The first week of December 2016 marks the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbour attack that was carried out by the Imperial Japanese Navy on the United States naval base in Hawaii on 7 December 1941, killing more than 2000 people and wounding several more.
The naval base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese fighter planes, bombers, and torpedo planes that damaged all eight US Navy battleships. The attack also sank three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship and one minelayer. Japan claimed it carried out the attack to keep the United States Pacific Fleet from interfering with the kingdom's attempts to throw out the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States from Southeast Asia.
The attack is of historical significance not only for the political reasons or the amount of damage it brought but for being the event which prompted US to enter World War II. On 8 December, the United States declared war on Japan which was mainly supported by Germany and Italy.
IBtimes Singapore brings to you 15 rare images from the historic attack:
The body of a sailor killed during the Japanese air attack at Naval Air Station Kanoehe Bay lies on the shoreline, at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, U.S. December 7, 1941.Reuters
The forward magazine of the destroyer USS Shaw explodes during the second Japanese attack wave on Pearl Harbor.Reuters
Japanese Navy Type 99 Val carrier bombers prepare to take off from an aircraft carrier to attack Pearl Harbor. The ship in the background is the carrier Soryu.Reuters
An officer on the Japanese aircraft carrier Shokaku watches as planes take off to attack Pearl Harbor. The Kanji inscription at left is a commander order to pilots to do their duty to destroy (the enemy).Reuters
A Japanese Navy Type 97 Kate carrier attack plane takes off from the aircraft carrier Shokaku, en route to attack Pearl Harbor.Reuters
The battleship USS Arizona burns on Battleship Row, beside Ford Island in an aerial photo taken from a Japanese aircraft during the attack. Ships seen are (L-R) USS Nevada, USS Arizona with USS Vestal moored outboard, USS Tennessee with USS West Virginia moored outboard and USS Maryland with USS Oklahoma capsized alongside.Reuters
A Japanese Navy Type 99 Val carrier bomber is seen in action during the attack.Reuters
Flak bursts of anti-aircraft shells pepper the skyline above rising smoke from the battleship USS Arizona.Reuters
Gunners on board the minesweeper USS Avocet look for more Japanese planes, at about the time the air raid ended on Pearl Harbor.Reuters
Sailors in a motor launch rescue a survivor from the water alongside the sunken battleship USS West Virginia during or shortly after the Japanese air raidReuters
The forward superstructure of the sunken battleship USS Arizona burns after the attack.Reuters
The destroyers USS Downes and USS Cassin lie wrecked in Drydock One ahead of the battleship USS Pennsylvania soon after the end of the attack.Reuters
A wrecked U.S. Army Air Corps B-17C bomber lies at Hickam Air Field, following the end of the Japanese raid. This plane, piloted by Captain Raymond T. Swenson, was one of those that arrived during the raid after flying in from California. It was hit by a strafing attack after landing and burned in half.Reuters
The forward magazines of the destroyer USS Shaw explode after a bombing attack by Japanese planesReuters
Sailors stand amid wrecked planes at the Ford Island seaplane base, watching as the destroyer USS Shaw explodes in the center background.Reuters
