USS Arizona: Recovery of part of wreckage considered

Within a week of the devastating attack on the USS Arizona, divers entered the wreckage to help gauge the feasibility of raising the battleship, according to the National Park Service.

The sides of the bow — separated from the ship — had been blown outward to a horizontal position.

Fires continued for 2-1/2 days, cremating some bodies. Only 107 crewmen were positively identified, the Park Service said. The remaining 1,070 casualties were not found, were buried as “unknowns” or were left in the ship.

The battleship was viewed as a near total loss, but Capt. Homer N. Wallin, the officer in charge of Pearl Harbor salvage, wrote later that consideration was given to raising the after part of the ship if underwater cutters could disconnect that portion from the rest of the vessel.

However, Arizona was placed in out-of-service status Dec. 29. In late January 1942 pressure from Washington, D.C., to recover more of the men led to additional dives.

“The resulting scene was horrifying,” wrote Daniel Madsen in “Resurrection: Salvaging the Battle Fleet at Pearl Harbor.” The remains of 45 men were removed, but that was the last attempt at recovery.

“The Arizona dead would stay where they were,” Madsen said.

Arizona was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on Dec. 1, 1942. The wreck “was cut down so that very little of the superstructure lay above water; her after main battery turrets and guns were removed to be emplaced as coast defense guns,” the Navy said.

Legislation during the administrations of Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy designated the wreck a national shrine, the Navy said. A memorial was dedicated May 30, 1962.