(Baonghean.vn) - December 7, 2016 marks the 75th anniversary of the historic Pearl Harbor battle, when Japanese aircraft suddenly attacked and destroyed the US fleet. This attack was a surprise military strike by the Japanese Navy against the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in the state of Hawaii, leading to the US later deciding to participate in military operations in World War II.
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| On the morning of December 7, 1941, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto launched an attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor. More than 180 aircraft were used in this first attack. Pictured: Japanese planes take off from the aircraft carrier Shokaku preparing to attack Pearl Harbor. |
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| Japanese pilots receive orders aboard a destroyer before launching the mission to bomb Pearl Harbor. Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku hoped that a sudden, lightning attack on the American fleet would force the Americans to sue for peace, leaving the Pacific free for Japan to expand. |
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| Japanese Navy Val Type 99 carrier bombers prepare to take off to attack Pearl Harbor. |
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| Aircraft take off from the Type 97 aircraft carrier Kate en route to attack Pearl Harbor. |
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| The forward ammunition chamber of the destroyer USS Shaw explodes after being hit by a bomb from a Japanese aircraft on December 7, 1941. |
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| US sailors stand among the wreckage of aircraft at Ford Island Air Force Base. The USS Shaw destroyer explodes in the background. |
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| The USS West Virginia and USS Tennessee were engulfed in flames. The scene was later described by a Japanese bomber pilot as “a truly majestic sight.” |
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| Image of the ship exploding and sinking to the bottom of the ocean. Photo archive/source DailyMail |
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| A sailor is rescued after jumping from the torpedoed USS West Virginia. The USS West Virginia sank alongside the USS Tennessee. |
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| The US naval airfield at Pearl Harbor was left in ruins after the attack. A total of 347 US aircraft were either destroyed or damaged. |
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| The USS Oklahoma capsized in Pearl Harbor. |
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| A Japanese torpedo plane is pulled from the seabed. Only about 10% of the Japanese planes were lost on December 7. |
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| About 188 US aircraft were destroyed and 159 damaged. Here are photos of abandoned planes at Hickam Field Air Force Base near Pearl Harbor. |
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| Sailors at the naval airfield in Kaneohe, Hawaii attempt to rescue a plane hit by a Japanese bomb. |
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| And at 4 p.m. the next day, then-US President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the declaration of war, officially plunging the United States into the chaos of World War II. 2,402 Americans died, dozens of warships were sunk or damaged, and hundreds of aircraft were destroyed as a result of the disastrous attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. |
Thai Binh (synthesis)
