Japanese forces attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii, and other American and British sites in the Pacific Ocean. The main Japanese force chose to assault Pearl Harbor from the air, in order to take out the principal American fleet in the Pacific. Most of the warships were unscathed, because they were not in the harbor at that time. The U.S. Navy, although not destroyed totally, incurred heavy losses: 4 warships, 92 naval aircraft, and 96 army aircraft were destroyed; 2,334 American servicemen killed and 1,347 wounded. The Japanese lost 28 planes, 5 submarines, and fewer than 100 men.
The United States declared war on Japan the next day. Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand, the Free French, the Netherlands, and other countries joined the declaration. Some 60 million Americans heard President Roosevelt urge Congress to declare war against all the Axis forces.
