The second and last of the Pennsylvania-class
The USS Arizona was built at a naval yard in Brooklyn, New York between 1914 and 1915. It was commissioned on October 16, 1916, joining the USS Pennsylvania as one of just two within the Pennsylvania-class of battleships.
The USS Arizona didn’t see combat during World War I and was instead tasked with monitoring the East Coast. Upon the conclusion of the conflict, she was one of the ships to escort the USS George Washington as it transported President Woodrow Wilson to the Paris Peace Conference.
During the period between WWI and World War II, the ship underwent numerous modifications and updates.
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
In April 1940, the USS Arizona and the rest of the Pacific Fleet were moved from California to Pearl Harbor to serve as a deterrent to Japanese imperialism. The day before the attack on Pearl Harbor – December 6, 1941 – the ship had taken on a full load of fuel, nearly 1.5 million gallons, in preparation for a trip to the mainland later that month.
On the morning of December 7, the USS Arizona was anchored off the coast of Ford Island. When the Japanese attacked, it was struck by horizontal bombers and received minor damage to its after and midship areas. Just after 8:00 AM, the devastating blow came when the ship was struck by a 1,760-pound projectile. The impact caused her fuel and munitions to ignite, resulting in an explosion that lifted the ship out of the water
“It wasn’t a bomb itself that created the giant explosion,” Jay Blount, spokesman for the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, told TIME in 2019. “It was her own ammunition – hundreds of thousands of ammunition, exploding all at the same time.”
The USS Arizona sank in approximately 40 feet of water. While the majority of the ship went below the waves, some parts did not, and she remained ablaze for two and a half days.
Death of 1,177 individuals
Almost half of all those who perished at Pearl Harbor were aboard the USS Arizona. While between 334 and 355 crewmen managed to survive the attack and subsequent explosion, 1,177 were not so lucky. Among those killed were the ship’s Commanding Officer, Captain Franklin Van Valkenburgh, and Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, Commander of Battleship One Division
Those also killed in the blast include 23 sets of brothers, as well as all 21 members of the ship’s band, US Navy Band Unit (NBU) 22. When the Japanese attacked, the majority of its members were on deck, preparing to play music for the daily flag-raising ceremony. They quickly moved to their battle stations below the ship’s gun turret
Immediately following the attack, efforts were made to retrieve those aboard the USS Arizona. However, the decision was eventually made to leave more than 900 bodies within her wreckage. It has since become common practice for those who survived to have their ashes placed with the ship, so that they are laid to rest with their fallen comrades.
USS Arizona after the attack on Pearl Harbor
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the USS Arizona was deemed a total loss. Unlike other vessels that had been sunk, it was not raised and instead left off the shore of Ford Island. As the Second World War raged on, crews were sent to the wreckage to salvage parts that could be reused for the war effort
While the ship was decommissioned and deleted from the US Navy‘s register in late 1942, she was symbolically re-commissioned in 1950.
