On December 7, 1941 at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor. Four U.S. Navy battleships were sunk, four other battleships were damaged, 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed, 2,402 personnel were killed and 1,282 were wounded. If you remember the movie Tora! Tora! Tora!, Admiral Yamamota said “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” Apparently he never said such a line, instead saying “A military man can scarcely pride himself on having ‘smitten a sleeping enemy’; it is more a matter of shame, simply, for the one smitten. I would rather you made your appraisal after seeing what the enemy does, since it is certain that, angered and outraged, he will soon launch a determined counterattack.” National Geographic has published an interactive Pearl Harbor Attack Map.
