Pearl Harbor Day - American Legion 2

  Just before 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The barrage lasted just two hours, but it was devastating.

   Remember and honor the 2,335 servicemen killed and 1,143 wounded. Sixty-eight civilians were also killed and 35 were wounded. Nearly half of the servicemen that were killed were on board the Arizona when it exploded of the United States killed in the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, December 7, 1941.

   After just two hours of bombing, 21 ships had either been sunk or damaged, and more than 188 U.S. aircraft destroyed.

   The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan; Congress approved his declaration with just one dissenting vote.

   Three days later, Japanese allies Germany and Italy also declared war on the United States, and again Congress reciprocated.

   More than two years into the conflict, America had finally joined World War II.

Battleships

• USS Arizona (RADM Kidd's flagship of Battleship Division One): hit by four armor-piercing bombs, exploded; total loss. 1,177 dead.

• USS Oklahoma (BB-37) Nevada-Class Battleship: hit by five torpedoes, capsized; total loss. 429 dead.

• USS West Virginia: hit by two bombs, seven torpedoes, sunk; returned to service July 1944. 106 dead.

• USS California: hit by two bombs, two torpedoes, sunk; returned to service January 1944. 100 dead.

• USS Nevada: hit by six bombs, one torpedo, beached; returned to service October 1942. 60 dead.

• USS Pennsylvania (ADM Kimmel's flagship of the United States Pacific Fleet): in drydock with Cassin and Downes, hit by one bomb and debris from USS Cassin; remained in service. 9 dead.

• USS Tennessee: hit by two bombs; returned to service February 1942. 5 dead.

• USS Maryland: hit by two bombs; returned to service February 1942. 4 dead (including floatplane pilot shot down).

Ex-battleship (target/AA training ship)

• Utah: hit by two torpedoes, capsized; total loss. 64 dead.

Cruisers

• Helena: hit by one torpedo; returned to service January 1942. 20 dead.

• Raleigh: hit by one torpedo; returned to service February 1942.

• Honolulu: Near miss, light damage; remained in service.

Destroyers

• Cassin: in drydock with Downes and Pennsylvania, hit by one bomb, burned; returned to service February 1944.

• Downes: in drydock with Cassin and Pennsylvania, caught fire from Cassin, burned; returned to service November 1943.

• Helm: underway to West Loch, damaged by two near-miss bombs;[116] continued patrol; dry-docked 15 January 1942 and sailed 20 January 1942.

• Shaw: hit by three bombs; returned to service June 1942.

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