Japan's 'Operational Hawaii': An Operational Design Case Study

摘要

The Imperial Japanese Navy's strike on U.S naval and air forces at Pearl Harbor,Hawaii on 7 December 1941 has been widely characterized as a strategic failure. Examining the attack, known to the Japanese as 'Operation Hawaii,' from a contemporary operational art perspective, this paper contends, however, that the preemptive attack, viewed as an operational fire for Japan's Southern Operation, was operationally sound, and tactically successful. It achieved its operational objective goal of preventing the U.S. Pacific Fleet from attacking Japan's eastern flank while Japanese military forces were engaged in the conquest of the Southern Resource Area. Crippling the Pacific Fleet afforded Japan more time to consolidate her territorial gains, and establish a defensive perimeter. Several lessons learned from the analysis, pertinent for today's operational planners, are identified.