Remembering the Tragedy of Pearl Harbor in Photos

One of Japan's main targets was a row of Battleships moored by Ford Island. These were some of the first structures attacked by slow-flying Japanese torpedo bombers, with quicker dive bombers attacking other areas. The battleships burning here are the U.S.S. West Virginia in the foreground and the U.S.S. Tennessee in the background.

One of the most disastrous parts of the attacks occurred on the U.S.S. Arizona when an armor-piercing bomb struck the forward magazine of the ship, where gunpowder is stored. The resulting explosion effectively tore the ship in half and killed over a thousand crewmen, accounting for more than half of the total Pearl Harbor casualties.

The Arizona burned for two days following its explosion. She was first launched from New York City in 1915. She didn't see any combat in World War I. Arizona was part of a fleet of battleships and destroyers that escorted President Woodrow Wilson to the port city of Brest as he traveled to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.

Dive bombers also attacked the air bases Hickam Field, Kaneohe Naval Air Station, Barber's Point, and Wheeler Army Airfield (pictured here) as part of the first wave of strikes.

Hickam Field was the largest air base on Oahu and sustained heavy damage in the attack. The attack was so sudden that the U.S. was not prepared for a counterattack, with Japan reportedly losing about 30 planes in the attack.

This photo shows Japanese soldiers waving at a pilot as they take off from an aircraft carrier to attack Pearl Harbor.

The U.S.S. Shaw also exploded due to the detonation of her forward magazine, with the following explosion producing some of the most shocking and memorable photos of the attack. Shaw was repaired within a few months and served in the Pacific through World War II, being decommissioned in October 1945.

A fleet of American medium bombers is seen flying over Honolulu soon after the White House's official announcement that Pearl Harbor was attacked just over an hour after the first strikes.

This Japanese midget submarine is known as HA-19, and it ran aground off the coast of Oahu, leading to one of its pilots Kazuo Sakamaki becoming the first Prisoner of War of World War II when he was found unconscious on the beach.

The destroyers U.S.S. Cassin and U.S.S. Downes were dry-docked when the attacks began. Both the destroyers were damaged beyond repair, but material salvaged from them created new ships that were given the same names.

The West Virginia was hit by seven torpedoes and two bombs. It sunk in shallow water during the attack, but was refloated and repairs on the ship were finished by mid-1944. The West Virginia led the naval line into battle for the Battle of Surigao Strait.

Frank Knox, then Secretary of the, informs reporters of the extent of the damage in Pearl Harbor. Knox was an outspoken advocate of the internment of Japanese Americans and alleged untruthfully that Japanese Hawaiians interfered in the U.S. defense efforts during the attack.

The wreckage of the Arizona was left underwater and turned into a memorial that is open to the public. The last surviving crew member of the Arizona, quartermaster Lou Conter, passed away in April 2024.

Conter survived the explosions on the deck of the Arizona and aided fellow soldiers in evacuating the sinking battleship, even saving several soldiers' lives by hoisting them into his lifeboat before rowing to shore. Conter continued to serve throughout WWII as a Naval Aviation Pilot in the South Pacific and later as an ensign in both New Guinea and later in the European theater.