Finished model length: 93
cm
Number of sheets: 31
Sheet format: A4
Description, history
The battleship BB 39 "Arizona" was laid down at the New York Navy Yard shipyard on March 16, 1914. At the beginning of construction, rumors circulated that the ship would be named North Carolina (the home state of Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels), but these predictions were not confirmed, and the battleship was named Arizona.
On the day of the launch, June 19, 1915, Miss Esther Ross of Prescott, daughter of one of the venerable citizens of Arizona, performed the traditional rite of baptism. The ceremony was a little unusual - in addition to the traditional bottle of champagne, a bottle of water from the reservoir formed by the recently built Roosevelt Dam in Arizona was broken on the side of the ship. This reservoir, very important economically for the state, was completely filled with water only 4 days before the launch of the battleship. After the battleship's hull was successfully launched, construction continued afloat. Finally, upon completion of completion and testing, on October 17, 1916, the new battleship was officially accepted into the fleet. Its first commander was Captain John D. MacDonald.
On November 16, 1916, the newest battleship left New York on its first voyage. First, the Arizona maneuvered off Cape Virginia, where the crew became accustomed to the ship and underwent the necessary initial cycle of exercises and training. Then, after calling at Newport, he headed south - Cuban waters were the traditional area for combat training of the American battle fleet. After visiting Guantanamo Bay, the ship headed north again, arriving in Norfolk on 16 December to conduct gunnery training rounds in the Tangier Sound area.
However, during the first voyage, serious problems with the turbines emerged, which first appeared during the sea trials - including the separation of the blades and the failure of one of the four turbine units. On Christmas Eve, the battleship was sent to her “native” shipyard, New York Navy Yard, for repairs and elimination of all identified defects. It took several months to carry out the work (including putting the ship into dry dock), and only on April 3 of the following year, 1917, did the Arizona leave the shipyard, returning to the active fleet.
During 1917, funds were raised by subscription in the state of Arizona to purchase a representative silver service, which was then presented to the ship's crew.
Like most of the other newest “oil” battleships, when the United States entered the war, Arizona was not sent to England, where there was a shortage of liquid fuel. Therefore, until the end of the war, Arizona served as part of the 8th US Battleship Division (Atlantic Fleet). The battleship was based in Norfolk and operated off the East Coast of the United States, mainly in the area between New York and the Cape of Virginia.
The Arizona was first sent to European waters after the armistice (November 11, 1918). On November 18, the battleship left the Hampton raid and on November 30 arrived in Portland, where it was included in the 6th division of the Grand Fleet battleships, composed of American dreadnoughts that arrived in England. On November 12, he, along with other ships, went to sea to solemnly welcome the George Washington liner, on board of which Woodrow Wilson was heading to Europe. The newest superdreadnought was an important element of the honorary escort, surrounded by which the liner arrived in Brest on December 13.
Here the Arizona took on board 238 American servicemen returning home from Europe and set sail the next day, December 14, arriving in New York on the evening of Christmas Day, December 25, 1918. The next day, the ship was visited by the Secretary of the Navy D. Daniele. Having celebrated the New Year in New York, the ship stayed here for several weeks for the crew to rest, after which on January 22, 1919, it went to sea and arrived in Norfolk the next day.
Having received fuel and all types of supplies, Arizona, along with other battleships of the Atlantic Fleet, put to sea on February 4 and headed south to Caribbean waters for annual winter maneuvers. Arriving at Guantanamo Bay on February 8, the battleship took an active part in the exercises for several days, after which she paid a three-day visit to Trinidad and, stopping at Guantanamo on the way, headed home on April 9, arriving at the Hampton roadstead three days later - on the morning of April 12, and in the evening of the same day he again went to sea, heading for Europe for the second time.
Arriving in Brest on April 21, the battleship remained here for almost 2 weeks, symbolizing with its presence the power of the American fleet and the active interest and involvement of the United States in world and, in particular, European affairs. However, during this period, as a result of the military conflict between Greece and Turkey, the political and military situation in the Mediterranean region worsened. The Greek armed forces occupied the port of Smyrna, which caused active opposition from Turkish nationalists, which resulted in serious battles with the use of artillery. According to the US State Department, the situation directly threatened the lives and property of American citizens in and around Smyrna, and as a result, Arizona received orders to head to the region and ensure their safety and evacuation.
On May 3, the battleship left Brest and 8 days later, having rounded Spain and passed the Strait of Gibraltar, it arrived at the port of Smyrna. Here, a landing party was formed from the Arizona crew. Having landed on shore, detachments of sailors took custody of the American consulate and ensured the safe delivery of American citizens present in the city aboard the ship. While the fighting and inevitable civil unrest continued in the city, these people remained on board the ship along with many Greek families, many of whom, fearing massacre, also asked for temporary refuge on board the Arizona. By the end of the month, the situation in the city had somewhat normalized, which allowed these people to return to shore again, and on June 9, the Arizona left Smyrna and headed home, with a short call to Constantinople, where it received on board the American Consul General L. Morris. "Arizona" became the first US battleship to enter the Bosporus Strait (the next time such an event took place only 27 years later - during the Mediterranean training voyage of the battleship "Missouri" in 1946).
On June 15, Arizona left Constantinople for New York, where it arrived on June 30 without further incident.
For the rest of the year, Arizona continued active combat training off the East Coast of the United States. having undergone ongoing repairs and minor modernization at the New York Navy Yard shipyard at the end of the year. During this period, platforms were installed on the ship for launching reconnaissance aircraft and spotters on the roofs of the 2nd and 3rd main battery towers.
Leaving the shipyard on January 6, 1920, the Arizona, part of the 7th Battleship Division, headed for familiar Cuban waters to participate in the annual large winter exercises. During the maneuvers, the ship was based at Guantanamo. Tests of the installed aviation equipment showed the obvious usefulness of the aircraft, but the system for their launch and storage caused serious criticism: the platforms hampered the operation of artillery, limited visibility from the bridge (bow), and the launch of the aircraft was unsafe. The need to develop a more advanced system was obvious, in particular, the introduction of ejection launch, which was done a few years later.
In addition to participating in the exercises, the battleship made friendly visits to the British possessions of Bridgetown (Grenada Island) and Barbados, as well as Colon (Panama Canal Zone), after which on May 1, 1920 she returned to New York, where she stayed for just over 2 weeks. Returning to sea on May 17, the ship spent more than a month conducting combat training off the East Coast, visiting Norfolk and Annapolis. On June 25, Arizona returned to New York, where she was based for the next 6 months, regularly going to sea for gunnery firing and other exercises. On July 17, 1920, the ship was officially assigned the identification designation BB-39 - the ship's number corresponded to its serial number within the class (BB - battleship). Since then, this principle, unchanged in essence, although supplemented by new classes of ships, has served as the basis for assigning hull numbers to ships of the US Navy.
