It was a sad, horrid time. U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt called December 7, 1941 a “date which will live in infamy.” It was the day Japan launched a surprise military strike with 353 fighter planes, torpedo planes, and bombers against the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded.
Here’s a collection of rare photographs below taken by LIFE photographer Bob Landry in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor:
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.
Bob Landry/LIFE
B-17 Bomber planes soaring through the sky, December 1941.
Bob Landry/LIFE
Vice Admiral Joseph “Bull” Reeves, Waikiki Beach, December 1941.
Bob Landry/LIFE
A rally at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, December 1941.
Bob Landry/LIFE
A poster at the Brooklyn Navy Yard calls for vigilance, December 1941.
Bob Landry/LIFE
The Brooklyn Navy Yard by night, 1941.
Bob Landry/LIFE
A Naval officer — dwarfed by the vessel in his view — gazes at a cruiser’s propeller at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, 1941.
Bob Landry/LIFE
A worker on break at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, 1941.
Bob Landry/LIFE
One of the earliest vessels on display at the Brooklyn Navy Yard: the Intelligent Whale, a 19th-century hand-cranked submarine.
Bob Landry/LIFE
A hastily constructed defense bunker, Hawaii, early 1942.
Bob Landry/LIFE
Training with gas masks in Hawaii, early 1942.
Bob Landry/LIFE
American troops in Hawaii, days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Bob Landry/LIFE
Troops in Hawaii, early 1942.
Bob Landry/LIFE
Men dig a post-Pearl Harbor defensive trench in Hawaii, December 1941.
Bob Landry/LIFE
Troops shore up defenses in Hawaii in the weeks after Pearl Harbor.
Bob Landry/LIFE
Post-Pearl Harbor training and patrol in Hawaii, early 1942.
Bob Landry/LIFE
Young defenders beside a mounted machine gun, Hawaii, December 1941.
Bob Landry/LIFE
Aboard an American warship, Pearl Harbor, early 1942.
Bob Landry/LIFE
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.”
Bob Landry/LIFE
An American warship’s crew shows its spirit, Pearl Harbor, early 1942.
Bob Landry/LIFE