a
section of
Pearl Harbor (a
major United
States naval and air
base in the Hawaiian Islands) formerly used for anchoring battleships. Battleship
Row was located on the
eastern side of
Ford Island, in the center of the
harbor. On the morning of December 7, 1941, nearly two- hundred Japanese
planes filled the air above
Pearl Harbor in a
surprise bombing
attack on the ships and navy airfields. Seven of the US Pacific
fleet's nine battleships were lined up and anchored on Battleship
Row and another was nearby. Within thirty
minutes one of the eight battleships was completely destroyed, another capsized and the remaining ships were badly damaged. In total, twenty-one of the ninety-two US ships in the
harbor were destroyed or damaged, as well as some three-hundred
planes. More than 2,400 people were killed and approximately 1,100 were wounded. The
following day Congress declared
war on Japan, bringing the United
States into
World War II (1939-1945).