Since August 23, Arizona served as the flagship. The commander of the 7th Battleship Division, Rear Admiral Edward W. Eberle, held the flag on the battleship. The ship celebrated the New Year, 1921, in New York, after which (as in the previous year) on January 4, it went to sea to participate in winter exercises of the battle fleet in the Caribbean Sea and in the Panama Canal zone.
On January 19-20, the ship, having passed the Panama Canal along with other battleships, arrived in the Gulf of Panama, from where on January 22 they left for Callao (Peru), where they arrived 9 days later. During the six-day visit, the ship was visited by many officials, including the President of Peru. Having put to sea on February 5, the Arizona returned to Balboa on the 14th and, passing through the Canal in the opposite direction, again arrived at Guantanamo on March 6 and returned to New York on April 24.
After receiving supplies and resting the crew, on June 15 the battleship moved to the Hamton roadstead, and on the 21st to Cape Charles, to participate in exercises that included an experimental bombing of the captured German submarine U-117. During the conduct of these experiments, many observers, army and navy officers were present on board the ship. Upon returning to New York on July 1, the commander of the linear forces of the Atlantic Fleet, Vice Admiral John D. MacDonald (who was once the first commander of the battleship), raised his flag on the ship. On July 9, 1921, the Arizona once again headed south, passing the Panama Canal and visiting Peru again. This time the visit was timed to celebrate the centenary of the liberation of Peru, under the leadership of General San Martin, from Spanish rule.
The battleship arrived in Callao on July 22. During the festivities, Vice Admiral MacDonald served as the official representative of the US government, taking part in many official events dedicated to the holiday. After their completion, on August 9, the Arizona left Callao and moved to the Gulf of Panama. Here, on August 10, Vice Admiral McDonald transferred his flag to the battleship BB-33 Wyoming, and the commander of the 7th battleship division, Rear Admiral D.S., raised the flag on the Arizona. McCain. The next day, the ship headed to San Diego, where it arrived on August 21, 1921, beginning a long, 14-year period of service in the Pacific Fleet.
During these years, the battleship, based in San Pedro, served as the flagship of the 2nd, 9th and 4th battleship divisions, participating in many exercises (including the so-called "Fleet Problems" - special exercises conducted annually according to a carefully developed scenario to study tactical concepts). Operating primarily in waters between the West Coast of the United States and Hawaii and off the coast of Central America, the ship periodically passed through the Panama Canal to take part in maneuvers in Cuban waters with the Atlantic Fleet.
From time to time, the routine of naval service was overshadowed by various emergency events and incidents. Sometimes it happened that some of them were quite scandalous. So, on April 12, 1924, a “hare” was discovered on the battleship - a young woman named Madeline Blair, who had gone missing and was put on the wanted list in early March, who dreamed of going to Hollywood and tried to get at least to San Pedro on the battleship. For several weeks, the ship’s sailors hid her in the crew quarters, but in the end the “conspiracy” was discovered by a senior radio operator who accidentally overheard a conversation between two sailors.
A trial followed. At the same time, the naval court found in the case, in addition to “unacceptable manifestations of moral decay,” many offenses of both a civil nature and naval regulations. As a result, 23 people from the Arizona crew were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment - the most severe sentence was 10 years.
Along with intensive combat training, from the second half of the 20s, the battle fleet underwent a series of extensive modernizations. At the same time, the oldest ships were the first to go to the shipyard, and then the Oklahoma-class battleships. By the end of the 20s, the turn of the Pennsylvania-class battleships came.
In January 1929, upon completion of her participation in the exercises, Arizona moved through the Panama Canal to the Caribbean Sea, where she operated until April together with the Atlantic Fleet, then on May 4 the battleship arrived at the Norfolk Navy Yard for major repairs and modernization work. On July 15, the ship was officially withdrawn from the fleet for the period of modernization.
The duration of the work was 20 months. Their layout and volume corresponded to those of the same type battleship "Pennsylvania". The ship's boilers and high-pressure turbines were replaced (unlike the sistership, the old low-pressure turbines were left in place), and the horizontal and structural underwater protection was strengthened. Boules were installed on the battleship, many instruments and systems were modernized, anti-aircraft artillery was strengthened, the anti-mine battery was rebuilt, and new GFCS-2 fire control systems were installed. The lattice masts were replaced with massive tripods. As a result, the silhouette changed greatly.
Upon completion of work on March 1, 1931, the modernized battleship was again officially enlisted in the fleet. And already on March 19, US President Herbert Hoover boarded the ship, and on the same day he went to sea, heading for Puerto Rico. The President then visited the Virgin Islands on board the battleship, and on March 29, the Arizona returned to the Hampton Roadstead. Only after this “test” voyage did the ship go through the full required cycle of post-modernization tests at the test site near Rockland (Maine). Then, after brief visits to Boston and Norfolk, the battleship sailed to San Pedro on August 1. During the passage, a tragic incident occurred - the battleship rammed a fishing schooner, killing two members of its crew. Upon arrival in the Pacific, Arizona was assigned to the 3rd Battleship Division and began the usual cycle of combat exercises and training.
Despite the difficulties caused by the economic depression (in particular, the rather limited annual fuel limit), the 30s, and especially the second half, were a period of active activity and intensive combat training for American battleships. Fuel and other types of supplies might not be enough for the light forces, the auxiliary fleet, even for aviation, but the demands of the battle fleet, especially the newest and most modernized ships, were tried to be satisfied first, if possible.
The results were immediate - by 1930, the American battle fleet was shooting better than anyone else in the world, and at extremely long distances. In the 1930 maneuvers, the battleships achieved a higher hit percentage than Bismarck during the famous battle with Hood 11 years later!
The conditions of these maneuvers, however, were often criticized as “hothouse” (beautiful Caribbean or Californian weather, unlimited visibility to the horizon, etc.). However, it should be remembered that these were precisely the characteristic conditions in which the American fleet was preparing to actually meet its main enemy - the battleships of the Japanese Combined Fleet, somewhere near the equator in the central part of the Pacific Ocean. Taking this fact into account, the conditions for artillery preparation can be considered quite adequate to the planned combat missions.
According to existing plans, at the beginning of the war (or already during the pre-war crisis), the American battle fleet was supposed to begin its journey west from the coast of California or the Hawaiian Islands. In the event that war had not yet been declared, his gradual approach to the island Empire over the course of a few days could have served as a last resort of diplomatic pressure. If the war began with a Japanese invasion of the Philippines, the natural task of the US fleet would be to defeat the Japanese forces supporting the invading army.
In any case, the Japanese fleet inevitably had to come out to fight in more favorable conditions, away from any American bases (including the Philippines) and closer to their own, i.e. supported by air and light forces based in the Caroline and Marshall Islands.
The Americans, professing the “strategy of the strong,” counted on success in such a battle, relying on the numerical and technical superiority of their battle fleet, which the Japanese could not resist on equal terms in open battle.
