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The USS California billowed smoke after the attack.
The USS California billowed smoke after the attack.
Image: From an original U.S. Office of War photo/Library of Congress.

On Dec. 7, 1941, at 7:55 a.m. in Hawaii, Japanese military planes attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor.


    The surprise attack 78 years ago ended the lives of 2,403 Americans (most served in the Navy) and destroyed or heavily damaged U.S. aircraft and 19 Navy ships -- including battleships, destroyers and cruisers. President Franklin D. Roosevelt described it as “a date which will live in infamy," and the attack plunged the U.S. into World War II. 
    The following is a compressed account, along with sources and links for further study:

Tension mounts: After the Japanese invasion of China in 1937, the U.S. gradually increased aide to China and, in 1940, imposed an embargo on Japan. (See more on the U.S. State Department website.)
    Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy on Sept. 27, 1940. As part of the pact, Japan recognized “the leadership of Germany and Italy in establishment of a new order in Europe.” Germany and Italy in return, according to the pact, recognized “the leadership of Japan in the establishment of a new order in greater East Asia.”
    The three countries agreed to “further undertake to assist one another with all political, economic and military means when one of the three contracting powers is attacked by a power at present not involved in the European war or in the Chinese-Japanese conflict.” 
    In the middle of 1941, “Japan signed a Neutrality Pact with the Soviet Union, making it clear that Japan’s military would be moving into Southeast Asia, where the United States had greater interests,” according to the State Department’s website. “A third agreement with Vichy France enabled Japanese forces to move into Indochina and begin their Southern Advance.”
    While diplomatic efforts were aimed at resolving the issues, Japanese military leaders would not withdraw from China.  

Fateful decisions: The embargo against Japan had consequences, recounts an article by Jeffrey Record, a professor and defense policy critic, on the U.S. Army War College website. "The embargo, far from deterring further Japanese aggression, prompted a Tokyo decision to invade Southeast Asia. By mid-1941 Japanese leaders believed that war with the United States was inevitable and that it was imperative to seize the Dutch East Indies, which offered a substitute for dependency on American oil," Record wrote. "The attack on Pearl Harbor was essentially a flanking raid in support of the main event, which was the conquest of Malaya, Singapore, the Indies, and the Philippines.”

The logistics: The attack involved 353 aircraft launched from four heavy carriers, according to the National World War II Museum. There were 40 torpedo planes, 103 level bombers, 131 dive-bombers and 79 fighters, along with two heavy cruisers, 35 submarines, two light cruisers, nine oilers, two battleships and 11 destroyers. “Captain Mitsuo Fuchida sent the code message, ‘Tora, Tora, Tora,’ to the Japanese fleet after flying over Oahu to indicate the Americans had been caught by surprise.” 

The attack described: The attack took one hour and 15 minutes, and books have been written about it. Here are accounts from three different sources:

Casualties, losses: The attack killed more than 2,300 servicemen, about 2,000 from the Navy and the remainder from the Marine Corps and Army, according to the National World War II Museum. The National Park Service lists 68 civilian casualties and has slightly different numbers for the military deaths. 

     Here is a list of lost or destroyed battleships, destroyers and cruisers:

Name

Battleships

Rejoined Fleets

Arizona

Sunk, total loss

--

California

Sunk, raised and repaired

May 1944

Maryland

Damaged, repaired

February 1944

Nevada

Heavily damaged, refloated, repaired

December 1942

Oklahoma

Capsized, total loss

--

Tennessee

Damaged, repaired

March 1942

West Virginia

Sunk, raised and repaired

July 1944

Pennsylvania

Damaged, repaired

August 1942

Name

Destroyers

Rejoined Fleets

Cassin

Heavily damaged, rebuilt

February 1944

Downes

Heavily damaged, rebuilt

November 1943

Helm

Damaged, repaired

January 1942 

Name

Cruisers

Rejoined Fleets

Helena

Heavily damaged, rebuilt

June 1942

Honolulu

Damaged, repaired

January 1942

Raleigh

Heavily damaged, rebuilt

July 1942

US Aircraft damaged or destroyed:

 

Lost

Damaged

Navy

92

31

Army Air Corps

77

128

     Three aircraft carriers of the U.S. Pacific Fleet were out on maneuvers when the attack occurred and were unharmed, according to the National World War II Museum. The Japanese lost 29 aircraft and five midget submarines, along with 129 soldiers/airmen. One Japanese soldier was taken prisoner. 

Aftermath:  Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson ordered the entire U.S. Army to be in uniform by the next day, The New York Times reported. Frank Knox, secretary of the Navy, did the same. Roosevelt delivered his “date which will live in infamy” speech on Dec. 8, 1941, and Congress declared war on Japan.
    As fear intensified, people of Japanese ancestry living in the U.S., including citizens, were sent to internment camps
    Six months later, in June 3-6, 1942, U.S. forces won a clear victory at the Battle of Midway. 

     To know more:

    Related: 

    Attack inspired 'infamy' speech

    Internment of Japanese Americans still haunts 

    Gallery: Internment captured on film

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