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5 Things You Didn't Know About Pearl Harbor In the early morning hours of December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise military attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. To mark the anniversary of that event, here are five things you probably didn't know about Pearl Harbor.... The U.S. Was About to Jump Into the War Anyway (Pearl Harbor Was Just the Last Straw) Pearl Harbor is often given as the reason that the isolationist U.S. finally got involved in World War II, and it was the catalyst for the U.S. going to war against Japan. But the country was already sending supplies to Britain, Russia, and France, telegraphing to Axis powers just which side the U.S. would be on. Italy and Germany jumped into the fray a few days after the attack by officially declaring war on the U.S. Between the Pearl Harbor attack and an outright declaration of war in the European Theater, the U.S. couldn't afford to remain outside of the hostilities any longer. The Attack Missed Three Fleet Carriers That Later Changed the Course of the War The attack on Pearl Harbor was devastating to the Pacific fleet, destroying much of the sea and air fleets available to U.S. troops. However, three fleet carriers were not in the harbor that day, so they were not attacked or destroyed—and they were later crucial in changing how the war was going. Without these three, the Battle of Midway would not have gone as well for the U.S. as it did. The U.S. Kind of Expected a Japanese Attack, Only Much Farther to the West For months before the attack, the U.S. kept an eye on whether the Japanese might attack, and the government wasn't so surprised at the idea that Japan would attack—but the location of the attack was a complete shock. U.S. officials thought that Japan wouldn't bother with the relatively remote Hawaiian Islands and would instead focus on any U.S. interests in the western reaches of the Pacific. That meant that Pearl Harbor was left relatively open and provided the Japanese with a rich target. The Attack Extended Past the Harbor Historical reports tend to focus on the destruction of the fleet and harbor, and the ensuing deaths. They don't always show how messy the bombing was and how it affected civilian territory outside of the harbor. Missiles also reached an elementary school (the missiles may have gone off-target and bombing the school may not have been an actual goal; one report said the missile was a defective anti-aircraft weapon that fell onto the school instead of hitting bombers), and people around the harbor had to flee to safety. The U.S. Was Already Reducing Contact With Japan Well Before the Attack The U.S. and Japan were not at war with each other before Pearl Harbor, but as early as 1939, the U.S. started reducing ties with the country. First, the U.S. terminated a commerce treaty, and then in 1940, the country started restricting exports to Japan. The U.S. also was sympathetic to China, which was fighting against Japanese occupation, and the Japanese government became less friendly to the U.S. over time because of this. By mid-1941, the U.S. had cut off relations with Japan.