Dec 07 2008
Pearl Harbor Day
Sixty-six years ago, on December 7, 1941, the Japanese Navy struck the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, sending the United States into World War II. With this attack, the Japanese was intent on preventing the U.S. Pacific fleet from influencing the war that Japan was planning to wage in Southeast Asia against Britain, the Netherlands, and the United States. The attack from Japan was done in two aerial attack waves consisting of 353 aircraft from six Japanese aircraft carriers.
The United States lost four battleships (two were raised and returned to service later in the war) and four were damaged. The Japanese also sank three cruisers, three destroyers, and one minelayer ship. 188 aircraft were destroyed, 1,282 servicemen were wounded, and we lost 2.402 service members. The base power station, shipyard, maintenance, fuel and torpedo storage, as well as the sub piers and intelligence headquarters building survived the attack. The Japanese losses were minimal, at 29 aircraft, five midget submarines, and 65 servicemen killed or wounded.
Today, at Pearl Harbor, there remains the two ships that were too heavy to be raised and salvaged. The Arizona and the Utah remain where they were sunk. The USS Arizona museum and visitor center provides the history of the battle through films, tours and interactive exhibits. Visitors also are ferried from the museum visitor center to the Memorial center which is built over the remains of the Arizona. From here, visitors will be able to remember the story of Pearl Harbor and honor the soldiers that served in this battle.
The complete history of Pearl Harbor is available from the History Channel at: www.historychannel.com
