December 7 th, 1941

A date that will live in infamy.

Pearl Harbor. Dawn, December 7th More than half of the United States Pacific Fleet, approximately 150 vessels and service craft, lay at anchor or alongside piers in Pearl Harbor. All but one of the Pacific fleet’s battleships were in port that morning, most of them moored to quays flanking Ford Island

By 10:00 a.m. the tranquil Sunday calm had been shattered, 21 vessels lay sunk or damaged, the fighting backbone of the fleet apparently broken. Smoke from burning planes and hangers filled the sky. Oil from sinking ships clogged the harbor.

Death was everywhere

The Statistics

The Japanese attacking forces were broken down into two waves. The first consisted of 183 aircraft which included 40 torpedo planes, 49 level bombers, 51 dive bombers and 43 fighters. The second wave consisted of 170 planes which included 54 level bombers, 80 dive bombers and 36 fighters.

The attack also included four heavy- aircraft carriers, two heavy cruisers, 35 submarines, two light cruisers, nine oilers, two battleships and 11 destroyers.

U.S. Casualties ServiceNAVYARMY MARINES CIVILIANS Killed Wounded TOTAL

SHIPS Battleships Damaged Sunk: Arizona, California, Oklahoma, West Virginia Damaged: Maryland, Nevada, Tennessee, Pennsylvania 8 other ships, cruisers destroyed/damaged

Following this attack, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed Congress and asked for a declaration of war on the Empire of Japan

What do we have left??

Each year, students, adults and every other American across the nation should take a minute to remember that fateful day that brought the United States into the largest War the world has ever seen. December 7 th, 1941 “A day that will live in infamy”