Next morning, on December 7, the Imperial Japanese Navy begins its attack on Pearl Harbor. The US Pacific Fleet suffers severe damage in the surprise attack, and most of the defending airfields are obliterated before they are able to launch fighters to defend the harbor. Rafe and Danny manage to take off in P-40 fighter planes, and are able to shoot down several of the attacking planes. They later assist in the rescue of the crew of the capsized , but are too late to save the crew of the sinking .