The Attack on Pearl Harbor

How the Morning Unfolded

Admiral Yamamoto planned the attack as a pre-emptive strike on the Pacific Fleet, which had been based at Pearl Harbor since 1940. The strike force included 353 fighters, level and dive bombers and torpedo bombers, flying from six aircraft carriers positioned about 230 miles north of Oahu. The first bombs fell just before 8 a.m. Hawaii time on a Sunday morning. The National Park Service marks 7:55 a.m. with a moment of silence at its remembrance ceremony.

The phases below follow the two waves and the immediate aftermath. Japan declared war on the United States and the British Empire later that day, though the declarations were delivered the next day. The US declared war on Japan the following day, and President Roosevelt called December 7, 1941 "a date which will live in infamy".

Why Japan Attacked

Admiral Yamamoto planned the attack as a pre-emptive strike on the US Pacific Fleet, which had been based at Pearl Harbor since 1940. Japan declared war on the United States and the British Empire on the day of the attack, with the formal declarations delivered the next day.

The strategic result was the opposite of a knockout blow. The three US aircraft carriers based at Pearl Harbor were at sea that morning and escaped untouched, and the attack brought the United States into World War II the very next day. In 1945 the war ended aboard the Missouri in Tokyo Bay, a ship you can still board on the Best of Pearl Harbor Full-Day Tour, a 10-hour day covering four sites for $208 per person.

Battleship Row and the Two Waves

The ships moored along Battleship Row took the heaviest damage. Of the eight US battleships present, all eight were damaged and four were sunk. The USS Arizona exploded when a bomb detonated her forward magazine, an explosion that accounted for nearly half of all American fatalities that morning. The USS Oklahoma capsized and the USS Utah, a former battleship converted to a target ship, also rolled over and sank.

The airfields were hit in the same minutes. More than 180 US aircraft were destroyed. The hangars at what is now the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum still carry damage from that morning, and the museum holds more than 50 aircraft in those original hangars on Ford Island. Visitors without base access reach the island on a shuttle or on the Arizona and Battleship Missouri Tour, a 6-hour day from Waikiki at $156 per person.

Ships, Airfields and the Dead

2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 wounded in the attack, the standard count attributed to the historical record. The dead were 2,008 sailors, 218 soldiers and airmen, 109 Marines and 68 civilians. The National Park Service has referred to "2,390 American lives lost" in its anniversary material, so the total appears slightly differently across sources. The 2,403 figure is the most widely cited.

The table lists where the losses happened and the killed figures stated for each. Where a source gives no separate count for a ship or place, none is printed.

The Arizona's Crew

The Arizona's loss of 1,177 officers and crewmen accounts for nearly half of all American deaths in the attack. The remains of many of the crew are still inside the hull, which rests in the mud of Pearl Harbor where she sank. Surviving crewmen may still choose to be interred in the wreck, and 334 crewmen survived the explosion. Urns of survivors have been placed in the well of Barbette No. 4.

The wall of the memorial's Shrine Room, cut from Vermont marble, carries the names of all 1,177 dead. Oil still leaks from the hull a drop at a time, which the National Park Service calls "considered the tears of the fallen". The NPS estimates about half a million gallons of oil remain inside the stern and monitors the wreck constantly. How to visit the ship and the memorial above it is covered in the USS Arizona Memorial guide.

Aftermath: From Infamy to Surrender

The United States declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941, the day after the attack. The war in the Pacific ran nearly four more years and ended on September 2, 1945. On that day, the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed on the quarterdeck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, formally ending World War II. MacArthur boarded at 08:43, the Japanese delegation led by Mamoru Shigemitsu arrived at 08:56, and by 09:30 the Japanese emissaries had departed.

The Missouri and the Arizona are often described as bookending the war. The battleship where it ended now rests on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, near the Arizona, as the Battleship Missouri Memorial, a museum ship since 1998. Many visitors see both in one day. The Small-Group Arizona and Missouri Tour runs 6 hours from Waikiki for $157 per person, capped at 25 guests, and lists the Arizona Memorial (depending on availability), the Missouri and a drive past Punchbowl and the King Kamehameha Statue.

A Pre-emptive Strike on the Pacific Fleet

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto planned the attack as a pre-emptive strike on the United States Pacific Fleet, which had been based at Pearl Harbor since 1940. The aim was to hit the fleet at anchor before it could fight. Japan declared war on the United States and the British Empire later that day, but the declarations were delivered the next day.

The strike force was built around six aircraft carriers about 230 miles north of Oahu. From them came 353 fighters, level and dive bombers and torpedo bombers, in two waves. Their targets were the battleships lined up along Battleship Row, the airfields and the hangars around the harbor. On the air side, the attack succeeded. More than 180 US aircraft were destroyed, and the hangars of what is now the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum still carry the damage from that morning.

On its central aim the plan failed. The three US carriers based at Pearl Harbor were at sea and escaped untouched, and the attack missed them. Of the eight US battleships present, all were damaged and four were sunk. The attack drew the United States into the war the next day, when President Roosevelt called December 7, 1941 "a date which will live in infamy" and the United States declared war on Japan.

