On December 7th, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, aiming to cripple American naval power in the Pacific. Beginning just before 8:00 a.m., waves of Japanese aircraft targeted battleships, airfields, and other military installations across Oahu. The attack disabled or sank several major ships, including the USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma, and destroyed large numbers of U.S. aircraft on the ground, severely reducing America’s immediate defensive capability. The assault resulted in significant American casualties and stunned the nation, prompting President Franklin D. Roosevelt to call the next day for a declaration of war against Japan. This event marked the United States’ official entry into World War II and reshaped the course of the conflict