On December 7th, 1941 at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time, the US Naval base at Pearl Harbor was pre-emptively attacked by the Empire of Japan to prevent the US Pacific Fleet from interfering with planned Japanese military actions in Southeast Asia. The attack was carried out by 353 fighters, bombers and torpedo planes, launched in two waves from a task force of six aircraft carriers (Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku, and Zuikaku) northwest of Hawaii. The damage inflicted was massive. All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four being sunk, in addition to damaging or sinking three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,402 Americans were killed and 1,282 wounded. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 65 servicemen killed or wounded. One Japanese sailor was captured. The attack came as a profound shock to the American people and led directly to the American entry into World War II in both the Pacific and European theaters. The following day (December 8), the United States declared war on Japan. There were numerous historical precedents for unannounced military action by Japan. However, the lack of any formal warning, particularly while negotiations were still apparently ongoing, led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proclaim December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy". On December 7, 1941 the overall flight leader (Hikotaicho) of the first wave of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was LCDR Shigeru Itaya. His aircraft was a A6M2 Model 21 Type 0 "AI-155" launched from the carrier Akagi along with 8 other Zeros to act as escorts for Vals from the carrier Shokaku. At 07:57 Itaya's unit strafed John Rodgers Field and 3 minutes later strafed Hickam Field with each aircraft making 3 passes. Itaya managed to shoot an arriving B-17 and was credited with an aerial victory.

Info: A6M2 Zero-Sen/Zeke IJNAS Akagi Hikotai, AI-155, Shigeru Itaya, IJN Carrier Akagi, Pearl Harbor, December 7th 1941