Pirates & Shipwrecks · US battleship, 1941
USS Arizona
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
What happened
USS Arizona was a large American battleship based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. On the morning of 7 December 1941 Japanese planes attacked the harbor, and a bomb set off a magazine explosion that sank Arizona.
Why it matters
The attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II. Arizona is now a memorial to the people who were lost there that day.
What came next
The USS Arizona Memorial was dedicated in 1962, and the wreck became a National Historic Landmark in 1989.
Did you know?
Arizona was so badly damaged that it was never repaired, and the wreck remains in the harbor.
Timeline
- June 1915Arizona is launched.
- 7 December 1941Arizona sinks during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
- 1962The USS Arizona Memorial is dedicated.
- 1989The wreck becomes a National Historic Landmark.