The Japanese hoped to use the illegally fortified Mandatory Islands as a kind of “buffer”, with the help of which they could try to exhaust and weaken the American fleet as much as possible before the decisive battle, forcing it to fight its way to the west “through the stockade” of illegally created secret air and naval forces. bases on the islands of the central Pacific Ocean. The true condition and capabilities of these bases were one of the best kept secrets of the Japanese Empire and the most desired target of American and British intelligence during the 1920s and 1930s. Another jealously guarded secret was the carefully developed technology and tactics of night operations, with an emphasis on the massive use of torpedo weapons.
Under these conditions, the Hawaiian Islands became the “barrel of a gun” aimed at the Japanese. The basing of the American battlefleet here sharply reduced the Americans' "reaction time", allowing their battlefleet to bring the starting point of its long journey west to Japanese-controlled territories thousands of miles closer, and reduce it in time by several days, leaving no time for the Japanese to gathering forces and optimal organization of counteraction.
Due to these considerations, during the 1920s and 30s, the Japanese reacted extremely nervously to the presence of battle squadrons in the Hawaiian Islands. This presence could not be permanent, since Pearl Harbor was significantly inferior to San Pedro and San Diego as a naval base, but during the 1930s, as political tensions with Japan increased, the frequency and length of stays The US battle fleet in the Hawaiian Islands gradually increased. In addition to this area, battleship divisions periodically conducted maneuvers in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Alaska, as well as in southern waters in the West Indies and the Antilles.
On March 10, 1933, the Arizona was anchored in San Pedro when an earthquake struck the Long Beach area, causing significant damage on shore. Sailors from the Arizona, as well as from other ships, provided significant assistance to the population and local authorities, helping to maintain order in the city, organizing the delivery of food and medicine, patrol service and setting up first aid stations on the shore.
In the spring of 1934, the Warner Brothers feature film Here Comes the Navy, starring Gloria Stewart, James Cagney and Pat O'Brien, was filmed aboard the Arizona. The film was a great success. and was nominated for an Academy Award in 1935.
The mid to late 1930s were spent in endless exercises in the Eastern Pacific. Tensions with Japan continued to rise. In 1936, President Roosevelt ordered the suspension of the process of decommissioning all large ships scheduled for decommissioning, mothballing or long-term modernization, and keeping them in a state of combat readiness. Only average repairs with limited modernization were allowed, allowing the ship to be quickly returned from the shipyard to the active fleet at any time.
Allocations for the construction of new ships and improvement of basic infrastructure have increased. The mood in Congress and the public began to change, gradually moving away from the reckless and unconditional pacifism and isolationism that characterized the first 10 years after the Washington Conference. The fleet felt all these changes firsthand. The volume and quality of reconnaissance in the interests of the fleet increased. Thus, radio reconnaissance means were actively progressing, new equipment was being developed and mastered, radio reconnaissance and direction finding stations were built along the perimeter of the Pacific Ocean, which made it possible to determine their location and many technical details using radio communications of ships of the Imperial Navy (for example, the maximum speeds of Japanese battleships after modernization), and and organization of combat training. In particular, the special attention of the Japanese fleet to preparing for operations at night was undoubtedly confirmed. As a result, new training tasks for night artillery training were included in the combat training program for the American battle fleet.
On September 17, 1938, Arizona became the flagship of the 1st Battleship Division, under the flag of Rear Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the future commander of the US Pacific Fleet during the war years.
On May 27, 1939, Nimitz was appointed Chief of the Naval Navigation Bureau, passing the position of commander of the battleship division to Rear Admiral Russell Wilson, who also flew his flag on the Arizona. Meanwhile, relations with Japan deteriorated to such an extent that, at the end of the large naval maneuvers "Fleet Problem XXI", they decided to leave the battle fleet in Hawaii. From now on (since 1940), Pearl Harbor actually became the main base of the fleet, and the bases in San Pedro and San Diego turned into rear ones.
"Arizona" was engaged in combat training as part of the battle fleet in Hawaiian waters until the beginning of the fall of 1940, after which it was sent for routine repairs and modernization to the Puget Sound Navy Yard (Bremerton, Washington), where it arrived on September 30, 1940. Work on the ship continued until January of the following year. At the same time, in addition to repairs, modernization work was carried out. The open guidance posts and rangefinders of the 127-mm anti-aircraft batteries were combined, installed together in rotating turrets with anti-fragmentation armor on the upper tier of the superstructure. On the recommendation of the King Council, which was involved in introducing innovations into the fleet based on the experience of the outbreak of war in Europe (especially in the field of improving the air defense of ships), the positions of 127-mm anti-aircraft guns received anti-fragmentation cover. According to some reports, the anti-aircraft guns themselves received power drives.
Since deliveries of new 28-mm machine guns, intended to enhance the air defense of ships, were delayed. As a half-measure, they planned to temporarily install 4 76-mm guns (2 on the sides of the bow superstructure instead of the 127-mm anti-mine guns that were there) in an open installation, and 2 more on the upper deck at the base of the aft tripod. However, since these guns were still not enough, positions for 76-mm anti-aircraft guns were so far only equipped in the form of ring-shaped anti-fragmentation armor shields around the bases for the guns. For the same reasons, we did not have time to install the planned radar for detecting air targets. They also did not carry out the planned work to eliminate (weld) all the windows in the ship’s hull to increase the water resistance of the hull and reduce the preparation time for battle.
Upon completion of work on the Arizona, on January 23, 1941, the new commander of the 1st Battleship Division, Rear Admiral Isaac S. Kidd, raised the flag. At the end of the cycle of post-repair tests, on February 3, the ship arrived at Pearl Harbor and returned to the usual routine of combat training, the conditions of which were increasingly approaching truly “combat” ones. According to a special order, all flammable and other dangerous (or simply unnecessary) objects and materials were removed from the Arizona, as well as from other battleships. The number of night live-fire exercises has increased. The exercises were combined with regular patrols of the 14th Naval District area (around the Hawaiian Islands).
The last time Arizona visited the West Coast was in the summer of 1941, leaving Pearl Harbor on June 11, the battleship visited Long Beach, but returned to Pearl Harbor on July 8. Over the next 5 months, he continued to actively participate in various exercises and training, the intensity of which increased in accordance with the intensity of discussions in negotiations with Japan regarding the conditions for ending or at least suspending its aggression in China.
On October 22, during the joint maneuvering of the Oklahoma and Nevada, a collision of battleships occurred - a very rare occurrence both in peacetime and in wartime. During the formation change, due to an error in maneuvering, the Oklahoma struck the Arizona's port side with its stem. The presence of an anti-torpedo bulge protected the ship from serious damage and flooding, but a hole measuring 4 feet wide and 12 feet high, corresponding in shape to the outline of the Oklahoma's stem, was made in the skin of the bulge itself.
The repairs were completed within a few weeks at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. During this time, they also equipped a position for installing an air target detection radar, mounting a platform under the base of its antenna on the upper tier of the top of the bow tripod. The station itself, like the antenna, was never installed.
