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On 7 December 1941, the Japanesecaught the Hawaiian Air Force completelyby surprise. Although diplomatic relationswith Japan were at a standstill, and manypeople felt war was just around the corner,Hawaiiattitude.maintained aConversely,business- as -usualthe Japaneseunderstood the importance of the AmericanFleet stationed at Pearl Harbor and deviseda plan to destroy it. To reach the fleet theywould need to destroy the Hawaiian AirForce. To destroy this force they wouldneed surprise and luck. Japan wouldachieve the surprise, and fate would givethem the luck they required. The HawaiianDepartment had the forces, leadership, andequipment to stop the attack or at leastmake it very expensive. But fate, in a seriesof decisions, events, and personalities, wouldstep in to prevent them from ever beingused. The Japanese use of air power on7 December 1941 resulted in a decisive, ifshort-lived, one-sided victory-indeed fromtheir perspective as decisive as any airbattle that would be fought over the nextfour years.