Japanese attack on a target thought to be untouchable. As home to the Pacific Fleet, Pearl Harbor was host to over one hundred vessels, thousands of servicemen and hundreds of aircraft belonging to the U.S. Army and Navy. Who would be crazy enough to attack such a heavily fortified position?
But the idea, and the execution, weren’t crazy at all. In fact, if it were not for a significant stroke of luck, the attack on Pearl Harbor could have been the killing blow against the Pacific Fleet that it was intended to be.
Approximately 2,403 Americans lost their lives during the attack on Pearl Harbor, most of whom were on the battleship USS Arizona as it slipped beneath the surface of the harbor. However, that number would have paled in comparison to the body count that could have been caused if the attack had happened while even one of the Pacific Fleet’s three aircraft carriers was in port. Designated as priority targets by the Japanese military, each U.S. carrier was home to nearly 3,000 servicemen, and losing just one would have changed the landscape of the Pacific campaign dramatically.
As chance would have it, all three aircraft carriers were engaged in preparations for war in the Pacific theater that sent them away from Pearl Harbor prior to the attack. Ironically, USS Enterprise and USS Lexington were transporting aircraft to islands in the Pacific that would allow quick responses to areas at high risk of attack by the Japanese. Meanwhile, USS Saratoga was picking up its air wing in San Diego after undergoing an eight-month refit in the Puget Sound Navy Yard. These carriers became the backbone of the Pacific campaign.
Japan’s mistimed attack, meant to be a knockout, only dazed the Pacific Fleet. As America recovered from the sorrow of thousands of fallen servicemen, sadness became anger. On Dec. 8, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his famous “Day of Infamy” speech, and Congress officially declared war against Japan.
Six months later, at the Battle of Midway, all three American aircraft carriers played major roles in sinking four Japanese carriers. Widely considered to be the turning point of the Pacific campaign, there’s simply no telling how the battle would have gone if one or more of America’s aircraft carriers laid at the bottom of Pearl Harbor in place of USS Arizona.
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