Pearl Harbor bombing. After the fire. Battered by aerial torpedoes and bomb hits, the 31,800 ton USS West Virginia (nearest ship) rests on the bottom of Pearl Harbor. Fire following the explosions as well as oil flames from the nearby sunken USS Arizona added extensively to the damage. Noted the wrecked scout plane topside of gun turret at right and the overturned plane in the right hand corner. The battleship USS Tennessee is in the background

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 Territory of Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II. Japan intended the attack as a preventive action to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan planned in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. The attack commenced at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time. The base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese fighter planes, bombers, and torpedo planes launched from six aircraft carriers. All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged. 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded.