On December 7, 1941, the Japanese mounted a surprise attack on the U.S. fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The attack came swiftly on a Sunday morning and devastated the armada of American warships and aircrafts. 183 Japanese planes came and destroyed 18 ships, 162 planes, and 2403 human lives. However, the the fueling tanks on the island were not attacked and three ships were at sea during the time of attack. If the ships and the fueling stations were destroyed, Pearl Harbor would have been put out of business. The attack on Pearl Harbor was the event that pulled the United States into World War II and began the quarrel with Japan.