81 years ago this morning about 300 Japanese planes from six Japanese carriers bombed the American Naval base at Pearl Harbor and nearby airfields.
About 2,000 Americans died in the attack, most of them aboard the Battleship Arizona. Arizona suffered a catastrophic magazine explosion when a converted artillery shell was dropped onto it and penetrated the deck armor over the forward magazine.
Four of the carriers involved in the attack were sunk off Midway six months later. A fifth survived until the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June, 1944 (aka Great Marianis Turkey Shoot) where it was torpedoed and sunk by an American submarine (USS Cavalla).
The final surviving carrier from the attack survived until the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October, 1944 where it was sunk by American Carrier aircraft.
