Dr. Clif CleavelandSeventy-five years ago, the Japanese fleet that would launch the air attack on Pearl Harbor the following day reached a point 490 miles north of Hawaii’s main island at 9 p.m. before turning southward.
The armada had departed Japan on Nov. 11, sailing undetected to the point where its aircraft took off the following dawn. The aerial assault began at 7:55 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 7, and dealt a devastating blow to the U.S. Pacific fleet and Naval Air Force. Three U.S. carriers that would decide the Battle of Midway the following June were at sea; otherwise, the destruction would have been complete.
The attack killed 2,403 military personnel, 1,177 perishing when the battleship Arizona exploded and sank. Sixty-eight civilians died. More than 1,200 military members and civilians were injured, many with serious burns.
Within hours, Japanese aircraft and soldiers attacked U.S. installations on Guam, which fell two days later, Wake Island, which fell on Dec. 23, and the Philippines. U.S. and Philippine forces surrendered on May 8, 1942, after a series of battles that resulted in more than 25,000 Allied deaths and tens of thousands of captives.
The U.S. declared war against Japan on Dec. 8. Germany and Italy declared war against the U.S. on Dec. 11.