What was the goal of Japan when attacking Pearl Harbor in 1941?
The objective of the attack was to render the US fleet in the Pacific usless. Japan’s goal was to creat a buffer zone around Japan that could withstand American attacks. The hope was that the war would prove too costly to Americans that they would lose the stomach for war and sue for peace allowing Japan to retain what they had conquered. Side note, don’t let people fool you into thinking that the attack was focused solely on carriers. In 1941 the carrier was seen as an equal to the battleship, not superior yet. Remember the Bismarck was tacticly sound with the theory of hte day. Use carrier and her aircraft to damage the battlefleet then use your battlefleet to destroy them. The Ark Royal’s planes damaged the Bismarck allowing the British battleships King George V and Rodney closed and sunk her. In a way the US admirals were forced to rely strictly on carriers after Pearl Harbor. Before hand US doctrine was that carriers operated on their own with their support ships.
