Q&A · 35:14-51:37

Turning Pearl Harbor into an ambush

With only a day's warning, disperse aircraft, activate the defences, send the fleet to sea, and make the Japanese attack reveal itself.

Question

How would you prepare Pearl Harbor with 24 hours' warning of the Japanese attack?

Short answer

Disperse aircraft, keep radar and defences ready, put every possible ship to sea, and use the attack to spring a coordinated ambush.

Notes

The proposed response is a prepared ambush: fighters, radar, air-defence crews, and ships would be positioned to strike after the attackers expose their approach. The plan would disperse land aircraft, send every available ship to sea, and call the American carriers toward Pearl Harbor at maximum speed. The defenders could wait for Japan to initiate hostilities and then attack the exposed carrier force from several directions. Destroying the Kido Butai would transform the Pacific war by removing the aviation core needed for Japan's later offensives and forcing a wholesale revision of its southern strategy.