NARRATOR: December 7, 1941, several miles up the coast from Waikiki, Japanese aircraft swooped in for the kill.
Torpedo bombers hit first, targeting the battleships anchored in the harbor.
A second wave of dive bombers attacked US air bases across Oahu.
Hundreds of American aircraft were destroyed or damaged before pilots could even get them off the ground.
Incredibly, the damage to America's Pacific fleet could have been far worse.
A third wave of Japanese air attacks had been planned.
The target, the fleet's enormous fuel storage.
Fortunately, the Japanese believed enough damage had been done and the attack was called off.
Because the fuel was saved, the US fleet was eventually able to mobilize and take the war to the Japanese.
During the two-hour attack on Pearl Harbor, 21 vessels were destroyed.
