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Dec. 7, 2023
Doing It Until We Got It Right: A Short History of the Pearl Harbor Investigations
On December 7, 1941, Japanese naval aircraft swept in on an unsuspecting US Pacific Fleet and Army in the Hawaiian Islands and destroyed many American ships and aircraft. In a little over two hours, 18 warships—including eight battleships—and over 160 aircraft were knocked out of action. With Japan’s eastern flank secured, its forces would rampage through the rest of the Pacific virtually unopposed.