Attack on Pearl Harbor
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The Empire of Japan launched a surprise military attack on the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. The air raid, launched from aircraft carriers, prompted the US to declare war on Japan the next day. The Japanese military called it the Hawaii Operation and Operation AI. Japanese demands included ending US sanctions, ceasing aid to China in the Second Sino-Japanese War, and access to Dutch East Indies resources. Japan dispatched its naval attack group on November 26, 1941, just before receiving the Hull note. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Combined Fleet, planned the attack as a pre-emptive strike on the Pacific Fleet. The attacking force, commanded by Chuichi Nagumo, began at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian time. It struck with 353 fighters, level and dive bombers, and torpedo bombers in two waves from six aircraft carriers. Of eight US battleships present, all were damaged and four were sunk; all but USS Arizona and USS Utah were later refloated. More than 180 US aircraft were destroyed. A total of 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 wounded. Japanese losses totaled 29 aircraft, five midget submarines, and 130 personnel. The three US carriers assigned to Pearl Harbor were at sea, and oil storage and naval repair facilities were not attacked. Japan declared war later that day, but the declaration was delivered the next day; on December 8, the UK and US declared war on Japan. On December 11, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. Roosevelt called December 7, 1941, 'a date which will live in infamy.'