Pearl Harbor is remembered as the greatest naval disaster in American history, and rightly so. The main target of the Japanese surprise attack on Dec. 7, 1941 was the US Pacific Fleet. At 7:55 that Sunday morning, sailors on ships moored in the harbor looked up to see Japanese airplanes sweeping in low from the sea. They met virtually no resistance as they dropped their bombs and torpedoes into the midst of the vulnerable fleet. When it was over, eight battleships, three light cruisers, three destroyers, and four auxiliary ships had been sunk, capsized, or severely damaged. Navy casualties were more than 2,000 killed and hundreds wounded.
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