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{{Short description|Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii}}
{{About||its current operations as a military base|Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam|the attack operation in 1941|Attack on Pearl Harbor|other uses}}
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{{Infobox body of water
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[[File:Ford Island aerial photo RIMPAC 1986.JPEG|thumb|Seen in 1986 with [[Ford Island]] in center. The [[USS Arizona Memorial]] is the small white dot on the left side above Ford Island.]]
'''Pearl Harbor''' is an American [[lagoon]] [[harbor]] on the island of [[Oahu]], Hawaii, west of [[Honolulu]]. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the [[United States]], before it was acquired from the [[Hawaiian Kingdom]] by the U.S. with the signing of the [[Reciprocity Treaty of 1875]]. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands are now a [[United States Navy]] deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the [[United States Pacific Fleet]]. The U.S. government first obtained exclusive use of the inlet and the right to maintain a repair and coaling station for ships here in 1887.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/u/the-us-navy-and-hawaii-a-historical-summary/pearl-harbor-its-origin-and-administrative-history.html | title=Pearl Harbor: Its Origin and Administrative History Through World War II | publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command | date=April 23, 2015 | access-date=September 9, 2016 | archive-date=August 21, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821051252/http://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/u/the-us-navy-and-hawaii-a-historical-summary/pearl-harbor-its-origin-and-administrative-history.html | url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|surprise attack]] on the harbor by the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] on December 7, 1941, led the United States to [[United States declaration of war on Japan|declare war]] on the [[Empire of Japan]], marking the [[American entry into World War II|United States' entry into World War II]].<ref>{{cite video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrVI6ENDL8Y  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100724155011/http://www.youtube.com//watch?v=CrVI6ENDL8Y |archive-date=2010-07-24 |url-status=dead|title=FDR Pearl Harbor Speech |date=December 8, 1941 | access-date=2011-02-05 |quote=December 7th, 1941, a day that will live in infamy.}}</ref><ref name = nrhpinv>{{Cite web | last = Apple | first = Russell A. | author2 = Benjamin Levy | title = Pearl Harbor | work = National Register of Historic Places – Nomination and Inventory | publisher = [[National Park Service]] | date = February 8, 1974 | url = https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NHLS/66000940_text | format = pdf | access-date = 25 May 2012 | archive-date = June 16, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230616032031/https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NHLS/66000940_text | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name = nrhpphotos>{{Cite web | title = Pearl Harbor | work = Photographs | publisher = [[National Park Service]] | url = https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NHLS/66000940_photos | format = pdf | access-date = 25 May 2012 | archive-date = June 16, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230616032032/https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NHLS/66000940_photos | url-status = live }}</ref>

==History==
{{see also|History of Hawaii}}
Pearl Harbor was originally an extensive shallow [[embayment]] called ''Wai Momi'' (meaning 'Waters of Pearl')<ref>{{cite web|url=https://home.nps.gov/perl/learn/historyculture/places.htm|title=Places – The History of Pearl Harbor|publisher=National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior|access-date=December 22, 2014|archive-date=January 13, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113123542/http://www.nps.gov/valr/historyculture/places.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> or ''Pu{{okina}}uloa'' (meaning 'long hill') by the [[Hawaiian people|Hawaiians]]. Pu{{okina}}uloa was regarded as the home of the shark goddess, Ka{{okina}}ahupahau, and her brother (or son), Kahi{{okina}}uka, in Hawaiian legends. According to tradition, [[Keaunui]], the head of the powerful Ewa chiefs, is credited with cutting a navigable channel near the present Pu{{okina}}uloa saltworks, by which he made the estuary, known as "Pearl River", accessible to navigation. Making due allowance for legendary amplification, the estuary already had an outlet for its waters where the present gap is; but Keaunui is typically given the credit for widening and deepening it.

===Nineteenth century===
{{see also|Kingdom of Hawaii}}{{unreferenced section|date=January 2020}}
[[File:Puʻuloa in the 1880s.jpg|thumb|left|Pearl Harbor in the 1880s]]
During the early nineteenth century, Pearl Harbor was not used for large ships due to its shallow entrance. The United States' interest in the [[Hawaiian Islands]] grew as a result of its whaling, shipping and trading activity in the Pacific. As early as 1820, an "Agent of the United States for Commerce and Seamen" was appointed to look after American business in the [[Port of Honolulu]]. These commercial ties to the American continent were accompanied by the work of the [[American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions]]. American missionaries and their families became an integral part of the Hawaiian political body.

