Editing Tora! Tora! Tora! (section)

==Plot==
<!-- Per WP:FILMPLOT plot summaries for featured film articles should be 400-700 words -->
In September 1940, following a trade embargo imposed on a [[Empire of Japan|belligerent Japan]] by the United States a year prior, severely limiting raw materials, influential [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese army]] figures and politicians push through an [[Tripartite Pact|alliance with Germany and Italy]], despite opposition from the [[Imperial Japanese Navy|Japanese navy]], and prepare for war. The newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the [[Japanese Combined Fleet|Combined Fleet]], [[Isoroku Yamamoto|Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto]], reluctantly plans a pre-emptive strike on the U.S. Pacific Fleet anchored at [[Pearl Harbor]], believing that Japan's best hope of controlling the [[Pacific Ocean]] is to quickly annihilate the American fleet. Air Staff Officer [[Minoru Genda]] is chosen to mastermind the operation, while his old Naval Academy classmate [[Mitsuo Fuchida]] is selected to lead the attack.

Meanwhile, in Washington, U.S. military intelligence has broken the Japanese ''[[Purple (cipher machine)|Purple Code]]'', allowing them to intercept secret Japanese radio transmissions indicating increased Japanese naval activity. U.S. Army Col. Bratton and U.S. Navy Lt. Commander Kramer monitor the transmissions. At Pearl Harbor, Admiral Kimmel increases defensive naval and air patrols around Hawaii, which could provide early warning of enemy presence. General Short recommends concentrating aircraft at the base on the runways to avoid sabotage by enemy agents in Hawaii, so General [[Howard C. Davidson|Howard Davidson]] of the [[14th Air Division|14th Pursuit Wing]] tries dispersing some planes to other airfields on [[Oahu]] to maintain air readiness.

Months pass while diplomatic tensions escalate. As the Japanese ambassador to Washington continues negotiations to stall for time, the Japanese fleet forays into the Pacific. On the day of the attack, Bratton and Kramer learn from intercepts that the Japanese planned 14 radio messages from Tokyo to the Japanese embassy in Washington. They are also directed to destroy their code machines after receiving the final message. Deducing the Japanese will launch a surprise attack after the messages are delivered, Bratton tries warning his superiors of his suspicions. However, Chief of Naval Operations [[Harold Rainsford Stark|Harold R. Stark]] is indecisive over notifying Hawaii without first alerting the President, while Army Chief of Staff General [[George Marshall]]'s order that Pearl Harbor be alerted of an attack is stymied by poor atmospherics that prevents radio transmission, and by bungling when a warning sent by telegram is not marked urgent. At dawn on December 7, the Japanese fleet launches its aircraft. Two radar operators detect their approach to Hawaii, but the duty officer dismisses their concerns. Similarly, the claim by the destroyer {{USS|Ward}} to have sunk a Japanese miniature submarine off the entrance to Pearl Harbor is dismissed as unimportant. The Japanese thus achieve total surprise, which Commander Fuchida indicates with the signal "Tora! Tora! Tora!"

The damage to the naval base is catastrophic and casualties are severe. Several battleships are either sunk or heavily damaged. General Short's anti-sabotage precautions prove a mistake, allowing the Japanese aerial forces to destroy aircraft on the ground easily. In Washington, [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[Cordell Hull]] is stunned to learn of the attack and requests confirmation before receiving the Japanese ambassador. The message that was transmitted to the Japanese embassy in 14 parts – including a declaration that peace negotiations were at an end – was meant to be delivered to the Americans at 1:00 pm in Washington, 30 minutes before the attack. However, it was not decoded and transcribed in time, meaning the attack started while the two nations were technically still at peace. The distraught Japanese ambassador [[Kichisaburō Nomura]], helpless to explain the late ultimatum and unaware of the ongoing attack, is rebuffed by Hull.

In the Pacific, the Japanese fleet commander, Vice-Admiral [[Chūichi Nagumo]], refuses to launch a scheduled third wave of aircraft for fear of exposing his force to U.S. submarines. In the aftermath of the attack, General Short and Admiral Kimmel receive Marshall's telegram warning of impending danger. Aboard his flagship, Admiral Yamamoto informs his staff that their primary target – the American aircraft carriers – were not at Pearl Harbor, having departed days previously to search for Japanese vessels in the Pacific. Lamenting that the declaration of war arrived after the attack began, Yamamoto notes that nothing would infuriate the U.S. more and concludes: [[Isoroku Yamamoto's sleeping giant quote|"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."]]