The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, in the United States Territory of Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States’ entry into World War II.

Japan’s attack was a preventive action to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with planned military actions. There were near-simultaneous Japanese attacks on the U.S.-held Philippines, Guam and Wake Island and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The attacks - from troop landings at Kota Bharu, Malaya, to the air attacks ranging geographically from Hong Kong to Pearl Harbor - took place over seven hours.

Throughout the attack battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and auxiliaries were targeted, killing thousands- the most devastating of which was the USS Arizona. Four torpedoes hit the ship, leading to its total destruction and the loss of 1,177 lives.