Upon completion of repairs at the end of November 1941 i. "Arizona" conducted its last combat exercise, again together with "colleagues" in the 1st division of the battleships "Oklahoma" and "Nevada". On the night of December 4, the battleships conducted live-fire exercises and on Friday, December 5, returned to Pearl Harbor harbor, standing on their barrels off Ford Island. The Arizona was moored in an F-7 barrel.
The next day, Saturday, the floating workshop AR-4 “Vestal” was moored at the outer (closest to the harbor exit) side of the battleship. By Saturday evening, many of the Arizona's officers and sailors had been released on shore leave, but both senior officers - the commander of the 1st battleship division, Rear Admiral A. Kidd, and the battleship commander, Captain Franklin Van Valkenburg - were on board on Sunday morning.
Just before the flag-raising (8.00), as the crews lined up on the decks awaiting the ceremony, a multitude of aircraft suddenly appeared over the harbor. They were not expected here - the American aircraft carriers were far out to sea, and the base aviation also did not schedule any exercises for that day.
The first wave of aircraft from Admiral Nagumo's carrier force, which secretly approached from the northeast, launched a surprise attack on the American fleet, according to plan.
On board the Arizona, the combat alarm sounded at 7:55 am. Already at 8:10 a.m., when the battleship’s crew had just taken up their combat posts, the ship was hit by several hits from aerial bombs. In different sources there is quite a big difference in the description of these hits. The events that followed a few minutes later confused and blurred the memories of the not so numerous surviving eyewitnesses. The same events discussed below made it impossible to conduct a detailed study after the attack of the damage inflicted at that moment. One way or another, the evidence suggests that in a very short time the ship received several bomb hits on the boat deck, on the front plate of the main gun turret No. 4 and on the bow superstructure. However, none of these hits caused too much damage.
At the same time, according to some evidence, the battleship was hit by a torpedo (as the Japanese claimed at that time, fired from one of the 5 dwarf submarines that took part in the attack, which is doubtful, since it does not coincide with established facts about the actions of the midget submarines that took part in the attack and, in in particular, with a course pad). The torpedo hit the ship in the bow in the area of the first main battery turret, but there was no particularly serious damage (with the exception of the destruction of the boule
and some PTZ compartments), apparently, did not cause damage. However, almost simultaneously with this, the battleship was hit by an 800-kg aerial bomb from a B5N Kate horizontal bomber. The bomb, which was a converted battleship armor-piercing shell (apparently 410-mm caliber), touched the inclined side armor of the right side of the 2nd main battery turret and ricocheted off it, pierced the forecastle deck next to the barbette and exploded, apparently, above the main armored deck.
Under normal conditions, such a hit would not have led to fatal consequences. What happened was all the more shocking for observers from the shore and from neighboring ships.
For several seconds there were no visible consequences of the hit, but then suddenly, for a split second, a bright yellowish flash appeared in the area of the hit. Immediately after this, the entire bow of the ship was filled with smoke. Above the smoky veil, through which a bright yellow flame emerged, a black and red ball of smoke and fire shot up, immediately turning into a rapidly growing smoky mushroom, which quickly rose to a height of several hundred meters.
A powerful shock wave swept across the entire harbor, which was clearly felt both on the shore and on other ships. In the air, the blast wave tossed the Japanese planes over the harbor like dry leaves - some several tens of meters. The surrounding ships - most notably the stern of the battleship Tennessee, which lay just 20 meters away - were covered in burning debris. On the Tennessee, this “rain of fire” and spilled burning oil caused more trouble than the Japanese bombs themselves.
These fatal seconds of the Arizona's death were captured on film. At the beginning of the attack, the doctor from the hydroaviation floating base "Curtiss", correctly assessing the historicity of the moment, took out his hand-held movie camera and began filming the surrounding events on color film. At the moment the Japanese bomb hit, the camera accidentally turned on the Arizona, capturing in color and in all details the eerie picture of the ship's destruction.
"Arizona" immediately settled down and began to dive. This was noticeable from the stern. It was not possible to see what was happening in the bow before the smoke from the first explosion cleared; the entire bow and middle parts were engulfed in a huge bright yellow flame that rose above the tops of the masts, and after a few minutes the entire ship was covered in smoke and flames from the rapidly spreading fire around it. burning oil from destroyed tanks.
For everyone who watched this terrible spectacle, it was clear that the worst thing that could happen to a battleship had happened - the main battery magazines, in this case, the bow group of towers, exploded. In this case, it was not the shells that exploded, but the main battery charges. In fact, there was not even an explosion, but a very rapid combustion of a huge amount of propellant artillery powder. The resulting wave of burning powder gases under enormous pressure distorted and destroyed the bow of the hull and set fire to everything that could burn, from fuel from destroyed tanks to paint on superstructures and deck flooring, within a radius of several tens of meters from the explosion site.
The resulting powerful wave of powder gases instantly destroyed several bulkheads aft of the bow group of cellars, burst into the boiler compartments and burst upward through the chimneys, and at that moment the observers saw a tall plume of smoke rising from the chimney. This led to the erroneous version that, simultaneously with the main explosion, the ship was hit by another bomb in the chimney. Subsequently, however, it was discovered that even the safety net on the pipe remained intact.
The fact that it was a powder explosion was confirmed by the fact that most observers identified the sound as surprisingly weak, and some even later described this sound not even as an explosion, but as something similar to a “giant sigh.” If the detonation of 356-mm main-caliber shells had occurred (the so-called “high explosive” explosion), the picture of the disaster would have been completely different. There would have been a deafening roar, audible for tens of kilometers, and the ship’s hull, at least in the area of the explosion, would not have been torn and twisted, but literally crushed into thousands of pieces, which would have scattered not over tens and hundreds of meters, but over many kilometers. Most likely, in this case, detonation of the magazines of the aft group of towers would have immediately occurred, and there would have been little left of the Arizona hull.
However, the powder explosion also caused truly catastrophic consequences. The path of “expansion” found by the gases through the boiler rooms and chimney turned out to be too “tight”, and in a split second the growing pressure of explosive gases over a wide area destroyed the ship’s hull.
Inspection after the attack showed that the heavy upper decks, although with anti-fragmentation armor, somewhat complicated the upward flow of explosion energy. As a result, in the area of the bow towers, the gases literally tore out the unarmored part of the outer side above the armor belt, completely destroying all bulkheads and structures between the armored deck and the forecastle deck. The bow turrets themselves and the heavy armored barbettes, as if “jumping” for a moment, sank back into place and “fell” 7 meters down into the destroyed and “gutted” hull. The heavy bow superstructure with an armored conning tower and tripod mast fell forward, hanging over the area of destruction at an angle of approximately 45°.
