Japan could have caused more damage if they had targeted different places

The Japanese only concentrated on attacking the planes at Hickman Airfield and the ships at the Naval station, leaving other locations like as fuel oil storage places, maintenance facilities, and the submarine base alone since they believed the Pacific fleet fights would be won on them. This demonstrated to be incorrect.

If Japan had targeted naval repair yards, oil tank farms, submarine bases, and the old headquarters building instead of the fleet, it could have inflicted significantly more damage. Because the attack was designed to target battleships, no US aircraft carriers were present (they were out at sea). As a result, America was able to quickly rebuild for the war against Japan, ultimately reversing the Japanese advance after the early 1942 defeats.

“We won a great tactical victory at Pearl Harbor and thereby lost the war,” Admiral Hara Tadaichi summarized the Japanese victory.