Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor is a US naval base located near Honolulu Hawaii. On December 7, 1941 there was a devastating surprise attack by Japanese forces at the Naval base. Around 8 am hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended on the base, destroying and damaging nearly 20 American naval vessels eight battleships, and over 300 airplanes. Because horrific attack of this more than 2,400 Americans died. This included civilians, and another 1,000 people were also  wounded. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. 
This attack was a surprise to the US, because Pearl Harbor is located near the center of the Pacific Ocean, roughly 2,000 miles from the U.S. mainland and about 4,000 miles from Japan. Therefore, no one expected Japan to start a war with an attack on the distant islands of Hawaii. Additionally, American intelligence officials strongly believed that a Japanese attack would take place in one of the nearby European colonies in the South Pacific, such as the Dutch East Indies, Singapore or Indochina. Because American military leaders were not expecting the attack any where near pearl harbor they were unprepared and relatively undefended. Therefore the the Japanese saw Pearl Harbor as an easy target. 
Naval vessel at Pearl Harbor sinking

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