Battleship Row



Battleship Row was the grouping of seven U.S. battleships in port at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, when the Japanese attacked on 7 December 1941. These ships bore the brunt of the Japanese assault. They were moored next to Ford Island when the attack commenced. The ships were USS Arizona (BB-39), USS California (BB-44), USS Maryland (BB-46), USS Nevada (BB-36), USS Oklahoma (BB-37), USS Pennsylvania (BB-38), USS Tennessee (BB-43), and USS West Virginia (BB-48). A repair ship (former coal ship), USS Vestal (AR-4), was also present, moored next to Arizona.

Attack
Arizona, California, Oklahoma, and West Virginia were sunk during the attack. Arizona suffered the most serious damage and loss of life, an explosion in a forward magazine breaking the hull in two. Of the other four, only Nevada had serious damage. Pennsylvania was in dry dock, making attack difficult, and as a result was relatively undamaged. Vestal was also damaged. Following the attack, operations immediately commenced to refloat and repair the damaged ships. Battleship Row was not visible from Hickam Field because of the thick black smoke. The first to be completed was Nevada on April 19 1942. By the end of the war, all except Arizona and Oklahoma had returned to service. Six surviving ships were decommissioned soon after the war was over. Nevada and Pennsylvania were expended in atomic bomb tests in the Pacific. The rest were scrapped in the late 1950s. Oklahoma was eventually refloated but not repaired, and capsized and sank while being towed back to the mainland for scrapping. Arizona's hulk remains a memorial, one of the most popular tourist attractions on the island. USS Utah (BB-31) was in port at Pearl Harbor, but was not moored with the rest of the battleships. However, she was still sunk within a few minutes of the battle.

The ships that were attacked

 * USS Arizona (BB-39): hit by an armor-piercing bomb, exploded; total loss. 1,177 dead.
 * USS Oklahoma (BB-37): hit by five torpedoes, capsized; total loss. 429 dead. Refloated November 1943; capsized and lost while under tow to the mainland May 1947.
 * USS West Virginia (BB-48): hit by two bombs, seven torpedoes, sunk; returned to service July 1944. 106 dead.
 * USS California (BB-44): hit by two bombs, two torpedoes, sunk; returned to service January 1944. 100 dead.
 * USS Nevada (BB-36): hit by six bombs, one torpedo, beached; returned to service October 1942. 60 dead.
 * USS Tennessee (BB-43): hit by two bombs; returned to service February 1942. 5 dead.
 * USS Maryland (BB-46): hit by two bombs; returned to service February 1942. 4 dead (including floatplane pilot shot down).
 * USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) (Kimmel's flagship): in drydock with Cassin and Downes, hit by one bomb, debris from USS Cassin; remained in service. 9 dead.