Death of Battleship Row
By 8:00 a.m. Pearl Harbor was a burning disastrous shambles due to the Japanese bombing on Oahu in Hawaii, December 7, 1941. The Utah was capsized, taking sixty-four of her crew to their deaths. The battleships California, Oklahoma, and West Virginia had all been hit. The Oklahoma, with three torpedo hits had begun to heel over. The Helena had been hit and was flooding. The Oglala had capsized and would soon sink to the bottom. The Pennsylvania was a burning mass. No where could a person turn without encountering death and destruction. And still the devastation went on.
Battleship Row would soon be no more as both the Maryland and the Tennessee were hit. But perhaps the worst was yet to come.
Death of the battleship USS Arizona
At four minutes after 8:00 a.m. another ship met her final fate when a torpedo passed under the repair ship Vestal and hit the battleship USS Arizona, disemboweling her. A bomb also hit either on or next to her No. 2 turret. It penetrated the forward magazine and exploded, completely destroying the forward portion of the ship. Her captain, her admiral, and 1,000 of her crewmembers were killed. The explosion not only set off fires throughout what remained of the Arizona but also sent pieces of the ship and body parts of her crew flying onto the Vestal and other ships along side her.
Sailors Burned Alive
Many of the Arizona’s crew that had not died in the explosion, and were on deck, were burned alive. Those that were thrown into the water and retrieved were given morphine and taken to the Solace, as well as the base hospital.
USS Arizona Memorial
No attempt was, or has, been made to retrieve the USS Arizona or the remains of her crew from their watery grave. A memorial was constructed above her resting-place. To visit this memorial today a quiet and sad solitude comes over you. The Native Americans speak of certain locations being holy places. It is certain that the USS Arizona Memorial is and should be numbered amongst those holy places. One only has to stand within this shrine’s white walls and look out upon the sparkling Pacific to know in their hearts that this is true.
Bombing Pearl Harbor: A Day of Infamy continues with USS Nevada Faces Severe Fate: USS Arizona Spewing Burning Oil.
Previous: Attack on Pearl Harbor Begins: American Ships Meet their Doom.
