Casualties
Just over 2,400 Americans died in the attack – 2,008 Navy personnel, 109 Marines, 218 Army personnel (including the Army Air Forces, the Air Force’s predecessor), and 68 civilians. Another 1,178 were wounded.
Nearly half of the deaths came from the battleship USS Arizona, which sank after suffering a massive explosion from a bomb that penetrated the vessel’s deck and ignited its forward ammunition magazine. It was one of three ships destroyed in the attack, along with the battleship USS Oklahoma, where 429 men died, and the USS Utah, with a death toll of 58.
Numerous other ships, including six additional battleships, were damaged or sunk. Some 188 military aircraft were destroyed; 159 were damaged.
While devastating, the attack was not a total success. Repair crews were able to return 18 ships to service; none of Pearl Harbor’s aircraft carriers were present during the attack; and Americans, previously divided over the question of U.S. involvement in the war, rallied together to commit to victory.
