| By far the most popular visitor area in all of the islands and especially on O’ahu is historic Pearl Harbor and the somber visit to the sunken USS Arizona that took the lives of 1,177 young shipmen. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, they dealt a major blow to the U.S. Navy stationed in the Hawaiian Islands. The United States lost 8 battleships, 3 destroyers and 188 aircraft. The USS Arizona was hit by a 1,760lb armor piercing bomb. The explosion ignited the forward ammunition magazine at 8:10 A.M. and caused a huge explosion. Within 9 minutes, the ship and most of her crew lay at the bottom of the harbor. Today, the dead lay entombed at the bottom of the ocean with a memorial built overtop. As you peer over the railings, you can see the smokestack and outlines of the once mighty battleship just yards away. You can watch a film of the attack at the memorial, take a short boat ride to the memorial, and time at the memorial to think about the many young lives lost on that fateful day and read the names of the dead inscribed on the Memorial wall. This is a definite “must do” while visiting the island of O’ahu. |
