The start

65 years ago today, Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan, bringing the United States into WW11. At 6:00 a.m. on December 7, the six Japanese carriers launched a first wave of 183 planes composed of torpedo bombers, dive-bombers, level bombers and fighters. They attacked military airfields and at the same time they hit the fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor. The surprise was complete. The attacking planes came in two waves; the first hit its target at 7:53 AM, the second at 8:55. By 9:55 it was all over. By 1:00 PM the carriers that launched the planes from 274 miles off the coast of Oahu were heading back to Japan. Overall, twenty-one ships of the U.S. Pacific fleet were damaged and the death toll reached 2,403 with 1,178 injured.
Although stunned by the attack at Pearl Harbor, the Pacific Fleet's aircraft carriers, submarines and, most importantly, its fuel oil storage facilities emerged unscathed. These assets formed the foundation for the American response that led to victory at the Battle of Midway the following June and ultimately to the total destruction of the Japanese Empire four years later.