Throughout the 1820s and 1830s, many American warships visited Honolulu. In most cases, the commanding officers carried letters from the U.S. Government giving advice on governmental affairs and of the relations of the island nation with foreign powers. In 1841, the newspaper ''Polynesian'', printed in Honolulu, advocated that the U.S. establish a naval base in Hawaii for the protection of American citizens engaged in the whaling industry. The British Hawaiian Minister of Foreign Affairs [[Robert Crichton Wyllie]], remarked in 1840 that, "...&nbsp;my opinion is that the tide of events rushes on to annexation to the United States."

From the conclusion of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], to the purchase of [[Alaska]], to the increased importance of the Pacific states, the projected trade with countries in Asia and the desire for a duty-free market for Hawaiian staples, Hawaiian trade expanded. In 1865, the North Pacific Squadron was formed to embrace the western coast and Hawaii. {{USS|Lackawanna|1862|2}} in the following year was assigned to cruise among the islands, "a locality of great and increasing interest and importance". This vessel surveyed the [[Northwestern Hawaiian Islands]] toward Japan. As a result, the United States claimed [[Midway Atoll|Midway Island]]. The Secretary of the Navy was able to write in his annual report of 1868, that in November 1867, 42 American flags flew over whaleships and merchant vessels in Honolulu to only six of other nations. This increased activity caused the permanent assignment of at least one warship to Hawaiian waters. It also praised Midway Island as possessing a harbor surpassing Honolulu's. In the following year, Congress approved an appropriation of $50,000 on March 1, 1869, to deepen the approaches to this harbor.

[[File:ISS021-E-15710 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.jpg|thumb|Astronaut photograph of Pearl Harbor from October 2009]]
[[File:Entrance to Pearl Harbor.jpg|thumb|right|Entrance to Pearl Harbor]]
After 1868, when the Commander of the Pacific Fleet visited the islands to look after American interests, naval officers played an important role in internal affairs. They served as arbitrators in business disputes, negotiators of trade agreements and defenders of law and order. Periodic voyages among the islands and to the mainland aboard U.S. warships were arranged for members of the Hawaiian royal family and important island government officials. When King [[Lunalilo]] died in 1873, negotiations were underway for the cession of Pearl Harbor as a port for the duty-free export of sugar to the U.S.{{citation needed|date=December 2012}} With the election of King [[Kalākaua]] in March 1874, [[Honolulu Courthouse riot|a riot]] prompted landing of sailors from [[USS Tuscarora (1861)|USS ''Tuscarora'']] and {{USS|Portsmouth|1843|2}}. The British warship, {{HMS|Tenedos|1870|6}}, also landed a token force. During the reign of [[King Kalākaua]] the United States was granted exclusive rights to enter Pearl Harbor and to establish "a coaling and repair station".

Although this treaty continued in force until August 1898, the U.S. did not fortify Pearl Harbor as a naval base. As it had for 60 years, the shallow entrance constituted a formidable barrier against the use of the deep protected waters of the inner harbor.

The United States and the [[Hawaiian Kingdom]] signed the [[Reciprocity Treaty of 1875]] as supplemented by Convention on December 6, 1884. This treaty was ratified in 1887. On January 20, 1887, the [[United States Senate]] allowed the Navy the exclusive right to maintain a coaling and repair station at Pearl Harbor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Honolulu |first=Mailing Address: National Park Service Pearl Harbor National Memorial 1 Arizona Memorial Place |last2=Us |first2=HI 96818 Phone: 808 422-3399 Contact |title=Pearl Harbor - Pearl Harbor National Memorial (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/perl/learn/historyculture/pearl-harbor.htm |access-date=2024-03-18 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref> (The US took possession on November 9 that year). The [[Spanish–American War]] of 1898 and the desire for the United States to have a permanent presence in the Pacific both contributed to the decision.