The underwater part also received major damage. Immediately below the armor belt, the force of the explosion instantly tore out the plating and internal bulkheads, and water quickly flooded the entire bow section up to the engine room, since in the first couple of seconds all the bulkheads in the bow from it were destroyed. The armor belt itself, however, played the role of a "belt" in the true sense, directing the energy of the explosion in several lateral directions, but preventing the hull from rupturing. The ship sank to the bottom, mangled, but intact.
Most of the crew members who were in the bow, especially at open combat posts, were killed immediately in the explosion. Many were shell-shocked and thrown into the water by the blast wave, where they had to again seek salvation from the rapidly spreading burning oil. The closest compartments of the ship that were not damaged by the explosion and flooding were the cellars of the aft group of main battery towers, but water quickly penetrated there through cracks and breaks in the bulkheads. Soon the stern part, continuing to burn, sank into water almost to the upper deck. At this time, four more hit the ship (apparently, an 800-kg bomb). However, against the backdrop of a huge fire and smoke clouding everything around, their impact went almost unnoticed.
Despite the rapidity of the ship's death, many crew members were able to show outstanding examples of professionalism, personal courage and even heroism at the combat post. Thus, Lieutenant Commander Samuel Fuqua, the survivability officer, led the fight against the fires and organized the evacuation of the surviving crew members, and his active and competent actions saved many lives. He was subsequently awarded the Medal of Honor.
At the end of the Japanese attack, all the fleet's life-saving equipment was sent to the aid of the emergency ships. First of all, the fire was fought, but the fire on the part of the Arizona protruding from the water continued for more than 2 days due to oil that continued to leak from the tanks. When the fire was finally extinguished, special teams began searching and extracting the remains of the victims from the wreckage of the ship. Thus, in one of the rooms the bodies of the deceased, almost the entire ship’s orchestra, were found. Admiral Isaac Kidd and the commander of the battleship, Captain F. Van Valkenburg, were on the bridge at the time of the explosion and died instantly. They were also posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
The difficult work in all respects of searching and retrieving bodies continued for many weeks until the search ceased to yield results. As a result, more than 900 crew members were never found, disappearing without a trace in the explosion or remaining underwater deep in the labyrinth of the lower rooms of the lost ship. The total number of deaths on the Arizona was 1,103 people out of 1,400 who made up the ship's crew, i.e. almost half of the total (2,335) victims of the Japanese attack.
Over the next few weeks, under the influence of the Arizona's enormous dead weight, the Arizona's hull sank deep into the mud, and the upper deck gradually sank under water. All that remained on the surface were the stern towers, the tripod mainmast, the boat deck and the mutilated mass of the bow superstructure with the tripod foremast that had fallen forward. Now almost all work on the ship was carried out with the help of divers.
On December 29, "Arizona" was formally excluded from the fleet. The amount of damage received left very little hope for recovery. According to some reports, at first the possibility of saving only the stern part was considered - from 1/2 to 2/3 of the length of the ship. At the same time, it was proposed to cut off the mutilated bow of the hull with the help of divers, raise the less damaged “stern” and, in a dry dock, after appropriate repairs, “complete” a new bow to it. However, a detailed examination of the condition of the ship showed that the implementation of this plan would require enormous effort and expense, and this idea was quickly abandoned, especially since already in 1942, battleships of new series began to enter service one after another. On December 1, 1942, Arizona was finally removed from the fleet lists.
So, the battleship Arizona, which spent 25 years on combat training, died as a result of a surprise attack by the enemy in the first minutes of the war, without causing damage to the enemy. However, it would be a big mistake to say that the life (and especially the death) of the ship was useless.
In the interwar years, "Arizona", like other battleships, was a valuable "forge of personnel" for a wide variety of naval specialties, and many officers who once served on it, held the flag on it, or even as cadets stepped on its scrubbed deck with trepidation, as if on the deck of their first ship, during the war years they were in demand in a variety of areas, and not only in the battle fleet (one example of Admiral Nimitz is worth a lot).
And during the Second World War and especially in the first months after Pearl Harbor, the gloomy silhouette of the mutilated skeleton of the Arizona against the backdrop of the glow of the fire became a symbol of enormous significance, replicated in tens of millions of illustrations, posters and photographs - a symbol, along with the song "Remember Pearl" Harbor!" (“Remember Pearl Harbor!”), instantly uniting the nation and calling for retribution.
For ordinary citizens who read newspapers, watched news magazines and were habitually proud of the power of the fleet, the circulated photograph of the burning wreck of the ship became a shock, but not disarming, but mobilizing. The consciousness of the sailors was even more shocked by the instant loss of a huge ship in the first minutes of the war. As William Gallagher, the pilot of the Dauntless dive bomber, recalled, when six months later, in June 1942, at Midway, he began a dive on the Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi, which led the attack on Pearl Harbor, he thought about the Arizona (then 7 December, Gallagher was in Pearl Harbor). And when, having dropped the bomb and coming out of the dive, he saw fire and explosions on the deck of the Japanese aircraft carrier, Gallagher shouted loudly over the radio - “Arizona,” I remember you!!!” (“Arizona,” I remember you!!! ")
The ship itself, however, still needed attention as well. Firstly, it was necessary to establish the exact causes of death. Even without taking into account the ships sunk and damaged at Pearl Harbor, the fleet continued to have 7 battleships structurally very close to the Arizona, and the reason for the instant death of the huge ship with most of the crew could not remain unclear.
This reason remained a mystery at first. According to all calculations and estimates, even an 800-kg bomb dropped from such a height from a horizontal flight could not, and therefore should not have penetrated the armored deck that protected the charging and shell magazines.
In an attempt to establish the true cause of the death of the battleship, a commission formed interviewed the surviving crew members (a total of 377 people were saved, all of them either wounded or shell-shocked). At the same time, questions were asked both about the moment of the explosion and death of the ship, and about the organization of service and the main events on board in the period preceding the Japanese attack. At the same time, divers examined the hull on the ground, trying to determine from the mangled structures the exact location of the fatal hit and explosion of the bomb, which caused such devastating consequences.
It took considerable time before the true cause of the fatal explosion (which turned out to be quite exotic) was reliably established. The investigation showed that the cause of the explosion was a small cellar with charges (cartridges) of black powder intended for use in powder catapults. This improvised cellar was equipped in a small enclosure near the barbette of the 2nd tower, under the upper deck (above the armored deck) as a purely temporary measure to simplify peacetime service (eliminating the need
manually for each seaplane, starting cartridges are delivered from the bottom through several additional hatches and doors in the bulkheads and decks).
