USS Arizona (BB-39)

USS Arizona (BB-39)
Ship caption	USS Arizona underway in 1931.
Ship country	United States
Ship name	USS Arizona
Ship namesake	Arizona Territory
Ship ordered	4 March 1913
Ship builder	Brooklyn Navy Yard
Ship laid down	16 March 1914
Ship launched	19 June 1915
Ship commissioned	17 October 1916
Ship fate	Sunk during the Attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941
Ship notes	Location: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

USS Arizona (BB-39) was a Pennsylvania-class battleship of the United States Navy. Commissioned in 1916, she served stateside during World War I and was a centerpiece of the Pacific Fleet in the interwar period. The ship is most remembered for her catastrophic loss during the Attack on Pearl Harbor, which resulted in the deaths of 1,177 sailors and marines. The sunken hull remains a National Historic Landmark and serves as the principal memorial for the Pearl Harbor attack.

Design and description

The Arizona was the second and final member of the ''Pennsylvania'' class, designed as a significant improvement over the preceding ''Nevada'' class. Her main battery consisted of twelve 14-inch/45-caliber guns mounted in four triple gun turrets, arranged in two superfiring pairs forward and aft. Secondary armament included twenty-two 5-inch/51-caliber guns for defense against destroyers and torpedo boats. She was protected by an armor belt up to 18 inches thick and utilized an all-or-nothing armor scheme. Propulsion was provided by four-shaft Parsons steam turbines and twelve Babcock & Wilcox boilers, designed for a top speed of 21 knots.

Construction and commissioning

Authorization for the battleship came with the passage of the Naval Act of 1913. Her keel was laid down on 16 March 1914 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City. She was launched on 19 June 1915, sponsored by Esther Ross, the daughter of a prominent Arizona Territory pioneer. After fitting out, the ship was placed in commission on 17 October 1916 under the command of Captain John D. McDonald. Following her sea trials, she joined the Atlantic Fleet for initial training exercises.

Service history

Assigned to Battleship Division 8 after the U.S. entry into World War I, Arizona spent the war patrolling the eastern seaboard of the United States and training gunners, never seeing combat in the Atlantic. In 1919, she escorted President Woodrow Wilson to the Paris Peace Conference. Transferred to the Pacific Fleet in 1921, her interwar career was marked by routine fleet exercises, goodwill visits to ports like Valparaíso and Balboa, and a major modernization at the Norfolk Navy Yard from 1929 to 1931. This refit added anti-torpedo bulges, new oil-fired boilers, increased anti-aircraft armament, and upgraded fire-control systems. By 1940, she was based at Pearl Harbor with the rest of the Battle Force.

Pearl Harbor and loss

On the morning of 7 December 1941, Arizona was moored at Ford Island alongside the repair ship USS ''Vestal'' when Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft began their surprise attack. Shortly after 08:00, the ship was hit by several aerial torpedoes and at least eight armor-piercing bombs converted from 16-inch naval gun shells. One bomb struck near Turret No. 2, penetrating the forward magazine and triggering a cataclysmic explosion that destroyed the forward part of the ship. The blast and resulting fires killed 1,177 of her crew, including Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd and the ship's captain, Captain Franklin Van Valkenburgh. The sinking of Arizona became a defining symbol of the attack, which precipitated the U.S. entry into World War II.

Memorial

In 1949, the Pacific War Memorial Commission was established to create a permanent shrine. The USS Arizona Memorial, designed by architect Alfred Preis, was dedicated on 30 May 1962. Administered by the National Park Service in cooperation with the U.S. Navy, the white concrete structure spans the sunken hull without touching it. The memorial, which attracts over two million visitors annually, features a shrine room with a marble wall engraved with the names of all crewmen lost on the ship. Annual ceremonies are held on December 7 to honor the fallen.

Wreck

The wreck of the Arizona lies in approximately 40 feet of water in Pearl Harbor. The Department of the Interior designated the site a National Historic Landmark in 1989. The hull remains as a war grave for over 900 entombed sailors. A visible oil sheen, often called "the tears of the Arizona," continues to seep from the fuel tanks, a poignant reminder of the loss. The Naval History and Heritage Command oversees the site, and ongoing corrosion studies are conducted to preserve the integrity of the wreck as a sacred memorial.

Category:Battleships of the United States Category:Ships sunk in the attack on Pearl Harbor Category:World War II wrecks in the Pacific Ocean