===Naval presence (1899–present)===
{{Main|Naval Station Pearl Harbor}}
[[File:The USS Arizona (BB-39) burning after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor - NARA 195617 - Edit.jpg|thumb|{{USS|Arizona|BB-39|6}}, during the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], December 7, 1941]]
Following the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, the [[United States Navy]] established a base on the island in 1899. On December 7, 1941, the base was [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked]] by the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] airplanes and midget submarines, causing the American entry into [[World War II]]. There was no meaningful plan for the air defense of Hawaii, for American commanders thought the Japanese would attack either [[Wake Island]] or the [[Philippines]] and had no understanding of the capabilities and proper employment of air power. As it was, had the Pacific Fleet acted on the war warnings, it undoubtedly would have [[sortie]]d and been at sea on December 7, where the major ships would have been sunk in deep water, making salvage impossible.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Smith|first1=Dale|title=Pearl Harbor: A lesson in air power|journal=Air Power History|date=1997|volume=44|issue=1|pages=46–53}}</ref> 
Shortly after the devastating Japanese surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, two American military commanders, Lt. Gen. [[Walter Short]] and Adm. [[Husband E. Kimmel|Husband Kimmel]], were demoted of their full ranks. The two American commanders later sought to restore their reputations and full ranks.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Remember Pearl Harbor|journal=Christian Science Monitor|date=January 6, 1996|pages=2}}</ref>

====Post-World War II====
[[File:US Navy 040702-N-4304S-136 Warships from several nations sit pierside at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.jpg|thumb|left|Warships from various nations at Pearl Harbor for the 2004 [[RIMPAC]] exercises]]
Over the years, Pearl Harbor remained a main base for the [[US Pacific Fleet]] after World War II along with [[Naval Base San Diego]]. In 2010, the Navy and the Air Force merged their two nearby bases; Pearl Harbor joined with [[Hickam Field|Hickam Air Force Base]] to create [[Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam]].

In December 2016, [[Prime Minister of Japan|Japanese Prime Minister]] [[Shinzo Abe]] made a joint visit to Pearl Harbor with US President [[Barack Obama]]. This trip marked the 75th anniversary of the attack and was the first official visit by a sitting Japanese leader.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://asiatimes.com/article/jobs-japanese-participant-remembers-pearl-harbor/|title=We did our jobs: Japanese participant remembers Pearl Harbor|last=Ito|first=Shingo|date=5 December 2016|website=atimes.com|access-date=7 December 2016|archive-date=November 14, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114223836/https://asiatimes.com/2016/12/jobs-japanese-participant-remembers-pearl-harbor/|url-status=live}}</ref>

On December 4, 2019, a [[US Navy]] sailor killed two civilian workers and wounded another, before shooting himself at the [[Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/2dec5ee8ce885061fe25c699a43eb71b|title=Pearl Harbor shooting unfolded in 23 seconds in packed area|last=Kelleher|first=Jennifer Sinco|date=6 December 2019|website=apnews.com|publisher=Associated Press|access-date=9 December 2019|archive-date=9 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209080747/https://apnews.com/2dec5ee8ce885061fe25c699a43eb71b|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Environmental contamination==
On October 14, 1992, the US [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] added the [[Pearl Harbor Naval Complex]] as a [[superfund]] to the so-called [[National Priorities List]].<ref name="epa">{{Cite web |date=2006-06-28 |title=EPA/ROD/R2006090001499 2006 EPA Superfund Record of Decision: Pearl Harbor Naval Complex |url=https://semspub.epa.gov/work/HQ/188825.pdf |access-date=2022-07-10 |website=EPA |archive-date=June 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230616032033/https://semspub.epa.gov/work/HQ/188825.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Admiral Clarey Bridge]]
*[[Pearl Harbor National Wildlife Refuge]]
*[[USS Pearl Harbor]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.navsup.navy.mil/NAVSUP-Enterprise/NAVSUP-FLC-Pearl-Harbor/ Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Pearl Harbor]
{{commons and category|Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor}}
{{Collier's poster}}
* [http://www.britishpathe.com/workspace.php?id=4902 British Pathé] Online archive of Pearl Harbor and related footage
* [http://www.history.com/topics/pearl-harbor Pearl Harbor] on The History Channel

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[[Category:Pearl Harbor| ]]
[[Category:Attack on Pearl Harbor|P]]
[[Category:Bays of Oahu]]
[[Category:Geography of Honolulu County, Hawaii]]
[[Category:World War II sites in the United States]]
[[Category:Ports and harbors of Hawaii]]
[[Category:Oahu]]
[[Category:Landforms of Oahu]]
[[Category:Superfund sites in Hawaii]]