President Franklin Roosevelt declared December 7, 1941 — when Japan launched more than 350 fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes against the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii — a “date which will live in infamy.” Below is a collection of rare photos taken by
LIFE photographer Bob Landry from Hawaii and the mainland in the aftermath of the 1941 attack.
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Exposed wreckage of the American battleship U.S.S. Arizona, most of which is now resting at the bottom of Pearl Harbor following a surprise Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941. |
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B-17 Bomber planes soaring through the sky, December 1941. |
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Vice Admiral Joseph "Bull" Reeves, Waikiki Beach, December 1941. |
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A rally at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, December 1941. |
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A poster at the Brooklyn Navy Yard calls for vigilance, December 1941. |
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The Brooklyn Navy Yard by night, 1941. |
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A Naval officer — dwarfed by the vessel in his view — gazes at a cruiser's propeller at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, 1941. |
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A worker on break at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, 1941. |
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One of the earliest vessels on display at the Brooklyn Navy Yard: the Intelligent Whale, a 19th-century hand-cranked submarine. |
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A hastily constructed defense bunker, Hawaii, early 1942. |
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Training with gas masks in Hawaii, early 1942. |
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American troops in Hawaii, days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. |
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Troops in Hawaii, early 1942. |
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Men dig a post-Pearl Harbor defensive trench in Hawaii, December 1941. |
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Troops shore up defenses in Hawaii in the weeks after Pearl Harbor. |
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Post-Pearl Harbor training and patrol in Hawaii, early 1942. |
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Young defenders beside a mounted machine gun, Hawaii, December 1941. |
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Aboard an American warship, Pearl Harbor, early 1942. |
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A sailor chalks a message to America's fighting men from the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations on a warship at Pearl Harbor. "Your conduct and action have been splendid. While you have suffered from a treacherous attack, your commander-in-chief has informed me that your courage and stamina remain magnificent. You know you will have your revenge. Recruiting stations are jammed with men eager to join you." |
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An American warship's crew shows its spirit, Pearl Harbor, early 1942. |