How did pearl harbor shatter the myth of American invulnerability?
Well, the idea was that we have about 3,000 miles between us and Europe, over the Atlantic, and about 5,000 miles between us and Japan. With our bases in the Pacific, it seemed like we should have been able to detect any large scale invasion force coming from Japan, and our connection with Britain would have given us advance warning of an invasion force coming from Europe. We actually expected the threat to come from Germany, but the Japanese managed a surprise attack that was only partially successful, by a 6 carrier task force heading due east from the islands, and into a part of the Pacific that was outside the normal shipping lanes, and then turned due south and steamed to within about 300 miles (for the carrier strike force) north of the Hawaiian islands,launched the attack on a weekend, used the new torpedoes that were fitted with wooden fins that would prevent the torpedoes dropped from the planes sinking to a depth of 75-80 feet, too deep for Pearl Harbor, and with a force of o
