Remembering BB-39 USS Arizona and her 1177 sailors lost on the "Day of Infamy"

[Dennis Donovan]

From Wikipedia:

On December 7, 1941, shortly before 0800, Japanese aircraft from six fleet carriers struck the Pacific Fleet as it lay in port at Pearl Harbor, and — in the ensuing two attack waves — wrought devastation on the Battle Line and on air and military facilities defending Pearl Harbor.

Onboard Arizona, the ship's air raid alarm went off about 07:55, and the ship went to general quarters soon thereafter. Shortly after 08:00, a bomb dropped by a high-altitude Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bomber from the Japanese carrier Kaga hit the side of the #4 turret and glanced off into the deck below, starting a small fire but causing minimal damage.

At 08:06, a bomb from a Hiryū "Kate" hit between and to port of Turrets #1 & 2. The subsequent explosion — which destroyed the forward part of Arizona — was due to the detonation of the ammunition magazine, located in an armored section under the deck. Most experts seem to agree that the bomb could hardly have pierced the armor. Instead, it seems widely accepted that the black powder magazine (used for aircraft catapults) detonated first, igniting the smokeless powder magazine (used for the ship's main armament). A 1944 BUSHIP report suggests that a hatch leading to the black powder magazine was left open, with perhaps inflammable materials stocked nearby. A US Navy historical site goes as far as to suggest that black powder might have been stockpiled outside of the armored magazine. However, it seems unlikely that a definitive answer to this question might be found. Credit for the hit was officially given to Petty Officer Noburu Kanai, who was considered to be the JNAF's "crack" bombardier; his pilot was Tadashi Kusumi. The cataclysmic explosion ripped through the forward part of the ship, touching off fierce fires that burned for two days; debris showered down on Ford Island in the vicinity. Ironically, the blast from this explosion also put out fires on the repair ship Vestal, which was moored alongside.



Acts of heroism on the part of Arizona's officers and men were many, headed by those of Lieutenant Commander Samuel G. Fuqua, the ship's damage control officer, whose coolness in attempting to quell the fires and get survivors off the ship earned him the Medal of Honor.

Posthumous awards of the Medal of Honor also went to Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, the first flag officer killed in the Pacific war, and to Captain Franklin Van Valkenburgh, who reached the bridge and was attempting to defend his ship when the bomb hit on the magazines destroyed her.

The blast that destroyed Arizona and sank her at her berth alongside of Ford Island took a total of 1,177 lives of the 1,400 crewmen on board at the time - over half of the casualties suffered by the entire fleet in the attack.

[Rhiannon12866]

1. K&R. A tragic day for this country and an important remembrance.

Thanks for the details and the pix. Well done. :patriot:

[Dennis Donovan]

2. Thanks! It's a sad anniversary...

:(

[Rhiannon12866]

4. I know... Last night I reminded my mother that today was the anniversary.

And she told me, for the first time, about when she was a kid and first heard. She said that her father was listening to the radio and told her what had happened. He was very upset, having served in France during WWI. I remember that radio, at my grandmother's, a large one, like yours. She launched into excited Polish, so she kinda lost me, LOL, but I'm sure it was a direct quote from my grandfather, and I could picture the exchange, so it's a nice memory to have. :-)

[Javaman]

3. I've read dozens of account regarding the sinking of the Arizona..

But I just can't wrap my brain around just how enormous that explosion must have been. To witness that first hand had to be wrenchingly incredible.

Knowing all those lives were lost via such massive display of destruction, had to be a mind altering experience of the highest order.

Those poor men.

[blondeatlast]

5. Visiting the memorial was a strange experience. I was overtaken with

reverence and sadness, yet so many were laughing, taking smiling pics in front of the anchor, and so on. I attribute the reaction to the fact that my parents served in WWII. For me, standing over the ship was eerie and awe-inspiring, and not in a good way.

War is hell.

[Rhiannon12866]

6. I can't imagine visiting that shrine and not feeling as you did.

I've been thinking about the memorial for the past couple of days, remembering the pix that a co-worker of mine brought back from a visit there. He was an older man, so it happened when he was a child, and it was obvious that he was very affected by it. He passed away on Thursday and the wake was last night, so I'd been remembering his description of the memorial and his reaction to it... :-(

[question everything]

7. I never understood: why did the Japanese start this attack

that brought the U.S. to enter the war with all its might?

[Archae]

8. It was a botched raid.

The idea was to get the US Navy out of the picture in the Pacific, so the US wouldn't interfere in the Japanese conquest plans.

The botched part was that the repair facilities weren't destroyed, and the US carriers were away at sea.

So only two of the battleships, Arizona and Oklahoma didn't return to duty.

Arizona was left where it sank, and the Oklahoma was righted, but sank while being towed back to the mainland.

[question everything]

10. Thank you. So the assumption was that the US would get involved

if the Japanese were going to expand?

[proteus_lives]

12. They were betting on US isolationism.

Being strong enough to not to fight for the Pacific possessions of other countries. They hoped to knock out our Pacific fleet long enough to grab what they want then arrange a peace.

They also believed that the American culture was "too weak" for the take-no-prisoners style of combat that Imperial Japan practiced.

Their own economic and military experts warned Tokyo that a war with the US had to be won in a year or it wouldn't be won at all. Because they knew that then our superior population and industrial machine would make victory impossible.

[question everything]

15. Thank you. Interesting analysis

with possible implications to these days.

[proteus_lives]

17. Even over 60 years later....

WWII still has a lot to teach us.

[A HERETIC I AM]

11. Oil.

Oil and other natural resources.

The final straw for Japan was the US embargo on crude oil in July 1941.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor#Background_to_conflict

[question everything]

14. Thanks. It is hard to imagine Japan taking over China

at least, when viewing the size of each country.

[Statistical]

13. US wasn't all that mighty.

Had our carriers been in port it would have been over before it began.

Japanese Navy was far larger than the US navy. Loss of battleships and carriers would have prevented the US from entering the war.

Didn't work out that way but remember the US hasn't always been a super power.

[fishnfla]

16. the real answer to your question is on the bookshelf, just out

'the imperial cruise' by james bradley

The japanese surprised the russian fleet in the same sort of attack in that war and destroyed their fleet. Teddy Roosevelt said 'bully for you! Japan!' Then he screwed them over in the Portsmouth treaty while winning a nobel prize for a war he started and ended, 'cept for those that happened later, in all them other wars.

Thats what started the whole thing.

[Individualist]

9. 68 years later, oil still seeps from the Arizona, often referred to as "Tears of the Arizona".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U668M6YWOq8

[niyad]

18. visiting the memorial was eerie for me--knowing all those bodies were down there,

and watching oil bubbles on the surface, as if the area were still alive. I couldn't take pictures, couldn't talk to anyone.