Attack on Pearl Harbor

Japan strikes the US naval base in Hawaii.

By December 1941, relations between the United States and Japan had deteriorated sharply because of Japanese expansion in Asia and economic sanctions. Japan's leadership decided to launch a preventive strike against the US Pacific Fleet.

On 7 December, Japanese carrier aircraft attacked the Pearl Harbor base in Hawaii. Many ships were sunk or damaged, aircraft were destroyed, and thousands of American servicemen and civilians were killed.

The American aircraft carriers were not in the harbour at the time of the attack. The strike did not destroy the United States' ability to wage a prolonged war in the Pacific.

The next day, the United States declared war on Japan. The attack became a turning point that brought the United States directly into the global conflict.

Source: View historical source ↗