Date: December 7, 1941
Location: Primarily Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, United States
Result: Japanese major tactical victory, United States declaration of war on the Empire of Japan and Nazi German and fascist Italian declaration of war on the United States.
Location: Primarily Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, United States
Result: Japanese major tactical victory, United States declaration of war on the Empire of Japan and Nazi German and fascist Italian declaration of war on the United States.
The attack on Pearl Harbor (called Hawaii Operation or Operation AI by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters (Operation Z
in planning) and the Battle of Pearl Harbor) was a surprise military
strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States
naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941
(December 8 in Japan). The attack was intended as a preventive action
in order to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military
actions the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against
overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the
United States.
The base was attacked by 353 Japanese
fighters, bombers and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six
aircraft carriers. Four U.S. Navy battleships were sunk (two of which
were raised and returned to service later in the war) and the four
others present were damaged. The Japanese also sank or damaged three
cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one
minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,402 Americans were killed
and 1,282 wounded. The power station, 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 lost, and 65 servicemen killed or wounded. One Japanese
sailor was captured.
The attack came as a profound shock to the American people and led directly to the American entry into World War II in both the Pacific and European theaters. The following day (December 8th) the United States declared war on Japan.
Domestic support for isolationism, which had been strong, disappeared.
Clandestine support of Britain (for example the Neutrality Patrol) was
replaced by active alliance. Subsequent operations by the U.S. prompted
Germany and Italy to declare war on the U.S. on December 11, which was
reciprocated by the U.S. the same day.
Despite numerous historical precedents
for unannounced military action by Japan, the lack of any formal
warning, particularly while negotiations were still apparently ongoing,
led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proclaim December 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy“.
