Relics of the USS Arizona, 80 years after the Dec. 7 attack on Pearl Harbor4 min read

By
Christopher Fox Graham
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The burning wreckage of the U.S. Navy battleship USS Arizona (BB-39) at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Official United States Navy photograph W-PH-24-8975.

USS Arizona (BB 39) is the final resting place for many of the ship’s 1,177 crewmen who lost their lives on Dec. 7, 1941, in an attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service’s 1st Air Fleet on U.S. Navy’s Naval Station Pearl Harbor, headquarters of the Pacific Fleet.

USS Arizona (BB-39) as seen off the port bow, before being modernized at Norfolk Naval Shipyard between May 1929 and January 1930.

Approximately 1,100 sailors and Marines remain entombed within the ship’s hull. The ship was officially decommissioned in 1942.

This video production highlights the USS Arizona Relics Program administered by Naval History and Heritage Command, as well as the 80th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor. It features new footage of the ship’s relics, various interviews and historical footage, as well as a voiceover by retired Rear Admiral Samuel Cox. (U.S. Navy video by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Evan Diaz/Released).

After the ship was sunk during the attack, significant portions were salvaged for re-use among the fleet during the war. Ammunition, armament, electric motors and large amounts of scrap metal were recovered. The final removal of material took place in 1961, in order to construct the memorial over the ship. This last portion removed came from the aft deckhouse superstructure of the ship and was brought to its final resting place on a quiet, remote parcel of land on Waipio Point located in Pearl Harbor.

The Arizona Superstructure Relic Program was developed by the Navy to address requests for pieces of USS Arizona stored on Waipio Point while it is still possible to retrieve them.

The Department of the Navy, recognizing the historical value in the superstructure, placed the removed pieces under the jurisdiction of the Naval Historical Center in Washington, D.C. — now Naval History and Heritage Command.

This footage was filmed during the Japanese attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. The photographer captured footage of the explosion aboard the USS Arizona. Production Date: 12/7/1941 General Note: Original made by Capt. Eric Hakansson, M.M., on 16mm. This is a35mm blown up. Contact(s): National Archives at College Park – Motion Pictures (RDSM), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road College Park, MD 20740-6001 Phone: 301-837-3540, Fax: 301-837-3620, Email: mopix@nara.gov National Archives Identifier: 76168 Local Identifier: 428-NPC-1730

The Navy later notified Congress in 1994 that it intended to donate pieces of this deckhouse to qualifying organizations in accordance with federal law. To date over 150 relics pieces have been distributed through the United States as well as the Imperial War Museum in London.

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Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, initiated a program to provide USS Arizona (BB 39) superstructure relic pieces to U.S. Pacific Fleet ships and submarines on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 2021 in coordination with the NHHC ASRP, designed to reinforce the importance of the Navy’s history and heritage to naval personnel aboard ships, submarines, and other commands, signified in the Arizona relic piece.

The ASRP anticipates the demand for display relics will extend beyond the CPF, to potentially include requests from all USS ships, Navy commands, and the greater Department of Defense.

Courtesy Navy Region Hawaii Public Affairs Office

The USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, dedicated in 1962, marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors and Marines killed on USS Arizona during the Attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and commemorates the events of that day.
Christopher Fox Graham

Christopher Fox Graham is the managing editor of the Sedona Rock Rocks News, The Camp Verde Journal and the Cottonwood Journal Extra. Hired by Larson Newspapers as a copy editor in 2004, he became assistant manager editor in October 2009 and managing editor in August 2013. Graham has won awards for editorials, investigative news reporting, headline writing, page design and community service from the Arizona Newspapers Association. Graham has also been featured in Editor & Publisher magazine. He lectures on journalism and First Amendment law and is a nationally recognized performance aka slam poet. Retired U.S. Army Col. John Mills, former director of Cybersecurity Policy, Strategy, and International Affairs referred to him as "Mr. Slam Poet."

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Christopher Fox Graham
Christopher Fox Graham is the managing editor of the Sedona Rock Rocks News, The Camp Verde Journal and the Cottonwood Journal Extra. Hired by Larson Newspapers as a copy editor in 2004, he became assistant manager editor in October 2009 and managing editor in August 2013. Graham has won awards for editorials, investigative news reporting, headline writing, page design and community service from the Arizona Newspapers Association. Graham has also been featured in Editor & Publisher magazine. He lectures on journalism and First Amendment law and is a nationally recognized performance aka slam poet. Retired U.S. Army Col. John Mills, former director of Cybersecurity Policy, Strategy, and International Affairs referred to him as "Mr. Slam Poet."