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"Air Raid on Pearl Harbor. This
Is No Drill."
Radiogram to all ships in the
Hawaiian area, issued by the
Commander in Chief of the Pacific
Fleet (CINCPAC), Admiral Kimmel,
minutes after the attack began.
National Archives, Records
of Naval Districts and Shore
Establishments
Pearl Harbor Attack
With a surprise air-raid, Japan
attacked the U.S. naval base at
Pearl Harbor, Oahu Island, Hawaii, on Sunday, December 7, 1941, at 7:50
AM local time.
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Objective of the Pearl Harbor Attack
Japan's aim was the destruction of
the U.S. Pacific Fleet and consequent conquest of the Pacific and
Southeast Asia.
Japanese mastermind behind the Pearl
Harbor attack was
 Isoroku
Yamamoto.
The Attack
7:55 AM - In the first wave of attack,
Japan launched 183 planes that targeted Oahu.
9:00 AM - In the second wave of
attack, 170 Japanese planes came down on Oahu.
Go here for the entire
Pearl Harbor Attack timeline,
or rather the busy schedule of the Japanese of December 7, '41.
Here is the attack map:
Pearl Harbor Attack - December 7, 1941
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Immediate
Effects of the Pearl Harbor Attack
The attack on Pearl Harbor convinced
almost everybody in the United States that the time had come to
get involved in
World War II.
The very next day, on December 8, 1941,
President
Franklin D. Roosevelt signed
the declaration of war against Japan.
Check this event in the WWII Timeline.
And here you can read Roosevelt's message to
Congress, which was his request for a
declaration of war, also known as
Roosevelt's Day of Infamy Speech.
Casualties of the Pearl Harbor Attack
The U.S. Air Force tells us:
Casualties to
U.S. service personnel were 2,343 killed,
960 missing and 1,272 wounded.
Japanese
aircraft destroyed 151 U.S. planes on the
ground and sank or damaged all eight U.S.
battleships at anchor in Pearl Harbor.
At a cost of
only 28 airplanes shot down, the Japanese
had dealt the United States a staggering
blow.
On the USS Arizona 1,177 crew members
perished, making it the greatest loss of life on
any U.S. warship in American history.
Pearl Harbor Photos
Here are 17 vintage photos of the Pearl Harbor Attack:
Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
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Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
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Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
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Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
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Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
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Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
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Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
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Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
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Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
Click photo to enlarge
Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
Click photo to enlarge
Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
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Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
Click photo to enlarge
Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
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Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
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Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
Click photo to enlarge
Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
Click photo to enlarge
Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
Click photo to enlarge
Pearl Harbor Maps
Here are some maps relevant to the
Pearl Harbor Attack and maps relevant to the Japanese and US
position in World War II at the time.
Pearl Harbor Anchorage - December 7,
1941
1941, December - April
1942:
Micronesia, Melanesia, and New Guinea
in World War II:
Japanese Centrifugal
Offensive.
1941, December 7
- April 18, 1942:
World War II in the Far
East and the Pacific.
American Carrier
Operations.
1941, December 7 -
March 12, 1942:
World War II in the Far East
and the Pacific.
Operations of the Japanese
First Air Fleet.
First Bulletin
This is the first bulletin to the US public about the attack.
It came out at 2:22 pm in Washington DC, which was 8:52 am in
Hawaii, about halfway through the two-hour attack.
Japanese War Declaration
This is Japan's Declaration of War — original and transcript.
Imperial Rescript Declaring War - Original and
Transcript
Click to enlarge
See also
American Timeline
More History
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