Pearl Harbor

The President of the United States had a strategic dilemma throughout the start of World War II. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was secretly aiding the British in their war against Nazi Germany. He did not want war with Japan, because it would prevent the full weight of the United States military and industry from being brought to bear on Germany.

In April 1940, obsolescent British Swordfish biplanes, nicknamed "stringbags" for their flimsy construction, struck the Italian fleet at Taranto. Within minutes significant damage was done to Italy's Mediterranean Fleet. To get around the inability to operate torpedoes in the shallow waters of the harbor, the British attached fins to the tail.

Allied planners had seriously underestimated the strength and effectiveness of Japanese Forces. Allied opinion held that they could not shoot straight, since many Japanese were nearsighted.