7 interesting facts about the attack on Pearl Harbor
A war declaration was supposed to come first
The Japanese government had originally intended to issue a statement calling for an end to diplomatic negotiations the United States shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor began, thus giving an effective declaration of war in advance.
However, the Japanese Foreign Ministry failed to deliver the announcement that his country was ending talks before the attack began due to various missteps on the part of administrators.
“… the memo declaring an end to the bilateral talks was supposed to have been delivered to Secretary of State Cordell Hull by 1 P.M. on Dec. 7, about 25 minutes before the attack began,” reported the New York Times in a 1994 story. “The note was actually delivered about 1 hour and 20 minutes after the attack began.”
“According to the ministry, the memo was sent electronically to the embassy late on Dec. 6, after the junior diplomat on duty had gone home. The diplomat was Shozo Okumura, a first secretary. The memo was decoded by noon on Dec. 7, but diplomats took until well past the attack hour before delivering it.”
