Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack commenced at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time (18:18 GMT). The base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese aircraft (including fighters, level and dive bombers, and torpedo bombers) in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four sunk. All but were later raised, and six were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded. Important base installations such as the power station, dry dock, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section), were not attacked. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 64 servicemen killed. One Japanese sailor, Kazuo Sakamaki, was captured.
Japanese-American life before World War II
After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the public began to fear the idea of Japanese Americans possibly aiding a Japanese invasion. At one point, about one month before the Pearl Harbor attack, the U.S. State Department hired a special investigator to report on Japanese-American communities to make sure that the Japanese were not a threat to national security. The investigator's conclusion was that there is no evidence supporting a reason to fear sabotage from the Japanese Americans. This report was kept confidential, however, so the public was never aware of this report. Thus, all of the negative images they had concerning Japanese Americans were initiated by the media. The public was also unaware of the fact that over 65% of the Japanese Americans were U.S. born citizens. Also, there were rumors of possibly Japanese-American spies, but there was never any conclusive evidence.