USS Arizona (BB-39) 1941
_Port_Bow,_Underway_-_NARA_-_5900075_-_1930.jpg){kind=link}
Marker: recorded wreck position (Second World War).
Key facts
| Name | USS Arizona (BB-39) | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1941 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Second World War | derived from year |
| Ship type | dreadnought | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Nationality / flag | United States | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Operator | United States Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Conflict | World War I, World War II | Wikidata P607 conflict |
| Nearest coast | Hawaii | Natural Earth (public domain) |
| Position | 21.3647, -157.9500 | Wikidata P793 significant event, coordinate qualifier (CC0) |
About the wreck
USS Arizona (hull number BB-39) was a Standard-type battleship built for the United States Navy in the mid-1910s. Named in honor of the 48th state, she was the second and last ship in the Pennsylvania class. After being commissioned in 1916, Arizona remained stateside during World War I but escorted President Woodrow Wilson to the subsequent Paris Peace Conference. The ship was deployed abroad again in 1919 to represent American interests during the Greco-Turkish War. Two years later, she was transferred to the Pacific Fleet, under which the ship would remain for the rest of her career.
The 1920s and 1930s saw Arizona regularly deployed for training exercises, including the annual Fleet Problems, excluding a comprehensive modernization between 1929 and 1931. The ship supported relief efforts in the wake of a 1933 earthquake near Long Beach, California, and was later filmed for a role in the 1934 James Cagney film Here Comes the Navy before budget cuts led to significant periods in port from 1936 to 1938. In April 1940, the Pacific Fleet's home port was moved from California to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as a deterrent to Japanese imperialism.
On 7 December 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and Arizona was hit by several air-dropped armor-piercing bombs.
Diving & visiting
Arizona was placed "in ordinary" (declared to be temporarily out of service) at Pearl Harbor on 29 December 1941, and was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 December 1942. She was so badly damaged by the magazine explosion that she was not thought fit for service even if she could be salvaged, unlike many of the other sunken ships nearby. Her surviving superstructure was scrapped in 1942, and her main armament was salvaged over the next year and a half.
It is commonly—but incorrectly—believed that Arizona remains perpetually in commission, like the USS Constitution. Arizona is under the control of the National Park Service, but the US Navy still retains the title. Arizona retains the right, in perpetuity, to fly the United States flag as if she were an active, commissioned naval vessel.
The wreck of Arizona remains at Pearl Harbor to commemorate the men of her crew lost that December morning in 1941. On 7 March 1950, Admiral Arthur W. Radford, commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet at that time, instituted the raising of colors over her remains. Legislation during the administrations of presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F.
Location
- Recorded position: 21.3647, -157.9500 (Wikidata P793 significant event, coordinate qualifier (CC0); may be approximate)
- Nearest coast: Hawaii
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article USS Arizona (revision 1380547022), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Salvage and memorial”, “Arizona memorials”; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- USS Arizona Memorial 0 km
- Falls of Clyde (ship) 2025 · 24 km
Other wrecks of the World War I
- Japanese cruiser Nisshin 1936
- HMS Calypso 1940
- HMS Curlew 1940
- HMS Wakeful 1940
- HMS Warrior 1940
- HMAS Waterhen 1941
- HMS Barham 1941
- HMS Calcutta 1941
- HMS Repulse 1941
- HMS Terror 1941
All 163 wrecks of the World War I →
Browse more: Oceania wrecks · wrecks off Hawaii · Second World War