Image: Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images
About This Quiz
Pearl Harbor is a lagoon harbor located on the island of Oahu, Hawaii and was acquired by the United States in 1875. It received its name from the pearl oysters that were once harvested from the waters.
It consists of five historic sites that honor the past events, namely the USS Arizona Memorial, USS Oklahoma Memorial, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, Battleship Missouri Memorial and the Pacific Aviation Museum. Visitors will hear survival stories, tread through airplane hangars and visit the final resting place of the USS Arizona which remains a place of quiet reflection and solemn beauty sunk in this shallow harbor.
On the morning of December 7, 1941, there was a surprise military attack on the United States by Japan at the harbor. During this attack, 188 United States aircraft were damaged with over 2,300 Americans being killed and a further 1,178 were wounded. The following day, the United States raised fury and declared war on Japan, leading to America’s entry into World War II. Â
This has been recorded as one of the deadliest attacks in United States’ history and will forever be remembered as the day that changed the course of history. To this very day, Pearl Harbor remains an active United States naval base with heightened security. But can you tell us more about that fateful day? Can you tell us about one of the most tragic events in US history?
What day was Pearl Harbor attacked by the Japanese?
Sept. 9, 1942
Dec. 7, 1941
The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
Aug. 11, 1941
True or false: The attack on Pearl Harbor lasted just 30 minutes.
true
false
The surprise attack lasted two hours, and only Navy aircraft carriers weren't destroyed.
More than 1,000 U.S. soldiers were killed when this ship was sunk.
USS Nevada
USS Oklahoma
USS Arizona
An 1,800-pound (816-kilogram) bomb smashed through the deck of the USS Arizona and landed in the forward ammunition magazine. The ship exploded and sank with more than 1,000 men trapped inside.
Advertisement
Which ship did NOT sink during the attack on Pearl Harbor?
USS Nevada
USS Maryland
The USS Maryland was attacked but never sunk.
USS California
What did the Japanese NOT attack that allowed the U.S. Navy to quickly recover?
oil storage facilities
The Japanese never attacked the U.S. naval oil storage facilities, repair shops, shipyards and submarine docks, allowing the Navy to recover and rebound quickly and get in the fight.
warships
destroyers
How many Japanese planes are estimated to have attacked Pearl Harbor?
250
360
It's estimated that about 360 Japanese planes were part of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
450
Advertisement
Who was the commander of the Pacific Fleet when Pearl Harbor was attacked?
Lt. Gen. Walter Short
Adm. James Richardson
Rear Adm. Husband E. Kimmel
Kimmel was relieved of his duty after the disaster.
Who was the commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet when Pearl Harbor was attacked?
Isoroku Yamamoto
Marshal Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto conceived and carried out the surprise attack on U.S. naval forces at Pearl Harbor.
Toshihira Inoguchi
Osami Nagano
What Japanese naval commander was in charge of the 1st Air Fleet that attacked Pearl Harbor?
Chuichi Nagumo
Nagumo oversaw the attack on Pearl Harbor, but he was later criticized for failing to launch a third attack, which might have destroyed the fuel oil storage and repair facilities.
Isoroku Yamamoto
Ibo Takahashi
Advertisement
Who said this? "Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Roosevelt delivered the Infamy Speech to a joint session of Congress the day after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.
Rear Adm. Husband E. Kimmel
Henry A. Wallace
True or false: Congress passed a formal declaration of war against Japan on Dec. 8, 1941.
true
Within just one hour of FDR's famous Infamy Speech, Congress declared war on Japan, taking the United States into World War II.
false
Who was the only member of Congress to vote against going to war?
Thomas W. Harrison
Jeannette Rankin
Rep. Jeannette Rankin was the only dissenting vote. She said because she couldn't go to war as a woman, she wouldn’t send anyone to war either.
John M. Nelson
Advertisement
What commission was appointed to investigate the attack on Pearl Harbor?
the Warren Commission
the Roberts Commission
President Roosevelt appointed the Roberts Commission to investigate and report the facts related to the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor.
the Allen Commission
How many U.S. battleships were moored at Pearl Harbor when it was attacked?
seven
eight
nine
There were nine U.S. battleships moored at Pearl Harbor's Battleship Row when it was attacked.