Naturally, in wartime, this “temporary cellar” created for convenience must be immediately liquidated. Alas, no one could predict that on December 7, 1941, within a few minutes, time would instantly turn from peaceful to war. Apparently the bomb penetrated the forecastle deck directly above or adjacent to this magazine. Probably, the bomb either had a substandard (too tight) fuse, or even penetrated below the deck through an open large hatch near the 2nd turret barbette. Otherwise, given its relatively low speed, the explosion would have occurred immediately after breaking through the forecastle deck, i.e. still above the upper deck. Nevertheless, the bomb apparently penetrated the upper deck and exploded below it, directly inside or next to the improvised “cellar”. The powder “cartridges” immediately ignited, creating a powerful wave of compressed hot gases, and in a matter of fractions of a second these gases found their way through the ventilation ducts, open due to the hot weather, down under the armored deck, into the charging cellars of the main caliber bow turrets. Several hundred 14-inch powder half-charges ignited almost simultaneously, and a few seconds later there was that same fatal “big” explosion that made such a stunning impression on everyone - from American sailors on neighboring ships to Japanese pilots in the air over the harbor.
In addition to the investigation into the causes of the death of the ship, there was another important circumstance. There was a lot of valuable equipment and materials left on the Arizona that certainly needed to be picked up and put in order for future use. Therefore, work on it continued even after its exclusion from the fleet lists.
First of all, soon after the death of the battleship, the Bureau of Armaments organized the dismantling of the surviving anti-aircraft artillery from the ship and the unloading of its ammunition. Most of the other ammunition, including from the magazines of the 3rd and 4th main battery towers, was unloaded from the ship with the help of divers by November 1942. At the same time, oil was being pumped out of fuel tanks where they could be reached. If the bow end of the ship (up to the bow casemates) and the stern were relatively undamaged, then the middle part, especially inside, where it was “burned out” by explosive gases, was an unrecognizable jumble of twisted structures, where the diver’s work was extremely dangerous.
The barrels of the 356 mm guns were dismantled from all turrets except No. 1 and transferred to the army. The Arizona's stern turrets were also removed and, towards the end, installed with their guns and mechanisms on the island of Oahu as coastal defense batteries "Pennsylvania" and "Arizona", which were named after battleships of the same type.
Initial fears about the impending Japanese landing on Hawaii quickly passed, and the construction of batteries, very “fundamental” and complex in design, continued almost until the very end of the war. At the same time, the Pennsylvania battery passed firing tests in 1945, but the battery called Arizona again turned out to be “less fortunate” and was not officially put into operation. Like the vast majority of other American heavy coastal defense batteries, the Pennsylvania and Arizona batteries were disarmed and dismantled at the beginning of the missile era (in the late 40s and early 50s).
The guns from the more damaged 2nd turret were removed (by removing the turret roof), but the turret itself remained in place. The 1st main caliber turret along with the guns, as it had received the most damage (especially its below-deck mounts), was also left in its place. The destroyed bow superstructure, the damaged bow and practically undamaged stern tripod, and all superstructures above the forecastle deck were cut off and removed using a floating crane. Now only the upper part of the barbette 3 of the main battery tower protruded noticeably from the water (a strange-looking huge ring that over time acquired a rusty color and said little to the uninitiated viewer).
The situation changed on March 7, 1950, when the commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Arthur Radford, signed an order according to which the national flag was to be raised over the wreck of the Arizona every day in memory of the victims suffered by the fleet during the war in the Pacific that began on December 7, 1941. .
Then the two subsequent American administrations - D. Eisenhower (1952-1960) and D. Kennedy (1960-1963) prepared and approved a number of documents, according to which the wreck of the lost ship acquired the status of a “national memorial”. In 1958, the construction of a memorial pavilion over the ship's hull was approved. According to the project, a pontoon was installed above the deck of the sunken ship, across its middle part, supported under water on supports specially driven into the bottom of the harbor on both sides of the ship. A pavilion with large openings in the walls should be erected on the deck of the pontoon, providing an overview of the parts of the ship protruding from the water or clearly visible through a thin layer of it. On the marble memorial wall installed in the pavilion, there are plaques with the names of all the Arizona sailors who died and were missing since the sinking of the ship.
Work on the construction of the memorial began in 1960 and was carried out largely with donations collected in various ways. One of the most significant contributions was made by Elvis Presley, who held a benefit concert for the Arizona Memorial in 1961. In the spring of 1962, the work was completed, and the complex was officially opened on May 30, 1962. Tourists enter the memorial hall, which can accommodate up to 200 people, on excursion boats. In 1980, an information center was opened at the museum, where visitors can get the most detailed information about the ship, purchase books, films, models, etc. At the same time, the Navy officially transferred control of the museum to the US National Parks Administration.
The museum staff includes a team of divers who periodically conduct detailed examination, photo and video recording of the sunken ship. The huge body is still a complex organism living “its own life.” It is home to many marine life, and from time to time bubbles of oil still rise to the surface from damaged tanks, which Navy divers were once unable to reach through the wreckage. As a ship that was lost in battle under enemy fire, the battleship Arizona was "posthumously" awarded the Battle Star.
In 1999, not far from the Arizona memorial, another famous battleship, BB 63 Missouri (Iowa class), which was withdrawn from the fleet, was installed. The sinking of the Arizona cast a dark shadow on the day the United States entered World War II; The signing of the Japanese surrender on board the Missouri marked the final victory. For almost 50 post-war years, the Missouri continued its service, either going into reserve or returning to the active fleet, and at the very end of the century it docked next to one of its most famous predecessors - the battleship Arizona. But who knows - forever? ...As the long history of the combat use of American battleships says (as well as the title of the famous film) - “sometimes they come back”!...
Pearl Harbor or Mother of Pearl Bay, a base of the US Pacific Fleet in the state of Hawaii, is located on the island of Oahu near the capital Honolulu. The memorial itself consists of several independent museums: the Arizona Memorial, the Battleship Missouri Memorial, the Aviation Museum and the Bowfin Submarine. The first visit is free, for the rest a group ticket costs about 45 BCH. To visit, you need to drive to the territory of the base, and sign up before that, so we limited ourselves to freebies.Before visiting the memorial itself, you need to go to a small museum, walk through the halls and watch a 20-minute film about the Japanese attack on the base. A little of what I remember is that the purpose of the attack was not to capture the base, but to disable the fleet in order to gain an advantage on the water in order to conduct large-scale operations in this part of the Pacific Ocean. To do this, Japan sent a group of 6 aircraft carriers with 400 aircraft on board and several dozen kamikaze mini-submarines to the islands. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese struck, as a result of which America lost 8 battleships and 11 auxiliary ships, the base's aviation was practically destroyed, 188 aircraft were completely destroyed and 128 were heavily damaged, and 3,573 people were killed.
Model of the battleship Arizona. According to various sources, from 1 to 5 aerial bombs hit the hull, which led to the detonation of ammunition, the ship broke in half and sank, everything happened in the 13th minute of the attack. Of the 1,400 crew members, 1,177 sailors died.
Model of the Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi. In total, 350 aircraft took off, losses amounted to 29 units, and 55 people were lost in manpower. In addition, 5 mini-submarines were sunk.
Igoroku Yamomoto, admiral of the fleet and marshal of Japan, developer of the operation plan and its implementer in practice. Harvard graduate, military attaché in Washington, consistent supporter of peaceful resolution of conflicts and opponent of war with the United States. However, the emperor and the government gave the order. Let's give the Yankees their due, as a result of consistent actions the offender was destroyed in 1943; the admiral's plane was shot down in the Salomon Islands.
