Pearl Harbor Attack
December 7, 1941 AD · 20th Century
On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy conducted a surprise military strike on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack led to the United States' formal entry into World War II the following day, when Congress declared war on Japan. The surprise attack damaged or destroyed 19 U.S. Navy ships, including 8 battleships, and killed 2,403 Americans.
Key Figures
Franklin D. RooseveltHusband E. KimmelWalter C. ShortEmperor HirohitoHideki TojoIsoroku YamamotoChuichi Nagumo
Locations
Washington, D.C.Pearl HarborFord IslandBattleship Row
Topics
japanUSAww2war
Connected Events — 3 Connections
Pearl Harbor catalyzed US entry into WWII and full wartime mobilization including the Manhattan Project that produced the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima
Pearl Harbor attack triggered anti-Japanese hysteria that Roosevelt cited as military justification for Executive Order 9066 two months later Executive Order 9066 — Japanese American Internment
Pearl Harbor brought the US into the Pacific War; four years of American industrial and military mobilization culminated in Japan unconditional surrender Japan Signs Surrender Instrument Aboard USS Missouri; Allied Occupation Begins
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