True or false: The U.S. didn't think Pearl Harbor was vulnerable to an attack from Japan despite the fact that the Hawaiian island chain proved defenseless from a carrier strike during war games.
true
U.S. naval intelligence expected an attack in the Philippines if hostilities broke out between the U.S. and Japan.
false
Advertisement
True or false: In 1942, shortly after America joined World War II, President Roosevelt issued an executive order authorizing all Japanese-American citizens be placed in "relocation centers."
true
More than 120,000 Japanese — 80,000 of which were U.S. citizens — were placed in interment camps in Idaho, Utah, California, Arizona, Wyoming, Arkansas and Colorado.
false
Who said this? "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."
Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto
The quote is generally attributed to Yamamoto, who is said to have been against the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Rear Adm. Husband E. Kimmel
Where did the Japanese attack planes take off?
Midway Islands
aircraft carriers in the Pacific Ocean
The Japanese planes took off from six aircraft carriers in the Pacific.
Johnston Atoll
Advertisement
True or false: The Japanese called the operation to attack Pearl Harbor "Operation H."
true
false
They actually called it Operation Z.
What famous Morse code message did air attack commander Mitsuo Fuchida transmit to his other Japanese A6M2 Zero fighters?
Bonzai! Bonzai!
Climb Mount Niitaka
to-ra, to-ra, to-ra
Fuchida transmitted "to-ra, to-ra, to-ra!" signaling that the Americans weren't able to mount a defense.
What day and time was the attack on Pearl Harbor?
about 7:45 a.m. on Sunday
The attack took place around 7:45 a.m. Sunday morning, which is likely why there weren't thousands of more U.S. casualties.
about 6:30 p.m. on Saturday
about 3 p.m. on Saturday
Advertisement
What detected the Japanese attack force 70 miles (113 kilometers) out from Pearl Harbor, but soldiers thought it was friendly aircraft?
a submarine crew
U.S. Army mobile radar
A new U.S. Army SCR-270 mobile radar array mounted high up Opana Point on Oahu detected the Japanese attack force from 70 miles out.
a weather balloon
The USS Arizona is one of two ships the Japanese sunk during Pearl Harbor that was NOT able to be raised later. What is the other?
USS Utah
The USS West Virginia was sunk but later raised, and the USS Nevada was heavily damaged. But the USS Utah, which capsized, was never raised and now sits on the bottom of Pearl Harbor.
USS West Virginia
USS Nevada
True or false: Construction didn't begin on the Pearl Harbor memorial until 1960.
true
For years following the end of World War II, the wreck sat largely ignored until a desire grew to establish some type of Pearl Harbor memorial to honor those who died. The USS Arizona Memorial opened in 1961.
false
Advertisement
When did the USS Arizona Memorial become part of the National Park Service?
1965
1977
1980
The USS Arizona Memorial was dedicated on Memorial Day 1962 and became a National Park Service area in 1980.
On what U.S. battleship did representatives of the Allied and Axis powers sign two copies of the Instrument of Surrender?
USS Missouri
The Instrument of Surrender was signed in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945, on the USS Missouri.
USS Alabama
USS Tennessee
True or false: Japanese Emperor Hirohito’s radio broadcast announcing that the Japanese government had accepted the unconditional surrender of the Japanese military at the end of World War II was likely the first time an emperor of Japan had spoken to the common people.
true
This is true. And he spoke in an imperial dialect that few ordinary Japanese people could understand.
false
Advertisement
True or false: The name of the conference calling for Japan's surrender in World War II was the Potsdam Conference.
true
false
Participants included the United States, U.K. and Soviet Union. The countries issued the Potsdam Declaration, which outlined the terms of surrender for Japan.
What did the ultimatum in the Potsdam Declaration say Japan would face if it did not surrender?
inevitable and complete destruction
The declaration stated, "The full application of our military power, backed by our resolve, will mean the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland."
swift action
total annihilation
True or false: The attack damaged or destroyed about 10 U.S. ships.
true
false
The attack damaged or destroyed about 20 U.S. ships and 300 aircraft.
Advertisement
You Got:
/30
Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images