Of all of the combatant ships based on Pearl Harbor--
battleships, heavy cruisers, light cruisers, aircraft carriers,
destroyers and submarines--only three are permanently put out of
commission.
Very many of the ships of the Pacific Fleet were not even in Pearl
Harbor. Some of those that were there were hit very slightly, and
others that were damaged have either rejoined the fleet by now or
are still undergoing repairs. And when those repairs are completed,
the ships will be more efficient fighting machines than they were
before.
The report that we lost more than a thousand planes at Pearl Harbor
is as baseless as the other weird rumors. The Japanese do not know
just how many planes they destroyed that day, and I am not going to
tell them. But I can say that to date--and including Pearl Harbor--
we have destroyed considerably more Japanese planes than they have
destroyed of ours.
We have most certainly suffered losses--from Hitler's U-Boats in
the Atlantic as well as from the Japanese in the Pacific--and we
shall suffer more of them before the turn of the tide. But,
speaking for the United States of America, let me say once and for
all to the people of the world: We Americans have been compelled to
yield ground, but we will regain it. We and the other United
Nations are committed to the destruction of the militarism of Japan
and Germany.
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