PEARL HARBOR WHO FIRED FIRST

On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing thousands and destroying U.S. military ships and planes. Congress declared war against Japan the following day. At the end of the war, after seven military and presidential investigations had identified different reasons for the lack of U.S. preparedness at Pearl Harbor, Congress created a joint committee to review possible lapses in intelligence. Its findings led Congress to pass the National Security Act of 1947 to modernize national security agencies and coordinate military readiness.

Tensions between the Americans and the Japanese had been rising for nearly a decade by the end of 1941, and yet, the United States was extremely unprepared for the attack on Pearl Harbor. When the bombs began raining down on the base and torpedos struck the battleships in the harbor, the nation was shocked.