📅 On This Day in Military History
1 event across history
Japan's surprise carrier-based air attack on the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii brought America into the war. 353 Japanese aircraft in two waves sank or damaged 19 ships (including 8 battleships), destroyed 188 aircraft, and killed 2,403 Americans. The three American aircraft carriers were at sea and survived.
Japan's strategic miscalculation. The attack united American public opinion overnight — isolationism evaporated. The survival of the aircraft carriers meant the Pacific war would be fought by carriers, negating Japan's battleship advantage. Hitler declared war on the US four days later, completing his fatal overextension.
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