After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, followed by Nazi Germany's declaration of war on the United States four days later[1] (and the United States' declaration of war on Germany in response), Hitler authorized a mission to sabotage the American war effort and attack civilian targets to demoralize the American civilian population inside the United States.[2] The mission was headed by Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, chief of the German Abwehr.