USS Arizona Memorial: The Ship, the Design and the Visit

The air raid alarm sounded aboard the USS Arizona at about 7:55 a.m. on Sunday, December 7, 1941. She was moored at Ford Island, berth F-7, with the repair ship Vestal tied alongside (Naval History and Heritage Command). The last bomb fell at 8:06 between turrets 1 and 2, went through the armored deck and reached the forward magazine, and at 8:10 the ship blew up (NPS). Of the 1,512 men aboard, 1,177 died, about half the Americans killed that day (NHHC).

Captain Franklin Van Valkenburgh and Rear Admiral Isaac Kidd were both aboard, and both received the Medal of Honor after their deaths. Van Valkenburgh’s citation says he “gallantly fought his ship until the U.S.S. Arizona blew up from magazine explosions and a direct bomb hit on the bridge which resulted in the loss of his life” (Medal of Honor citation).

The hull stayed where it sank. Admiral Arthur Radford, commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet, had the colors raised over it on March 7, 1950 (NHHC). The ship is no longer in commission, and the flag flies from a pole attached to her severed mainmast (NPS).

The campaign set out to raise $500,000. In 1958 Ralph Edwards’ television program This Is Your Life featured the Arizona’s senior surviving officer, Samuel Fuqua, and brought in $95,000. On March 25, 1961, Elvis Presley gave a benefit concert at Pearl Harbor and raised $65,000 (NPS). Eisenhower had approved the memorial in 1958, Congress and private donors paid the rest, and it was finished in 1961 (NPS).

The Navy’s specification called for a structure like a bridge across the wreck. The Honolulu architect Alfred Preis answered with a span that dips in the middle and rises at both ends, and he explained the shape several years after it was built. The memorial was dedicated on May 30, 1962 (NHHC).

The memorial is 184 feet long and has three parts. It spans the middle of the sunken ship without touching it, because pilings were driven beyond the sides of the hull to carry the weight (NPS, NHHC). The boat from the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center lands at the entry room.

From the assembly room you look down at the ship, which Preis put eight feet below. The NPS says you may see the underwater structure when visibility allows (NPS).

In the shrine room, last names repeat. The NPS ranger briefing counts dozens of sets of brothers and a father and son on the wall. On each side of the wall is the Tree of Life, which NPS says represents peace and reconciliation, and the youngest man named was 16 (NPS).

NPS archeologist Jessica Keller, diving on the wreck, wrote that sunlight reflects off droplets of oil still leaking from the ship: “Considered the tears of the fallen, the drops of oil percolate out several sections of the deck” (NPS).

The park estimates half a million gallons remain inside the stern and monitors the leak constantly. The Navy’s history office identifies it as Bunker C fuel oil leaking since 1941 and puts hull corrosion at 1.1 to 6.0 mils a year (a mil is one thousandth of an inch) (NHHC).

Radioman Third Class G. H. Lane described the morning in his report to the Navy. An explosion knocked him off the ship and the Nevada took him aboard. Of the men around him he wrote: “I saw no signs of fear on the ship. Everyone was surprised and pretty mad” (NHHC).

The NPS counts 334 crewmen who survived the sinking. Arizona survivors alone may choose to rejoin their shipmates on their deaths. Divers place the urns in the well of Barbette No. 4 after a committal service, with a rifle salute and Taps (NPS). The first was in 1982.

Louis Conter, a quartermaster third class that morning, died on April 1, 2024. The National Park Service called him the last USS Arizona survivor (NPS).

The Visitor Center is open daily from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed on Thanksgiving, December 25 and January 1 (NPS). Boats leave every 15 minutes from 8 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 3:30 p.m., and each carries up to 145 people under Navy and Coast Guard rules (NPS).

The 23-minute park film is not part of the program. It plays at :15 and :45 past the hour in Theater 1 and needs no reservation. There are no restrooms on the boats or the memorial.

The Navy runs the boats and can suspend, change or cancel them for high winds or rain, so a calm morning is not a promise (NPS). The $1 fee is not refunded in any case (Recreation.gov). A boat leaves on time, and an unused seat can go to the standby line.

The memorial is a grave, and the rules follow from that.

Our visiting Pearl Harbor guide has the rest of the day.

• Voices: Recreation.gov asks you to “practice cemetery etiquette, speak quietly, use phones as cameras, and be respectful” (Recreation.gov). The ranger briefing asks for a whisper and silenced devices, and no photos while you enter the memorial (NPS).
• Dress: Shirts and shoes are required at all times. The NPS advises comfortable shoes, a hat and reef-safe sunscreen (NPS FAQ). Service members in uniform wear Class B or better.
• Bags and water: Bags that hide their contents are not allowed and clear bags are. Water is the only drink allowed on the boats and the memorial. Bag storage is near the Visitor Center entrance (NPS rules).
• Children: All ages are welcome, and everyone, infants included, needs a reservation. Strollers stay at the theater, so bring a baby carrier (NPS FAQ).

The program is free, and Recreation.gov, the only place that books it, adds a $1 fee per ticket. Tickets are released at 3 p.m. Hawaii time, 56 days ahead and again one day ahead. Without one, a free standby callback is possible but cannot be guaranteed (NPS). The steps and the standby details are in our Pearl Harbor tickets guide.

Our Pearl Harbor map places the memorial against the Visitor Center and Ford Island. The USS Missouri Memorial guide covers the Battleship Missouri Memorial, where World War II ended, and the Passport guide prices the other sites, though not the Arizona. Getting to Pearl Harbor from Waikiki compares the ways to go. The anniversary ceremony is in our Remembrance Day guide.