Editing Attack on Pearl Harbor (section)

===Strategic implications===
Rear Admiral [[Chūichi Hara]] summed up the Japanese result by saying, "We won a great tactical victory at Pearl Harbor and thereby lost the war."<ref>{{Harvnb|Haufler|2003|p=127}}</ref>

While the attack accomplished its intended objective, it turned out to be largely unnecessary. Unbeknownst to Yamamoto, who conceived the original plan, the United States Navy had decided as far back as 1935 to abandon "charging" across the Pacific towards the Philippines in response to an outbreak of war (in keeping with the evolution of [[War Plan Orange|Plan Orange]]).{{sfn|Evans|Peattie|1997}}{{page needed|date=December 2021}} The United States instead adopted "[[Plan Dog]]" in 1940, which emphasized keeping the IJN out of the eastern Pacific and away from the shipping lanes to Australia, while the United States concentrated on defeating Nazi Germany.<ref>{{harvnb|Hakim|1995}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Source is a textbook written for middle-school kids or younger, which does not meet the requirements of reliable tertiary sources for this type of article.|date=December 2021}}

Fortunately for the United States, the American aircraft carriers were untouched; otherwise the Pacific Fleet's ability to conduct offensive operations would have been crippled for a year or more (given no diversions from the Atlantic Fleet). As it was, the Navy was left with no choice but to rely on carriers and submarines. While six of the eight battleships were repaired and returned to service, their relatively low speed and high fuel consumption limited their deployment, and they served mainly in shore bombardment roles (their only major action being the [[Battle of Surigao Strait]] in October 1944). A major flaw in Japanese strategic thinking was a belief that the ultimate Pacific battle would be fought by battleships, in keeping with the doctrine of Captain [[Alfred Thayer Mahan]]. As a result, Yamamoto (and his successors) hoarded battleships for a "decisive battle" that never happened.{{sfn|Willmott|1983}}{{page needed|date=December 2021}}{{sfn|Miller|2007}}{{page needed|date=December 2021}}

The Japanese confidence in their ability to win a quick victory meant that they neglected Pearl Harbor's navy repair yards, oil tank farms, submarine base and old headquarters building.{{sfn|Willmott|1983}}{{page needed|date=December 2021}} All of these targets were omitted from Genda's list, yet they proved more important than any battleship to the American war effort in the Pacific. The survival of the repair shops and fuel depots allowed Pearl Harbor to maintain logistical support of the Navy,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://combinedfleet.com/battles/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor |title=Attack on Pearl Harbor &#124; Nihon Kaigun |publisher=Combinedfleet.com |access-date=March 6, 2014 |archive-date=March 19, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319100939/http://combinedfleet.com/battles/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.kalonanews.com/articles/2013/04/17/community/doc516eb7c9cbba1744569185.txt |title=Pearl Harbor vet remembers Dec. 7, 1941, sneak attack |work=The [[Kalona, Iowa|Kalona]] News |date=April 17, 2013 |access-date=March 6, 2014 |archive-date=August 1, 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130801200017/http://www.kalonanews.com/articles/2013/04/17/community/doc516eb7c9cbba1744569185.txt }}</ref> such as the [[Doolittle Raid]] and the [[Battle of the Coral Sea|Battles of the Coral Sea]] and [[Battle of Midway|Midway]]. It was submarines that immobilized the Imperial Japanese Navy's heavy ships and brought Japan's economy to a virtual standstill by crippling the importation of oil and raw materials: by the end of 1942, the amount of raw materials brought in was cut in half, "to a disastrous ten million tons", while oil "was almost completely stopped".{{refn|In less than eleven months, most of Many of Japan's elite naval aviators who had been at Pearl Harbor were lost in subsequent battles. Lack of fuel and an inflexible training policy meant that they could not be readily replaced.{{sfn|Evans|Peattie|1997}}{{page needed|date=December 2021}}|group=nb}} Lastly, the basement of the Old Administration Building was the home of the [[Station HYPO|cryptanalytic unit]] which contributed significantly to the Midway ambush and the Submarine Force's success.<ref>{{harvnb|Blair|1975|pp=360, 816}}</ref>