Thursday, December 20, 2007

USS Arizona

The USS Arizona (BB-39) was a Pennsylvania-class battleship of the United States Navy. The vessel was the third to be named in honor of the 48th state, though the first since its statehood was actually achieved. She was commissioned in 1916 and saw action in World War I.
The USS Arizona is best known for her cataclysmic and dramatic sinking, with the loss of 1,177 lives, during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the event that brought about U.S. involvement in World War II.
The wreck was not salvaged and continues to lie at the floor of the harbor. It is the site of a memorial to those who perished on that day.

Displacement: 31,400 tons
Length: 608 ft (185.3 m)
Beam: 97 ft (29.6 m) waterline,
106 ft (32.3 m) extreme
Draft: 28.8 ft (8.8 m)
Speed: 21 knots (39 km/h)
Complement: 1,081 officers and men
Armament: 12 × 14 in (356 mm) guns,
22 × 5 in (127 mm) guns,
4 × 3 in (76 mm) guns,
2 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes