Pearl Harbor is a simple harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep water naval base: headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan on December 7, 1941 brought the United States, into World War II.
Pearl Harbor was originally an extensive, shallow embayment called Wai Momi (meaning "water of pearl") or Pu'uloa by the Hawaiians. Pu'uloa was regarded as the home of the shark goddess Ka'ahupahau and her brother, Kahi'uka. The harbor was teeming with pearl-producing oysters until the late 1800s.
This article is licensed from Wikipedia under the GNU Free Documentation License.