Attack on Pearl Harbor

The Attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise air and sea attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941. This marks the first day of American involvement in World War II.

Japanese planes came from aircraft carriers. There were also submarine attacks. Though the Japanese destroyed many American battleships, they failed to decisively knock the US out of the Pacific war, because the American carriers were at sea and remained operational.

The attack was considered a colossal failure of American intelligence. There were indicators that the Japanese were attacking that were missed or not communicated up the chain of command quickly enough, including a midget submarine attack the night before, and Japanese aircraft visible on radar approaching Pearl Harbor. Radar was a new technology at the time, and if it had been properly used it could have warned the defenders or at least helped direct a counterattack towards the Japanese carriers.

President Frankling Roosevelt called it a "date which will live in infamy".