Where Were The US Aircraft Carriers During Pearl Harbor?

Published at : 12 Dec 2025

Where were the US aircraft carriers during the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7th 1941? Here's a quick guide of where the carriers were, along with what the ships in the Pacific were doing before, during and right after the attack.

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Time Stamps:

Carriers in commission - 00:34

Carriers in the Atlantic - 00:52

Enterprise CV-6 - 01:48

Lexington CV-2 - 05:38

Saratoga CV-3 - 06:56

Final Overview of Pacific Carrier Locations - 08:45

Sources:
Pacific Payback by Stephen L. Moore

Carrier Locations - Pearl Harbor Attack - https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/c/carrier-locations.html

USN Pacific Fleet Ships Not at Pearl Harbor - https://www.ibiblio.org/pha/pha/misc/non-ph.html

Location Map of Japanese Carriers, Enterprise and Lexington - December 7th 1941 - https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9d/d2/4a/9dd24afcf76ca308dc699a5c07a24c71.jpg

NHHC
USS Enterprise - https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/ships/aircraft-carriers/big-e.html

USS Lexington - https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/ships/aircraft-carriers/uss-lexington.html

USS Saratoga - https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/ships/aircraft-carriers/uss-saratoga.html