Artwork Page for Ship Under Attack, Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941

Details / Information for Ship Under Attack, Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941

Ship Under Attack, Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941

1941

America

Medium
gelatin silver print
Measurements
Image: 9.4 x 12.4 cm (3 11/16 x 4 7/8 in.); Sheet: 11.2 x 14.2 cm (4 7/16 x 5 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Judith K. McMillan 2024.131
Copyright
Copyright
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

The surprise attack by the Japanese on the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was declared by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as “a date which will live in infamy.”

Description

Photography’s unique ability to freeze an instant in time and make viewers feel as if they are living through it themselves is exemplified in this dramatic seascape showing a ship under attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The image captures a key moment in the history of the United States, evoking the terror and destruction of the attack from the air.
A horizontal black-and-white photograph is dominated by a massive, dark column of billowing smoke filling the upper right. A listing battleship tilts to our left, its stern draped in a white awning. To our right, a small boat with several figures approaches the vessel. Churning gray water fills the foreground, while more smoke obscures the distant horizon. A dark, hazy shape protrudes from the bottom right.

Ship Under Attack, Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941

1941

America

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