Inside the USS Arizona Memorial

This is the view north from the memorial, with the remains of the aft gun turret sticking out of the water.   The fires burned for 3 days, and the Vestal, a support ship moored next to the Arizona, was badly scorched but didn't sink.

aft gun turret

In the foreground you can see oil still leaking from the wreck, sixty years after the ship was sunk.   It leaks about a quart a day, so with an estimated half million gallons still on board, it'll continue for some time yet.

USS Arizona aft gun turret with leaking oil

You can look down onto the ship and see the top deck.   The superstructure was removed many years ago and unceremoniously dumped on Ford Island, where it was forgotten until very recently.   Also forgotten until recently is the fact that the forward main gun barrels are still in place.

looking down onto the deck

This display inside the memorial shows the ship before the attack and as it is today.

wall with names of all the men who died on the USS Arizona

The main focus of the memorial is this wall in the "shrine room" with the names of all 1177 men who died on the Arizona as a result of the attack.   Over half the people who died at Pearl Harbor died on the Arizona, and more men died on the Arizona than on any other America ship before or since.   About 900 of them are still entombed within the wreck, and deceased survivors often have their ashes scattered on the ship.

wall with names of all the men who died on the USS Arizona

There's even someone on the list with the same name as myself, which is not a common name in New Zealand, though I've seen it a bit more often here in the States.

My family name even turns up on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC, and on a memorial commemorating the war dead in Okinawa, Japan.

R.O. Seaman on the list of victims

Contrary to popular belief, the Arizona is not still a commissioned ship in the US Navy.   However, it is a very appropriate memorial to what happened in 1941, just as the USS Missouri at the top of this photo is a very physical reminder of the end of the war.

women looking forward over the Arizona's bow towards the USS Missouri