Pearl Harbor Day- USS Arizona
I know that we usually focus on airplanes with this blog but I thought since aviation played a huge roll on the attack of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 that I would stop and pay tribute to the gallant Americans that lost their lives that day.
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| We are so used to seeing the famous footage of Dr. Eric Haakensen aboard the USS Solace that we seldom know what the USS Arizona looked like before December 7th so I thought it would be nice to see her in all her glory before that fateful day….. |
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USS Arizona
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| Here is the USS Arizona at sea. Displacement fully loaded: 37,654 tons, maximum speed: 20.7 knots. The above photos show the bow and the port side. (Note the three Vought OS2U Kingfisher aircraft on the stern.) |
This is a view of the USS Arizona’s starboard side. |
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USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor
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 This is a photo from a Japanese aircraft that shows the Arizona in Battleship row under attack in Pearl Harbor. |
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USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor Today
After all these years about a quart of oil still leaks from the hull (as you you can see in the photo) and rises to the surface of the water. Survivors from the crew say that the oil will continue to leak until the last survivor dies. |
This is USS Arizona (BB-39) as she is leaving New York City for her first “shakedown cruise” in 1916. The vessel was the first to be named “Arizona”. This was done specifically to honor the 48th state’s admission into the union, which had happened just the year before the battleship was authorized by Congress. (The Arizona was commissioned in 1916.)
The National Park Service has a great map, illustrated by Zack Anderson, that shows where the Arizona was berthed during the attack. If you take a close look you can also see the vantage point of Dr. Eric Haakensen (aboard the USS Solace) as he filmed the Arizona exploding.
The wreck of Arizona remains at Pearl Harbor, a memorial to the 1,177 men of her crew lost that December morning in 1941. The wreck was designated as a national shrine on May 30, 1962. A memorial was built across the ship’s sunken remains, including a shrine room listing the names of the lost crewmembers on a marble wall. Warships of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and other navies routinely salute Arizona when passing through Pearl Harbor.
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