The attack on Pearl Harbor took place on 7 December 1941. On that date, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise military strike against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, located on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.
The attack was carried out by hundreds of Japanese fighter planes, bombers, and torpedo planes launched from six aircraft carriers. It resulted in the destruction or severe damage of eight US battleships, the sinking of three cruisers, three destroyers, and one minelayer, the destruction of 188 aircraft, and the deaths of 2,403 Americans. The attack was intended to cripple the US Pacific Fleet and prevent American interference with Japan's military expansion across Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
The immediate consequence of the Pearl Harbor attack was the United States' formal entry into World War II. On 8 December 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, describing the attack as "a date which will live in infamy," asked Congress to declare war on Japan. Congress overwhelmingly approved, and within days, Germany and Italy - Japan's Axis allies - declared war on the United States, bringing America fully into both the Pacific and European theatres of the war.
