The USS Arizona was a Pennsylvania Class
battleship completed in 1916. During a long
and quiet peacetime career, she was rebuilt
in 1931. On December 7, 1941, she was moored
at Pearl Harbor and was struck by at least
four Japanese 800-kg armor piercing bombs.
One of them penetrated the armor deck and
caused an explosion of the main forward powder
magazine. 1,177 officers and men were killed
in the explosion and resulting fire, while
only 337 escaped. The ship settled to the
bottom of the harbor, entombing an estimated
945 sailors.
The bottom of Pearl Harbor is too muddy to
allow for a cofferdam, so the wreck was left
in place. The superstructure and two of the
main gun turrets were removed, while the
shells, guns, and elevation gear were removed
from a third. In 1950 a simple flag pole
was erected over the hull, and a full memorial
was completed in 1962. Today over a million
people a year visit the memorial.
The ship is a national shrine, and survivors
of the sinking are often interned in the
hull when they pass away. As both a memorial
and a cemetery, diving on the Arizona is
strictly prohibited.
The USS Arizona in the mid 1930s.
The Arizona's forward magazine explodes Dec
7, 1941
The wreck of the Arizona after the salvage
effort.
An Arizona Memorial Association drawing of
the wreck, with an outline of the ship for
comparison.
The Arizona Memorial today.
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