Operation plan
Japanese ammunition
Some exhibits
Model of the Arizona Memorial, the structural design is clearly understood, a concrete monument over the hull of a sunken ship.
Veterans. In their opinion, the film with Affleck reproduced those events very accurately.
After visiting the museum and watching a short film, we board the boat and in a couple of minutes we are there.
The path passes through the waters of an active naval base, which provides bread to almost 12,000 civilian specialists. I'm attaching secret photos.
The memorial was built in 1962, received the status of a national historical monument in 1989, for the Yankees this is a holy place, according to unwritten laws, every current president must visit the memorial.
The examination lasts 20 minutes
Remains of a gun turret. Oil stains on the water are fuel leaking drop by drop from the tanks, of which there are about 400 tons left there. Here they call it Arizona's tears.
Seven openings in all directions, as a symbol of the date of the attack, as conceived by the architect.
Bowfin Submarine Museum.
Cold War Open Air Museum
The Battleship Missouri Memorial, familiar to us from the film with Steven Seagal as the cook. It served faithfully for almost 50 years after the end of the war, and was converted into a museum in 1999. It was on board that the act of surrender of Japan was signed in September 1945, which meant the end of World War 2, not to be confused with the Second World War.
Of the 1,400 crew members, 1,177 died, their names are engraved on the plaques. As a result of the analysis of the wreckage in the two post-war years, the remains of 233 sailors were recovered. But the bodies were so mutilated that they could not be identified, so the relatives asked to stop the work. There are still 900 bodies below. Many of the survivors bequeathed the urns with their ashes after their death to be placed in the hull of the ship to their comrades. The last burial was in 2012 on the date of visit.
The results of the attack on Pearl Harbor do not end with losses on both sides. Admiral Yamomoto's words, "I'm afraid we have awakened a sleeping giant, and now he is filled with anger," turned out to be prophetic. Despite the seemingly large losses, in practice they were not so terrible. America lost 8 old battleships, slow-moving and unable to participate in aircraft carrier groups. In addition, 6 of them were restored and returned to service before the end of the war. The main striking force of the Pacific Fleet, 4 aircraft carriers, were at sea at the time of the attack and were not damaged. In addition, for some reason the Japanese did not destroy the huge reserves of fuel in the storage facilities, which could have put the base out of action for many months. The docks and shipyard were not destroyed, which made it possible to restore ships on site. In June 1942, the Battle of Midway ended Japanese successes at sea. It became obvious that the role of the main striking force at sea had passed to aircraft carriers. In addition, the most important result of Pearl Harbor was a huge psychological effect; a wave of patriotism united Americans in the face of a threat. The attack gave President Roosevelt a free hand, who had previously been unable to obtain parliamentary approval for military action. The next day the United States entered World War II.
Uss arizona (bb-39)- Pour les articles homonymes, voir Arizona (homonymie). USS Arizona (BB 39) ... Wikipédia en Français
USS Arizona- im Jahr 1931 Geschichte Kiellegung: 16. März 1914 ... Deutsch Wikipedia
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USS Arizona- Arizona has been the name of three ships of the United States Navy. They were all named after the state of Arizona, which was admitted to the Union as a state on February 14, 1912. Prior to that, it had been known as Arizona... ... Wikipedia
USS Arizona- ha sido el nombre utilizado por tres buques de la Armada de los Estados Unidos en honor al estado de Arizona, el cual, fue admitido como estado de la unión el 14 de febrero de 1912. Los anteriores a esta fecha, recibieron su nombre en honor al... ... Wikipedia Español
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USS Arizona (BB-39)- The USS Arizona (BB 39) was a Pennsylvania class battleship of the United States Navy. The vessel was the third to be named in honor of the 48th state, though the first since its statehood was actually achieved. She was commissioned in 1916 and... ... Wikipedia
The beginning of the 20th century was marked by the construction of the largest ships with the most powerful weapons. Each country sought to build a warship that was superior in size and strength to the enemy's military equipment. Battleships acted as the main force of the flotilla. The battleship Arizona, which left a significant mark on the history of military events of those times, became for its country a symbol of courage and grief for the dead sailors who gave their lives in December 1941 in the Battle of Pearl Harbor. In the game World of Warships, this battleship represents a class of American ships.
For each state in those days, building up combat strength became a top priority. Some countries relied on aviation, others on the navy.
The Americans did not intend to concede in combat power to their rivals, so the United States, together with England, concluded an agreement in Washington in 1922 limiting the number of battleships in the American, British and Japanese fleets. And when at the end of the thirties the tension between Japan and America began to increase, heavy artillery was used. Cruisers and battleships entered the battle arena, and the Japanese skillfully converted them into aircraft carriers, providing them with charges intended for battleships. The main objective of the Japanese navy was to undermine the enemy's morale by destroying their main military equipment.
The war unfolded over oil resources that would support the army and navy. And since Japan did not have its own reserves, their main goal was to take possession of the so-called black gold. The United States, having discovered Japan's criminal plans, redeployed all its most powerful warships, including the battleship Arizona, from California to Hawaii, where an attack was expected. By this they made it clear that they were ready to resist any attacks from the Japanese military.
Technical characteristics of the battleship "USS Arizona":
Dimensions:
length - 180 m at the waterline, width - 32 m, speed - 21 knots, displacement - 31,400 tons.
Weapons:
Artillery – 12 main caliber 356mm guns, 22 5"/51 caliber guns
4 guns caliber 76/23
4 × 47 mm saluting guns
2 × 1-pounders (37 mm)
During World War I: 4 × 3- 356 mm/45
14 guns caliber 127/51
4 AA guns caliber 76/23
4 × 47 mm saluting guns
2 × 1-pounders 37 mm 2 × 7.62 mm machine guns
Mine-torpedo gun: 2 × 533 mm torpedo tubes.
Ship crew:
1385 sailors and officers.
However, the Americans did not expect that the Japanese could attack such a well-protected ship from the air. At the end of the thirties, Japanese designers created an aircraft capable of taking off from an aircraft carrier at a speed of 500 km per hour. Its 1-ton bombs could deliver devastating blows, the destructive power of which was later demonstrated on the Arizona.
On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Pearl Harbor naval base was attacked. A squadron of enemy aircraft launched two lightning attacks that destroyed the battleship USS Arizona, without giving it time to come to its senses. The ship had no chance, since it was simply unrealistic to instantly respond to three hundred Japanese bombers and 40 torpedo bombers. The battleship exploded from a direct hit from 5 bombs, one of which fell into the bow powder magazine. Detonation has occurred. The explosion was so strong that its power could be compared to a huge tsunami. The ship, splitting into two parts, sank. Only every ninth crew member managed to survive.
