Images: Scenes from the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941
Take a look back at Dec. 7, 1941 as battleships at Pearl Harbor and airfields were among targets bombed and destroyed during a surprise attack by Japanese forces at Hawaii.
The USS Nevada in Pearl Harbor after it suffered both a torpedo and bomb hits on December 7, 1941. The ship was eventually beached rather than have it sunk in the channel leading out of the harbor.
courtesy of the Abraham Lincoln Library
Three U.S. battleships are hit from the air during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Japan's bombing of U.S. military bases at Pearl Harbor brings the U.S. into World War II. From left are: USS West Virginia, severely damaged; USS Tennessee, damaged; and USS Arizona, sunk.
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An undamaged light cruiser steams out past the burning USS Arizona and takes to sea with the rest of the fleet during the Japanese aerial attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941 during World War II.
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American ships burn during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1942.
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A small boat rescues a USS West Virginia crew member from the water after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941 during World War II. Two men can be seen on the superstructure, upper center. The mast of the USS Tennessee is beyond the burning West Virginia.
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Heavy black smoke billows as oil fuel burns from shattered tanks on ships that were hit during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941 during World War II. Visible through the murk is the U.S. battleship Maryland, center, and the hulk of the capsized USS Oklahoma to the right of it.
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The battleship USS West Virginia is seen afire after the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941.
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Black smoke rises from the burning wrecks of several U.S. Navy battleships after they had been bombed during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941.
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The destroyer USS Shaw explodes after being hit by bombs during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941.
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In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, sailors stand among wrecked airplanes at Ford Island Naval Air Station as they watch the explosion of the USS Shaw in the background, during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941.
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt, appearing before a joint session of Congress termed as unprovoked and dastardly the attack by Japan upon Hawaii and the Philippines and asked for an immediate declaration of war, Dec. 8, 1941.
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Declaring Japan guilty of a dastardly unprovoked attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war, Dec. 8, 1941. Listening are Vice President Henry Wallace, left, and House Speaker Sam Rayburn.
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Hawaii residents comb thru wreckage on Dec. 17, 1941 after Japanese bombing raids on December 7.
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Rescue workers help evacuate the Lunalilo High School in Honolulu after the roof of the main building was hit by a bomb during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in this Dec. 7, 1941 file photo.
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Troops man a machine gun nest at Wheeler Field, which adjoins Schofield Barracks in Honolulu, after the Japanese attack on the island of Oahu, Dec. 7, 1941.
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A Japanese plane, braving American anti-aircraft fire, proceeds toward "battleship row," Pearl Harbor, after other bombers had hit USS. Arizona, from which smoke billows, Dec. 7, 1941.
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An unidentified officers' wife, investigating explosion and seeing smoke pall in distance at 8:15 am Dec. 7, 1941, heard neighbor Mary Naiden, then an army hostess, exclaim "There are red circles on those planes overhead. They are Japanese!" A boy and a woman carrying a dog flee toward quarters.
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Battle ship Arizona at pearl Harbor, December 1941. The photo was taken shortly after the battleship was bombed and destroyed during the surprise attack by Japanese forces, December 7, 1941. The vessel at right is a rescue tug. Flag still flying the ship is resting on the bottom of the ocean with decks flooded.
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Anti-aircraft gunners of the U.S. Army who fired on the Japanese planes during the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor of Dec. 7 are pictured at the ready in Wheeler Field, Hawaii, Dec. 16, 1941.
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Officers' wives, investigating explosion and seeing smoke pall in distance on Dec. 7, 1941, heard neighbor Mary Naiden, then an Army hostess who took this picture, exclaim "There are red circles on those planes overhead. They are Japanese!" Realizing war had come, the two women, stunned, start toward quarters.
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Japanese plane, proceeds toward "Battleship Row" at Pearl Harbor after other bombers had hit USS Arizona, from which smoke billows, Dec. 7, 1941. Photo was taken from the yard of Army's Hickam Field Quarters by Mrs. Mary Naiden of New York City.
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Rescue workers help evacuate the Lunalilo High School in Honolulu after the roof of the main building was hit by a bomb during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in this Dec. 7, 1941 file photo.
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A Marine stands guard outside the Capitol in Washington, following the Japanese declaration of war on the United States, Dec. 7, 1941. Aiding the Marines were Capitol police.
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In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, eight miles from Pearl Harbor, shrapnel from a Japanese bomb riddled this car and killed three civilians in the attack of Dec. 7, 1941. Two of the victims can be seen in the front seat. The Navy reported there was no nearby military objective.
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A crowd gathers in the street outside the Japanese Embassy in Washington soon after the bombing attacks on Hawaii and the declaration of war on the U.S., Dec. 7, 1941.
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Employees of the Japanese Embassy in Washington close the main gates to their building after the announcement by the White House that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor, a U.S. possession in the Pacific, Dec. 7, 1941.
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Believed to be the first bomb dropped on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in the sneak-attack on Dec. 7, 1941, this picture was found torn to pieces at Yokusuka Base by photographer's mate 2/C Martin J. Shemanski of Plymouth, Pa. One Japanese plane is shown pulling out of a dive near bomb eruption (center) and another the air at upper right.
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This Dec. 7, 1941 photograph provided by the Library of Congress, shows a view of the White House from Pennsylvania Avenue on the day of the Pearl Harbor attack. The image is featured in the book, "Dream House: the White House as an American Home" which chronicles the history of the White House.
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