USS Arizona (BB 39)

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When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Arizona was moored at an inboard berth and alongside the repair ship USS Vestal (AR 4) at 'Battleship Row.' Soon after the attack began at 0800 one torpedo (Vestal had a shallower draft) and at least eight bombs slammed into her. One bomb penetrated near her 'A' Turret and ingnited her forward magazines which created a catastrophic explosion near 'B' Turret that nearly cut the ship in two ahead of the bridge. She remained on fire for days following the attack and claimed the lives of 1104 out of approximately 1400 men. Nearly half of the 2300 total killed during the Pearl Harbor attack were Arizona victims.

Since Arizona was totally destroyed, she was never considered to be repaired and so she was struck from the Naval Register on 1 December 1942. All of her superstructure tophamper and armament were removed and on 7 March 1950 she became an unofficial memorial. US Congress approved an official memorial on 15 May 1958, and on 30 May 1962 the memorial was dedicated. Here she remains today as a memorial to the men killed in the Pearl Harbor attack. [It is reported that she still leaks oil from her tanks.] She was awarded one battle star for her service in World War II.

Ship's Data
Where applicable, data is that of the modernized/reconstructed version and not that of the original as-built configuration.

Class:
Nickname:
Authorized:
Keel Laid:
Launched:
Commissioned:
Main Battery:
Secondary Battery:
Design Displacement:
Full Load Displacement:
Overall Length:
Waterline Length:
Draft:
Beam:
Design Speed:
Decommissioned:
WWII Battle Stars:
Final Fate:

Pennsylvania
?
4 March 1913
16 March 1914
19 June 1915
17 October 1916
Twelve 14in/45cal Mk.8 (4 x 3)
Twelve 5in/51cal
34,400 tons
39,200 tons
608 ft
600 ft
28 ft - 10 in
106 ft 2 in
21 knots
Stricken from Navy list 1 December 1942 while still sunk
One
Remains where she sank, now a memorial at Pearl Harbor

Camouflage
All the dates given may not be exact as to the month of repainting.
For more information about the different camouflage measures refer to the Camouflage page.

? - December 1941

Measure 1

Photos
These photos are arranged in chronological order and are believed to be all declassified official USN photos (unless otherwise noted.)
[Thumbnails are 15% of full image size.]

	A Japanese photo of Battleship Row during the initial Pearl Harbor attack. Ships are (l-r) Nevada, repair ship Vestal, Arizona, West Virginia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Maryland.	7 December 1941
	Another Japanese photo of Battleship Row. Arizona is at the right moored inboard of the repair ship Vestal.	7 December 1941
	The moment of the catastrophic magazine explosion.	7 December 1941
	Another Japanese photo of Battleship Row. Nevada at the right, is the only ship not totally covered by the dense fire and smoke from the fatally injured Arizona moored ahead.	7 December 1941
	Arizona burns in the foreground after the attack. West Virginia (sunk) and Tennessee are in the background.	December 1941
	The extensively damaged forward section.	December 1941
	The fires finally extinguished, showing the full effect of the damage.	10 December 1941