In the history of America, the death of the battleship is a significant date. To this day, Americans honor the memory of the fallen by annually visiting the site of the ship's sinking. The famous memorial to the battleship Arizona is located at the naval base at Pearl Harbor, the place where the ship found its eternal resting place after sinking during a Japanese air raid. This historical monument was built in honor of the 1,177 lost sailors. According to some reports, the sunken battleship also became the eternal resting place of more than 900 sailors, whose remains are located in the iron hull of the sunken ship. There is a legend that allegedly a lilac-scarlet spot spreads on the water surface above the place where the ship sank - oil seeping from the engine room, which looks like tears. The Americans believe that this ship is crying for its crew.
Place: Pearl Harbor, Oahu Island, Hawaii, America
Arriving early in the morning from Melbourne to Honolulu (Oahu Island) Having picked up the car from the rental service right there at the airport, we first went to Pearl Harbor.
Translated from English Pearl Harbor means “Pearl Harbor”, but unfortunately today this place is known not for its pearls, but precisely for the Japanese attack on the US naval base on December 7, 1941.
From Wikipedia: Pearl Harbor- harbor on the island of Oahu (Hawaii). Most of the harbor and surrounding areas are occupied by the central base of the US Navy's Pacific Fleet.
On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, which triggered the United States' entry into World War II.
In 1875, the United States and the Kingdom of Hawaii entered into a treaty of cooperation in which the U.S. Navy received access to Pearl Harbor in exchange for special terms for the import of Hawaiian sugar into the United States. Later, following the Spanish-American War of 1898, the United States finally annexed Hawaii.
After the annexation, the harbor was expanded, making it possible to accommodate more ships. In 1908, a shipyard was built.
Currently, Pearl Harbor is the largest US naval base in the Pacific Ocean and the headquarters of the US Pacific Fleet. The shipyard, located next to the harbor, employs 12,000 people.
In memory of the fallen American sailors, a memorial was created on the site of the sunken battleship Arizona. Another monument to the events of the war in the Pacific Ocean is the battleship Missouri, permanently moored in Pearl Harbor, on which the act of surrender of Japan was signed on September 2, 1945.
We will not go into the historical events that took place here in December 1941. There is plenty of information about this both on the Internet and in books and films.
Let us tell you only briefly about where we visited Pearl Harbor and what we saw there.
Pearl Harbor Historic Sites Visitor Center is approximately 10-15 minutes from Honolulu International Airport. Its opening hours start at 7 am, which was very convenient for us, because... Check-in at hotels in Hawaii is very late (at 15:00) and no matter how tired we were after a long flight, we wanted to make the most of the first half of the day and see as much as possible.
We were at the information center around 8 am, we received tickets for visiting Battleship Arizona Memorial(tickets are free). Tickets are “tied” to a specific time, and visiting times depend on the number of visitors per day. And there are always a lot of them there! Even the Pearl Harbor Historic Sites website warns that wait times can be very long.
We got tickets for 12 noon. Thus, we had almost 4 hours at our disposal before the start of the excursion to Battleship Arizona Memorial.
Here, in Pearl Harbor Historic Sites There is a lot to see - and this is:
Arizona Memorial, Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, Battleship Missouri Memorial, as well as numerous pavilions with historical data and various exhibits presented there with video and audio accompaniment.
Battleship Missouri Memorial and Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor are located nearby Ford Island.
And because Pearl Harbor is still an active military base, so access to Ford Island is limited to “mere mortals” and you can only get there by special shuttle buses that run between the museums and the information center every 15 minutes.
It is also better to leave backpacks and bags in the car or in paid storage boxes at the information center; you cannot take them with you. Photo and video cameras are possible.
More detailed information about tickets, opening hours, the location of all the museums and historical sites represented there can be found at Pearl Harbor Historic Sites:
www.pearlharborhistoricsites.org
or here: www.nps.gov/valr/index.htm
Below - short video one of the local travel agencies, which lists and shows the main historical sites in both Pearl Harbor and two museums in Honolulu (which we managed to visit today before the excursion to the battleship Arizona memorial).
USS Arizona Memorial
From Wikipedia: USS Arizona Memorial located in Pearl Harbor on the site of the death of the battleship.
It is a concrete structure installed above the sunken hull of a ship without touching it.
The memorial honors the 1,177 lives lost on the USS Arizona during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
The memorial was built in 1962, and since then it has been visited by about one million people.
On May 5, 1989, the remains of the sunken battleship were declared a National Historic Landmark.
The memorial can only be reached by water; for this purpose, a pier has been built at the memorial.
Near the entrance to the memorial building, one of the three anchors of the Arizona is located; the main hall of the memorial has 7 windows, symbolizing the date of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The names of all 1,177 dead sailors from the Arizona are inscribed on the walls of the building.
At the site of the memorial, oil stains still appear on the surface of the water, floating from the bottom, which are called “Tears of Arizona.”
Even before the construction of the memorial, a tradition had emerged according to which every US president must at least once visit the place where the Arizona was sunk.
The ceremony was also attended by the current and former emperors of Japan.
Before the start of the excursion to the Battleship Arizona Memorial, the tour guides conduct a short “conversation” with each group about safety precautions, what the excursion consists of, and then check the tickets so that the indicated time on them coincides with the beginning of the excursion.
The organized crowd is then led into a large movie theater and shown a short documentary about how historical events unfolded here at Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
The film lasts about 25 minutes. Then the guides seat the organized crowd on a small ship, which takes visitors to the battleship Arizona memorial.
Not far from the battleship at the pier you can also see Battleship Missouri Memorial.
The ship disembarks the brought group and immediately picks up the previous one.
The memorial itself is small, it was built over the battleship Arizona - it was decided not to raise the sunken ship from the bottom and leave it in the water.
Fuel is still leaking from its depths, this is clearly visible on the surface of the water.
As described above on Wikipedia, these spots are also called “tears of Arizona.”
The entire excursion lasts about an hour or more.
Afterwards, when we were brought back to the information center, we walked through the pavilions and looked at the exhibits on display there.
It’s difficult to write such epithets as “liked, interesting, impressed, etc.”
This place is specially organized to honor the memory of the dead people. Therefore, the atmosphere and information and thoughts there are appropriate.
After Pearl Harbor Historic Sites we went to Honolulu to Waikiki area, which is about half an hour by car.
We settled all the issues with checking into our hotel, but were unable to park the car in the underground garage at the hotel. There was a place, but it was simply impossible to squeeze into it.
The hotel immediately offered another parking option - nearby in a large shopping center, about three minutes on foot. Car parking at most hotels in Waikiki is paid, in our case it was $20 per day.
Having sorted out all the nuances of our stay, we went to dinner. We had a nice lunch in one of the restaurants in Waikiki Beach Walk.
By the way, for those interested, please note: many restaurants and cafes have “happy hours”, i.e. at certain times of the day there is a big discount on certain dishes from the menu. These happy hours are especially popular in the evening and in many restaurants even long queues form.
Your restless Nata and Tyoma
