The Attack on Pearl Harbor

 Soldiers say that the plans people spent years planning all go out the window as soon as you set foot on the battlefield, and that was true for the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese bombers misinterpreted the signals given to them by their leaders, and instead of going to bomb the battleships straight away, veered over the airfield to fight down defending fighters that weren't actually in the air. Of course, that didn't mean the attack wasn't successful for the Japanese. Battleships that exploded were later said to have jumped out for eh water as they were shorn in two by explosions. Full gas tanks that detonated cost even more lives and treasure. The Japanese thought it meant that they were winning and had given them the upper hand, but in reality, all they had done was wakened the "sleeping giant" that was the United States of America.