Pearl Harbor Attack and Aftermath

Attack on Pearl Harbor - Footage and Aftermath. On 7 December 1941, a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii "awakened the sleeping giant". Ninety minutes after it began, the attack was over. 2,386 Americans died and 1,139 were wounded. Eighteen ships were sunk or run aground, including five battleships.