Pearl Harbor

On 7 December 1941, a deadly surprise attack on the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor by Japanese planes sank or damaged 21 warships and destroyed more than 150 planes on nearby airfields. The attack, which was launched without a declaration of war, killed more than 2,000 Americans

The Pearl Harbour attack, 7 December 1941: sailors at the Naval Air Station, Ford Island, stand amid wreckage watching as the USS Shaw explodes in the centre background. The USS Nevada is also visible in the middle background, with her bow headed toward the left. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

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The destroyer USS Shaw explodes in a massive fireball at Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. The attack led almost immediately to Germany declaring war on America, and so brought Stalin an unexpected ally of colossal potential power, says Laurence Rees. (Bettmann/Getty Images)

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The battleship USS California (centre) following the attack at Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. (Bettmann/Getty Images)

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A mushroom cloud over Nagasaki after the dropping of the second atomic bomb, 9 August 1945. The dropping of the bomb prompted Japan to agree to surrender unconditionally, as it now seemed likely that the Americans could mount an inexorable process of bombing. (Photo by Time Life Pictures/Us Air Force/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

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The USS Arizona burning in Pearl Harbor following the Japanese attack. To the left of her are USS Tennessee and the sunken USS West Virginia. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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The Library The shock of Pearl Harbor

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A Japanese photograph shows Mitsubishi dive bombers warming up on the deck of a carrier in the Pacific before their attack on Pearl Harbor in the early hours of 7 December 1941. (Photo by Corbis via Getty Images)

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Britain’s Pearl Harbor

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