Attack on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor
Part of the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of World War II
Photograph of Battleship Row taken from a Japanese plane at the beginning of the attack. The explosion in the center is a torpedo strike on USS West Virginia. Two attacking Japanese planes can be seen: one over USS Neosho and one over the Naval Yard.
Date December 7, 1941; 83 years ago (1941-12-07) Location Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, US 21°21′54″N 157°57′00″W / 21.365°N 157.950°W / 21.365; -157.950 Result Japanese victory United States joins the Allied Forces
Belligerents
United States	Japan
Commanders and leaders
Husband E. Kimmel Walter Short	Isoroku Yamamoto Chūichi Nagumo
Units involved
U.S. Pacific Fleet	1st Air Fleet
Strength
8 battleships 8 cruisers 30 destroyers 4 submarines 73 other ships[1][nb 1] 390 aircraft	6 aircraft carriers 2 battleships 2 heavy cruisers 1 light cruiser 9 destroyers 8 tankers 23 fleet submarines 5 midget submarines 414 aircraft (353 took part in the raid)
Casualties and losses
4 battleships sunk 4 battleships damaged 1 ex-battleship sunk 1 harbor tug sunk 3 light cruisers damaged[nb 2] 3 destroyers damaged 3 other ships damaged 188 aircraft destroyed 159 aircraft damaged 2,008 sailors killed 109 Marines killed 208 soldiers killed[5] 68 civilians killed[6][5] 2,403 total killed[6][5] 1,178 military and civilians wounded[5]	4 midget submarines sunk 1 midget submarine grounded 29 aircraft destroyed 74 aircraft damaged 129 killed[7][8] 1 sailor captured[9]
Civilian casualties 68 killed[10][11] 35 wounded[12] 3 aircraft shot down
class=notpageimage| Location within Hawaii Show map of Hawaii Attack on Pearl Harbor (Pacific Ocean) Show map of Pacific Ocean

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Republic of Hawaii (1894–1898) Counter-Revolution 1895 Annexation 1898
Territory of Hawaii (1898–1959) Hawaiian Organic Act 1900 Oahu sugar strike 1920 Hanapēpē Massacre 1924 Massie Trial 1932 World War II 1939–1945 Attack on Pearl Harbor 1941 Niihau incident 1941 Honouliuli Internment Camp 1943–1946 Democratic Revolution 1954
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The attack on Pearl Harbor^{[nb 3]} was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. At the time, the U.S. was a neutral country in World War II. The air raid on Pearl Harbor, which was launched from aircraft carriers, resulted in the U.S. entering the war on the side of the Allies on the day following the attack. The Japanese military leadership referred to the attack as the Hawaii Operation and Operation AI,^{[nb 4]} and as Operation Z during its planning.^[14][15][16]

The attack on Pearl Harbor was preceded by months of negotiations between the U.S. and Japan over the future of the Pacific. Japanese demands included that the U.S. end its sanctions against Japan, cease aiding China in the Second Sino-Japanese War, and allow Japan to access the resources of the Dutch East Indies. Japan sent out its naval attack group on November 26, 1941, just prior to receiving the Hull note, which stated the U.S. desire that Japan withdraw from China and French Indochina. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, planned the attack as a pre-emptive strike on the Pacific Fleet, based at Pearl Harbor since 1940, in order to prevent it from interfering with Japan's planned actions in Southeast Asia. Yamamoto hoped that the strike would enable Japan to make quick territorial gains and negotiate a peace. In addition to Pearl Harbor, over seven hours Japan launched coordinated attacks on the U.S.-held Philippines, Guam, and Wake Island; and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong.^[17]

The attack force, commanded by Chūichi Nagumo, began its attacks at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian time (6:18 p.m. GMT) on December 7, 1941.^{[nb 5]} The base was attacked by 353 fighters, level and dive bombers, and torpedo bombers in two waves launched from six aircraft carriers.^[18] Of the eight U.S. battleships present, all were damaged and four were sunk. All but Arizona were later raised, and six were returned to service during the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship,^{[nb 6]} and a minelayer. More than 180 U.S. aircraft were destroyed.^[20] A total of 2,393 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded, while the Japanese lost a total of 29 aircraft, five midget submarines, and 130 men. The three U.S. carriers stationed at Pearl Harbor escaped damage because they were at sea at the time, and important base installations, including its oil storage and naval repair facilities, were not attacked.

Japan declared war on the U.S. and the British Empire later that day (December 8 in Tokyo), but the declarations were not delivered until the next day. On December 8, both the United Kingdom and U.S. declared war on Japan. On December 11, though they had no formal obligation to do so under the Tripartite Pact with Japan, Germany and Italy each declared war on the United States, which responded with a declaration of war against Germany and Italy. While there were historical precedents for unannounced military action by Japan, the lack of a formal warning and perception that the attack had been unprovoked led U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt to famously label December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy". The attack was the deadliest event ever in Hawaii,^[21] and the deadliest foreign attack on the U.S. until the September 11 attacks of 2001.^[22]

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