personnel (for Royal Navy personnel records from the Second World War contact the Ministry of Defence via the Veterans Agency).For a brief introduction to some of these records see our Second World War guide.įor a more detailed overview, see J Cantwell, The Second World War: A Guide to Documents in the Public Record Office (PRO Handbook no. Consequently there is a large amount of material on naval operations in records not relating specifically to the Royal Navy, and therefore not mentioned here. This guide will help you find records at The National Archives relating to Royal Navy operations and actions that took place between 19.ĭuring the Second World War, the integration of the three armed services with one another, and with civil government and allied forces, went far further than ever before. Convoys and operations with the Merchant Navy Naval aviation services: Fleet Air Arm and RAF Coastal Command Within days, Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Italy also declared war on the United States, and the U.S.

The next day President Roosevelt delivered his famous 'infamy' speech, and signed a formal declaration of war against the Empire of Japan. After the attack, Japan officially declared war on the United States. (Two of the battleships were later raised and returned to service.) Some 2,400 Americans were killed in the attack another 1,250 were injured, and a huge shock was dealt to United States. The entire preemptive attack lasted only 90 minutes, and in that time, the Japanese sunk four battleships and two destroyers, pummeled 188 aircraft, and damaged even more buildings, ships and airplanes. forces were unprepared, waking to the sounds of explosions and scrambling to defend themselves. More than 350 Japanese aircraft attacked the naval base in two waves, strafing targets, dropping armor-piercing bombs, and launching torpedoes toward U.S. On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on the United States, bombing warships and military targets in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

World war 2 navy photographers