Pearl Harbor: U.S. casualties and fatalities
The surprise Japanese attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941, marked the beginning of the United States' involvement in the Second World War. As a result of the attack, a total of 2,403 Americans were killed, and the vast majority of these were from the U.S. Navy. Almost half of all American deaths on the day came were those on the U.S.S. Arizona, where 1,177 servicemen were killed as the ship was sunk. In contrast, just 129 Japanese soldiers were killed in the attack.