U.S.S. ARIZONA Memorial
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
December 7, 1941 Japan bombs U.S. ships in Pearl Harbor


U.S.S. Arizona Memorial - Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Entrance to Memorial

Looking up at OLD GLORY from inside

To the Memory of the Gallant men here entombed and their shipmates who gave their lives in action on December 7, 1941 on the U.S.S. Arizona

U.S.S. Arizona Memorial - War Memorial of the Pacific, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

U.S.S. Arizona Bell

The Battleship USS Arizona (BB-39) on completion in 1916 was outfitted with two identical bronze bells cast in 1916 by E.A. Williams & Son, Jersey City, NJ. One was mounted on the foremast, and the other on the mainmast. The principal functions of these bells were as a navigational aid when the ship is at anchor in fog, or when it is aground, to mark the passage of time, to signal an alarm, and for ceremonial use.

In late 1940, while the USS Arizona was in overhaul at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, the bell on the foremast was removed in order to lighten the ship. The remaining bell on the mainmast was salvaged in August 1942 when the mainmast was removed from the ship.

In July 1946, a USS Arizona bell that was in storage at Puget Sound Navy Yard was placed on loan to the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona. This was most likely the bell removed from the foremast in 1940.

The USS Arizona bell displayed here was shipped to the mainland (possibly placed in storage in Norfolk, Virginia). In 1954, it was placed on exhibit at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix, Arizona for a number of years. Then it was placed on display at the First National Bank of Phoenix in the bank’s Arizona History Room. In 1965, the bell was returned to Hawaii, and on Memorial Day 1966 it was officially unveiled at the USS Arizona Memorial. To better protect the bell from the elements in 1993, the bell was moved and placed on display in the USS Arizona Memorial Visitor Center.

Weight - 1,252 pounds
Diameter - 34 inches

Arizona Gun Terrett 2010

Oil seeping out - 2010

Submitted by Mike Rea


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