

Japan had taken notice of these islands as a potential threat to their expansion in the Pacific. They became a US territory in 1900 but were not made a state until 1959. Hawaii had been discovered by Europeans in mid-1700s. These islands, located roughly halfway between Japan and United States, are a perfect military base, for both naval and air power. The northernmost part has a yearly uniform temperature of around 75 degrees Fahrenheit, a tropical climate, strong ocean breezes, rain forests and huge stretches of beach at the foot of mountains and volcanoes. The main islands in the chain (originally called the Sandwich Islands) are known as Kauai, Niihau, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, Kahoolawe, Lanai and Hawaii.

The Hawaiian islands are situated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, west-south-west of United States. Pearl Harbour Pictures courtesy of JSCSC Library, Crown Copyright Background In the event, Nomura saw Hull at 1420 after the Japanese Navy had already attacked Pearl Harbor. But due to difficulties in sending the message, the Japanese ambassador, Kichisaburo Nomura, did not receive all 14 parts and decided to postpone his meeting with the US Secretary of State, Cordell Hull until 1400 hours. The attack had been timed to take place an hour after the delivery to Washington of the Japanese declaration of war, which was to be handed in at 1300 hours.
When was pearl harbor free#
The attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor on the 7th December 1941 was an attempt by Japan to knock the US Pacific Fleet out of the war in a single strike and allow Japanese forces a free hand in the following months to expand the Japanese sphere of influence in the Pacific. The Attack on Pearl Harbor: The First Wave Goes In
