On Sunday, December 7th, 1941 the Japanese launched a surprise attack against the U.S. Forces stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
By planning the attack on a Sunday, the Japanese commander Admiral Nagumo, hoped to catch the entire fleet at Pearl Harbor, but as luck would have it, the aircraft carriers and one of the battleships were not in port.
When it was over, the U.S. losses were:
US Navy: 2,008 KIA, 710 WIA
US Army: 218 KIA, 364 WIA
USMC: 109 KIA, 69 WIA
Civilians: 68 KIA, 35 WIA
the USS Shaw, Destroyer, exploding
1,177 service members perished on the USS Arizona, making it the greatest loss of life on any U.S. warship in American history.The majority of the USS Arizona’s crew members went down with the ship; 337 service members survived.
The USS Arizona sank in nine minutes and burned for over two days.
There were 1.4 million gallons of fuel on the USS Arizona when she sank.Over 60 years later, approximately two quarts of oil a day still surface from the ship which Pearl Harbor survivors refer to as “black tears.”
The bond between USS Arizona shipmates went beyond being comrades; there were 37 sets of brothers assigned to the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941.
Today, interments for deceased USS Arizona survivors are conducted on the ship.
An interesting site: The Sacred Relics of Pearl Harbor
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