Japanese-American Claims Act
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack sank four U.S. battleships, destroyed 188 U.S. aircraft, and killed 2,403 U.S. citizens within two hours, and led to the United States joining World War II. Once the United States entered the war and anti-Japanese sentiment began to circulate, Americans increasingly reacted with racism and hostility, viewing people of Japanese descent were treated as enemies regardless of whether they were U.S. citizens. The U.S. government expressed concerns about the loyalty of the Japanese people living in America and about Japanese spies sending information to Japan. "The U.S. Department of the Treasury froze the assets of all citizens and resident aliens who were born in Japan, and the Department of Justice arrested some 1,500 religious and community leaders as potentially dangerous enemy aliens. Because many of the largest populations of Japanese Americans were in close proximity to vital war assets along the Pacific coast. The result was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066."
USS Oklahoma (BB-37)
On 7 December 1941, "Oklahoma" was sunk by several torpedoes during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Torpedoes from torpedo bomber airplanes hit the "Oklahoma"'s hull and the ship capsized. Survivors jumped off the ship into burning hot water or crawled across mooring lines that connected "Oklahoma" and . Some sailors inside escaped when rescuers drilled holes and opened hatches to rescue them. A total of 429 crew died when she capsized and sank in Battleship Row. In 1943, "Oklahoma" was righted and salvaged. Unlike most of the other battleships that were recovered following Pearl Harbor, "Oklahoma" was too damaged to return to duty. Her wreck was eventually stripped of her remaining armament and superstructure before being sold for scrap in 1946. The hulk sank in a storm in 1947, while being towed from Oahu, Hawaii, to a breakers yard in San Francisco Bay.