Remembering Pearl Harbor after 72 years (Watch pics)

New Delhi: December 7, 1941 was the date which will live in infamy. It was the day when Japan launched more than 350 fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes against the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii .The world observes the 72nd anniversary of the attack that brought the United States into World War II.At the time of the attack, there were roughly 50,000 troops based at Pearl Harbor.More than 2,400 American troops died in the early hours of Dec. 7, 1941.Soon after the attack in 1941, the then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the American people and referred to the day's events as a “sneak attack.”“Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 -- a day which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan,” said Roosevelt.Although the attack was devastatingly successful, it was not the knockout blow Japanese planners had intended. Most importantly, the U.S. Navy's Pacific carrier fleet was left untouched, since all three aircraft carriers were at sea during the attack. These would provide a crucial counterbalance to Japanese naval power in the Pacific in 1942, beginning with the stunning American victory at the battle of Midway.On the anniversary of Pearl Harbor we present some pics of the devastating attack and its aftereffects: In this Dec. 7, 1941 file photo, a small boat rescues a crew member from the water as heavy smoke rolls out of the stricken USS West Virginia after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.In this Dec. 7, 1941 file photo, the destroyer USS Shaw explodes after being hit by bombs during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.The USS Arizona (BB-39) burning after the Japanese attack on Pearl HarborDamage after Pearl Harbor Attack, December 7, 1941.A sign points the way to Pearl Harbor on Dec. 15, 1941, a week after the attack.A rally at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, December 1941.American troops in Hawaii, days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.Men dig a post-Pearl Harbor defensive trench in Hawaii, December 1941.