The Japanese planned to build a great empire in Southeast Asia. The empire could supply Japan with oil, rubber, tin, and rice. It could also become a market for Japanese factory goods. Only the United States could stop Japan because the other European countries were to busy fighting in Europe. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor because that was where much of the American Pacific fleet was located.

The first wave of attacks consisted of

183 planes that took off from Japanese aircraft carriers which were about 200 miles to the northwest of the Hawaiian Islands. The Japanese's main goal was to destroy the ships on Battleship Row, battleships anchored next each other in the harbor, and the airplanes on the ground at the Naval Air Station, Wheeler Field, and Hickam Field. Because it was a Sunday morning, most of the 780 antiaircraft guns were not manned. Many military personnel were on shore for the weekend, but hundreds of them were still asleep on their ships. As a result, Pearl Harbor was left defenseless because of the lack of defense and was open to the Japanese attack.

A second wave of 168 Japanese aircraft arrived an hour after the first, and caused even more damage. By the time the attacks were over, several battleships had been d

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Approximate Word count = 550
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)