Pearl Harbor isn’t just a dramatic setting—it was one of the most important military attacks in history. It was the most deadly attack by a foreign nation on US soil, and a turning point for World War II.
Here are some handy facts to know about Pearl Harbor and how it affects this story . . .
What happened at the battle of Pearl Harbor?
At 7:55 a.m. on December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, America’s most important naval base in the Pacific, located on the island of Oahu in Hawaii Territory (Hawaii was not yet a US state at the time of the attack).
The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor with six aircraft carriers and five submarines, and they did so without provocation or any formal declaration of war. The attack focused on multiple spots in and around Pearl Harbor, including Hickam Airfield and Wheeler Army Airfield. The most concentrated attack was on Battleship Row, a collection of eight US battleships that were moored next to Ford Island.
The attack lasted only ninety minutes, but it cost over two thousand Americans their lives. Several battleships were destroyed, most notably the USS Arizona, which exploded and sank, and the USS Oklahoma, which capsized. The next day, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared that America would join the war against Japan and its allies, most notably Nazi Germany.