Attack on Pearl Harbor

"December 7, 1941" redirects here. For the date, see December 1941 § December 7, 1941 (Sunday).

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.
DateDecember 7, 1941; 82 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  Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
Units involved
Strength
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]
Civilian casualties
Attack on Pearl Harbor is located in Hawaii
Attack on Pearl Harbor
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Location within Hawaii
Attack on Pearl Harbor is located in Pacific Ocean
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor (Pacific Ocean)

The attack on Pearl Harbor[nb 3] was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, in the United States, just before 8:00 a.m. (local time) on Sunday, December 7, 1941. At the time, the United States was a neutral country in World War II. The attack on Hawaii and other U.S. territories led the United States to formally enter World War II on the side of the Allies the day following the attack, on December 8, 1941. 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 Empire of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor was preceded by months of negotiations between the United States and Japan over the future of the Pacific. Japanese demands included that the United States 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. Anticipating a negative response, Japan sent out its naval attack groups in November 1941 just prior to receiving the Hull note—which states the United States desire that Japan withdraw from China and French Indochina. Japan intended the attack as a preventive action. Its aim was to prevent the United States Pacific Fleet from interfering with its planned military actions in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. Over the course of seven hours, Japan conducted 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 on Pearl Harbor started at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian time (6:18 p.m. GMT).[nb 5] The base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese aircraft (including fighters, level and dive bombers, and torpedo bombers) in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers.[18] Of the eight United States Navy battleships present, all were damaged and four were sunk. All but USS Arizona were later raised, and six were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship,[nb 6] and one minelayer. More than 180 US aircraft were destroyed.[20] A total of 2,393 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded, making it the deadliest event ever recorded in Hawaii.[21] It was also the deadliest foreign attack against the United States in its history until the September 11 attacks of 2001.[22] Important base installations, such as the power station, dry dock, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not attacked. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines were lost, and 129 servicemen killed.[7][8] Kazuo Sakamaki, the commanding officer of one of the submarines, was captured.

Japan declared war on the United States and the British Empire later that day (December 8 in Tokyo), but the declarations were not delivered until the following day. The British government declared war on Japan immediately after learning that their territory had also been attacked, while the following day (December 8), the United States Congress 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 the unannounced military action by Japan, the lack of any formal warning, as required by the Hague Convention of 1907, and the perception that the attack had been unprovoked, led then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in the opening line of his speech to a Joint Session of Congress the following day, to famously label December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy".

  1. ^ "Ships and District Craft Present at Pearl Harbor, 0800 7 December 1941", The Navy Department Library, Naval History and Heritage Command, November 13, 2020, archived from the original on November 18, 2021, retrieved December 8, 2021
  2. ^ Thiesen, William H. (December 7, 2017), "The Long Blue Line: The Attack on Pearl Harbor – "a date that will live in infamy"", Coast Guard Compass, archived from the original on December 9, 2017, retrieved December 8, 2017
  3. ^ "U.S. Coast Guard Units in Hawaii: December 7, 1941" (PDF), media.defense.gov, 2017, archived (PDF) from the original on December 9, 2017, retrieved December 8, 2017
  4. ^ Nimitz 1942.
  5. ^ a b c d "Overview of The Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941", The Navy Department Library, Naval History and Heritage Command, December 2, 2020, archived from the original on June 2, 2021, retrieved December 8, 2021
  6. ^ a b "A Pearl Harbor Fact Sheet" Archived May 16, 2023, at the Wayback Machine United States Census Bureau
  7. ^ a b "Remembering Pearl Harbor: A Pearl Harbor Fact Sheet" (PDF). www.census.gov. The National WWII Museum – via United States Census Bureau.
  8. ^ a b Sarmiento, Kimberly (January 17, 2017). Events That Changed the Course of History: The Story of the Attack on Pearl Harbor 75 Years Later. Atlantic Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-62023-149-4. Only 129 Japanese soldiers were killed during that attack, and one was taken prisoner.
  9. ^ Gilbert 2004, p. 272.
  10. ^ Gailey 1997, p. 96: "There were 103 civilian casualties, including 68 dead."
  11. ^ Full Pearl Harbor Casualty List, USSWestVirginia.org, archived from the original on January 17, 2013, retrieved December 8, 2021
  12. ^ Conn, Engelman & Fairchild 2000, p. 194.
  13. ^ Wilford 2002, p. 32 fn. 81.
  14. ^ Fukudome 1955b.
  15. ^ Goldstein & Dillon 2000, pp. 17ff.
  16. ^ Morison 2001, pp. 101, 120, 250.
  17. ^ Gill 1957, p. 485
  18. ^ Parillo 2006, p. 288
  19. ^ Thomas 2007, pp. 57–59.
  20. ^ "Pearl Harbor attack | Date, History, Map, Casualties, Timeline, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2022. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  21. ^ "The deadliest disaster to ever happen in each state". MSN. Archived from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
  22. ^ Robertson, Albert. "Attacks on American Soil: Pearl Harbor and September 11". Digital Public Library of America. DPLA.


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