Outcomes of the Pearl Harbor attack
Losses
Both sides suffered losses, although those of Japan were much less. This is expected though, seeing as it was Japan's assault and is was intended to benefit them. The most severe of Japan's losses were the 64 Japanese men killed during the attack. Next major consequences were their 29 aircraft that were destroyed. The most interesting of the outcomes for the Japanese was that a soldier was captured. This soldier was captured after he grounded his midget submarine east of Oahu, and he swam ashore only to be captured and become the first Japanese prisoner of war. The losses for America were much more severe than those of Japan. The most noteable of these losses was that of lives; 2,402 American lives, with 1,177 of these being from the sinking of the U.S.S. Arizona alone. The next most serious effects the attack had on America was their battleships (and ex-battleship), which were the actual target for the Japanese. Of the nine battleships stationed there all were damaged greatly, but only two were sunk and never returned to service. These two were The U.S.S Arizona (which I mentioned earlier) which was too badly damaged after the ammunition for the forward guns was hit and exploded, and the U.S.S. Utah (which was an ex-battleship). The U.S.S. Utah was also hit badly, and was that much so, it could not be repaired and returned to service. The other seven battleships, some of which had sunk during the attack, were all restored. The ones returned to service did so anywhere between February 1942 and July 1944. There was one battleship, the U.S.S. Pennsylvania, that did not take substantial damage and did not need to be restored greatly and remained in service.
America brought into the war
As a result of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor America was brought into the war, onto the side of the allies. America was referred to as "the sleeping giant", merely because everybody knew that America was a very powerful country, and it had not yet taken a side in this war. The Japanese knew this, too, but they believed that this attack could benefit them. They did not see "waking the sleeping giant" as a problem, because by attacking Pearl Harbor, they believed they were buying themselves enough time only to capture the Dutch East Indies. Japan knew this attack would bring America into the war, and that doing so would make a formiddable opponent. The very next day after the attack President Roosevelt called a session of congress to discuss the matter of declaring war on Japan. There was only one person opposing this movenent, and Rosevelt signed the declaration of war later that day.