Interesting Facts About Pearl Harbor

Today we remember the lives that were lost on this day, 80 years ago. Here are some interesting facts, you might not have known about Pearl Harbor.

1. Americans fired the first shot before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The USS Ward fired on a Ko-hyoteki-class submarine near the entrance to Pearl Harbor.
2. The attack on Pearl Harbor lasted for about two hours.
3. The day after the Pearl Harbor attack, the US declared war on Japan. This is how the US got involved in World War II.
4. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor to prevent American interference. America was a major supplier of oil and minerals which Japan was dependent on. Japan began to target an area in Southeast Asia for these materials, but knew that the American Pacific Fleet would get in the way of the attack.
5. Thirty days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, 134,000 Americans enlisted in the military.
6. Japan attempted to attack Pearl Harbor again, only three months after the original attack. But this time they were seen on radar, defense was sent to patrol the air above Pearl Harbor. The weather was quite cloudy so bombs were dropped on a hillside and another was dropped in the ocean.
7. Only two battleships were damaged beyond repair. The USS Arizona and the USS Oklahoma couldn’t be salvaged, but almost every other ship was returned to service.
8. Although Pearl Harbor is on the island of O’ahu in Hawaii, Hawaii wasn’t a state when Pearl Harbor was attacked. It was only a US Territory.
9. Japan wanted to declare war before the attack, but the message never got to the president.
10. The USS Arizona Memorial is built on the water that’s above the wreckage of the USS Arizona.
11. The USS Arizona still leaks oil. The day before the attack, the USS Arizona was completely fueled up, which was 1.5 million gallons!

Franklin D. RooseveltUS President In 1941, & LLC, P. H. T. (2021, December 7). 14 interesting Pearl Harbor Facts: Oahu attack & USS arizona facts. Pearl Harbor Tours. Retrieved December 7, 2021, from https://www.pearlharbortours.com/blog/facts-about-pearl-harbor/.

World War II. Ducksters. (n.d.). Retrieved December 7, 2021, from https://www.ducksters.com/history/world_war_ii/pearl_harbor_attack.php.