What the Plan Aimed For and What Followed

The attack was a pre-emptive strike on a fleet based at Pearl Harbor since 1940, planned by Yamamoto. What the record shows is the gap between what Japan hoped to achieve and what followed. A strike meant to keep the Pacific Fleet out of the war's opening moves instead produced a declaration of war within a day.

The three carriers based at Pearl Harbor were at sea and escaped. Visitors who want the airfield side of the story can see it at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, which sits in the original hangars attacked on December 7 and holds more than 50 aircraft from the war that followed.

The War the Attack Started

The attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II on December 8, 1941. The three carriers based at Pearl Harbor were at sea and escaped. The cost of the opening morning: 2,403 Americans killed and 1,178 wounded, by the standard count. On the Arizona alone, 1,177 officers and crewmen died when a bomb set off her forward magazine, and nearly half of all the American fatalities that morning came from that single explosion.

In Hawaii the aftermath is visible at Punchbowl Cemetery, the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, where about 53,000 WWII, Korean and Vietnam War veterans and dependents are interred. The Courts of the Missing there list 18,095 Americans missing from the Pacific in World War II. Chief Boatswain Edwin Hill, killed on the USS Nevada on December 7, 1941, is buried at Punchbowl.

September 2, 1945 on the Missouri

The Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed on the quarterdeck of the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945, ending World War II. The timetable of that morning is recorded. General MacArthur boarded at 08:43. The Japanese delegation, led by Mamoru Shigemitsu, arrived at 08:56. By 09:30 the Japanese emissaries had departed, and the war that began with the attack on Pearl Harbor was over.

The Missouri herself was new to the war's end. She had been launched on January 29, 1944 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard before a crowd of 20,000 to 30,000. Today she is a museum ship on Ford Island, donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association in 1998, and the association says she has drawn more than 10 million visitors. She is 887 feet long, and her teak deck covers 53,000 square feet. The Missouri and the Arizona now bookend World War II in one harbor, the battleship where the United States was pushed into the war and the battleship where the war was signed to a close. You can visit both on the Arizona and Battleship Missouri Tour, a 6 hour day from Waikiki at $156 per person.

The USS Arizona Memorial

The white memorial spans the mid-portion of the sunken battleship, 184 feet long, with an entry room, an assembly room and a shrine room. The shrine room wall of Vermont marble carries the names of the Arizona's 1,177 dead. Through the openings you can see the hull eight feet below, and oil still leaks from the wreck a drop at a time. The NPS calls those droplets the tears of the fallen. The NPS says the ship is the final resting place of many of the 1,177 crewmen who died, and surviving crewmen can still be interred there. The US flag flies from a pole attached to her severed mainmast.

The program is free but reserved only through Recreation.gov, with a $1 fee per ticket. Boats run every 15 minutes from 8 am to 12 noon and 1 pm to 3:30 pm, each carrying 145 people, and the NPS says the whole program lasts about 45 minutes with 10 to 15 minutes on the memorial itself. The full detail, including the reservation windows and the standby line, is in the guide to the USS Arizona Memorial. Half-day Pearl Harbor tours from Honolulu such as the Small-Group Arizona Memorial Tour, 4 hours at $100 per person, include the boat ride, though no tour can guarantee a landing when the Navy suspends operations.

The Utah, the Oklahoma and Ford Island

Pearl Harbor National Memorial also includes the USS Utah and USS Oklahoma memorials, six chief petty officer bungalows and the Battleship Row quays. The Utah, a former target ship, was lost that morning. Both memorials sit on Ford Island, an active military area.

Visitors without military base access can reach them on the NPS Ford Island Bus Tour, which the NPS notes does not include the Arizona Memorial and can clash with the 2:30 pm, 3:00 pm and 3:30 pm Arizona boat programs. The Ford Island guide covers access rules in detail.

The Battleship Missouri

The Missouri is where the war ended. She opened as a museum ship in 1998 and now offers guided tours in English, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. An elevator runs from the Main Deck to the Surrender Deck, though the lower decks, the flying bridge and most interiors are not wheelchair accessible.

The Missouri advises a half-day plan of the Arizona plus the Missouri when time is short, and says most visitors spend 1 to 2 hours aboard. Admission is not sold directly here because the Missouri is sold inside the tours, including the Small-Group Arizona and Missouri Tour at $157 per person over 6 hours. The full visit guide is at Battleship Missouri.

The Aviation Museum Hangars

The Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum occupies Hangar 37 and Hangar 79 on Ford Island, the original hangars attacked on December 7, and it opened on December 7, 2006. The hangars still show damage from the attack. General admission covers more than 50 aircraft, both hangars, the outdoor exhibits and the Operations Building rooftop terrace.

It fits into the full-day routes, including the Best of Pearl Harbor Full-Day Tour, 10 hours at $208 per person with all four sites, and the Pearl Harbor Heroes Deluxe Tour, 9.5 hours at $214 per person. The USS Bowfin Submarine Museum sits next to the visitor center, where the Bowfin, launched on December 7, 1942, exactly one year after the attack, has been open to tours since 1981.

Choosing a Tour That Covers the Story

The table below compares the tours in the catalog that cover the sites tied to the attack and its aftermath, with prices, durations and sites as listed by each operator on its listing page.