Attack on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbour
Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II
Photograph from a Japanese plane of Battleship Row at the beginning of the attack. The explosion in the center is a torpedo strike on the USS Oklahoma. Two attacking Japanese planes can be seen: one over the USS Neosho and one over the Naval Yard.
Date December 7, 1941 Location Primarily Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, United States Result Japanese major tactical victory United States declares war on the Empire of Japan Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy declare war on the United States.
Belligerents
United States of America	Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
Husband Kimmel Walter Short	Chuichi Nagumo Isoroku Yamamoto
Strength
8 battleships, 8 cruisers, 30 destroyers, 4 submarines, 49 other ships, ~390 aircraft	Mobile Unit: 6 aircraft carriers, 2 battleships, 2 heavy cruisers, 1 light cruiser, 9 destroyers, 8 tankers, 23 fleet submarines, 5 midget submarines, 414 aircraft
Casualties and losses
4 battleships sunk, 4 battleships damaged including 1 run aground 2 destroyers sunk, 1 damaged 1 other ship sunk, 3 damaged 3 cruisers damaged 188 aircraft destroyed 155 aircraft damaged, 2,402 military killed 1,247 military wounded 57 civilians killed 35 civilians wounded	4 midget submarines sunk, 1 midget submarine run aground, 29 aircraft destroyed, 55 airmen killed 9 submariners killed 1 submariner captured

The Attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack by Japan against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on the morning of December 7, 1941. It is what led the United States into World War II. Japan carried out the attack so that the U.S. Pacific Fleet, which was a collection of ships that the United States could use in a war, would not enter the war that Japan was planning in Southeast Asia, against Britain and the Netherlands, as well as the U.S. in the Philippines. The attack was made up of two aerial attack waves totaling 353 aircrafts, launched from six Japanese aircraft carriers. 2,390 people died in the attack. Japan declared war on the United States the same day.

After the attack

The next day, United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a speech to Congress. In his speech, President Roosevelt said that December 7 was "a day which would will live in infamy". Most Americans listened to the speech on the radio. A few minutes after the speech ended, Congress voted to declare war on Japan. Only one member of Congress, Jeanette Rankin, voted "no". Three days later, Germany also declared war on the United States.

Rumors started blaming Japanese Americans for knowing about the attacks ahead of time and even helping. Many American citizens became afraid of Japanese Americans. As a result, many Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps in 1942. The government apologized for doing this in 1988.

Related pages

• Japan
• World War II
• United States

Other websites

• Franklin D. Roosevelt's "A day which will live in infamy" speech