Attack on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor
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 American tactical and strategic victory[1] 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,[2] ~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[nb 1] 188 aircraft destroyed 155 aircraft damaged, 2,335 military killed 1,247 military wounded 68 civilians killed 35 civilians wounded[4][5]	4 midget submarines sunk, 1 midget submarine run aground, 29 aircraft destroyed, 55 airmen killed 9 submariners killed 1 submariner captured[6]
↑ Unless otherwise stated, all vessels listed were salvageable.[3]

The Attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack by the Empire of Japan against the neutral United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This attack, on the morning of December 7, 1941, led the United States into World War II.

The Japanese military leadership referred to the attack as the Hawaii Operation, Operation AI,^[7][8] and as Operation Z.^[9]

Japan wanted time to invade Southeast Asia. Over the course of seven hours several places were attacked. The places governed by the US were Philippines campaign (1941–1942), Guam, and Wake Island. The places in the British Empire attacked were Singapore, Hong Kong and, later, Malaya.^[10]

1. ↑ Weinberg, Gerhard L. (2005). A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II Second Edition. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. p. 261. ISBN 978-0-521-61826-7.
2. ↑ "Ships present at Pearl Harbor 0800 December 7, 1941 US Navy Historical Center". Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
3. ↑ CinCP report of damage to ships in Pearl Harbor from www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar.
4. ↑ Cite error: The named reference ArmyChapter7pg194 was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
5. ↑ Cite error: The named reference Pearl Harbor Congress Report Pg64 was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
6. ↑ Gilbert 2009, p. 272 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFGilbert2009 (help)
7. ↑ Goldstein, Donald M.; Dillon, Katherine V. (1999). The Pearl Harbor Papers: inside the Japanese plans. Brassey's. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-57488-222-3.
8. ↑ For the Japanese designator of Oahu. Wilford, Timothy. "Decoding Pearl Harbor", in The Northern Mariner, XII, #1 (January 2002), p. 32fn81.
9. ↑ Fukudome, Shigeru, "Hawaii Operation". United States Naval Institute, Proceedings, 81 (December 1955), pp. 1315–31
10. ↑ Gill, G. Hermon (1957). Royal Australian Navy 1939–1942. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 2 – Navy. Vol. 1. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. p. 485. LCCN 58037940. Archived from the original on May 25, 2009. Retrieved June 16, 2015.