Pearl Harbor 70 Years Ago Today

On December 5, 1941 two ships moved in Pearl Harbor, one into the harbor and one away. Neither of the two ships survived the war.

The lesser known ship, the USS Lexington, left Pearl Harbor on December 5, 1941 carrying US Marine Corps SB2U Vindicator dive bombers to the Midway Atoll. Unknowingly, she escaped before the Japanese bombed the harbor two days later.

Over the next five months, the USS Lexington served as the flagship of Vice Admiral Wilson Brown and successfully participated in several wartime skirmishes.

In May 1942, the USS Lexington joined a task force in the Coral Sea to respond to potential fleet movement by the Japanese. In the Battle of the Coral Sea, her air group sank the first ship when it destroyed the Shoho.

But on May 8, the USS Lexington received two torpedo and three bomb hits. She could not recover. Just after 5 pm, the Captain ordered all personnel to abandon ship.

Conversely, the more infamous of the two ships, the USS Arizona, arrived in Pearl Harbor on December 5, 1941 and moored at Ford Island. After performing night gunnery exercises the day before, the battleship came into the harbor for maintenance by the crew of the repair ship USS Vestal.

In 1941, the USS Arizona was 25 years old, probably older than some of the sailors on the ship. Though all were not on the ship that fateful day, the USS Arizona had over 1500 men assigned to her in December 1941.

The ship began back in 1913, just over a year after Arizona became a state, when Congress authorized the construction of the USS Arizona. Built at the Brooklyn, New York Navy Yard, the USS Arizona was first launched in June 1915 and commissioned into service in October 1916.

She traveled the world during her 25-year lifespan.

One of her notable journeys was as an escort to the USS George Washington, which carried President Woodrow Wilson on the first US Presidential trip to Europe. In December 1918, President Wilson traveled to France for a meeting to discuss a peaceful end to World War I.

Perhaps not as large as today’s ships, the USS Arizona was still a force on the oceans she traveled.

The USS Arizona as a new ship circa 1915

Twenty years ago, the Honolulu Mint produced a medal remembering the USS Arizona on the 50th anniversary.

Made of silver with gold plating on the ship, the medal’s obverse shows another view of the USS Arizona before she was destroyed.

The inscription states, “To the memory of the gallant men who gave their lives in action.”

1991 Silver Pearl Harbor medal from the Honolulu Mint - obverse

Seventy years ago today, those men on the USS Arizona were looking forward to R&R on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Just two days later, 1177 of the crew died in the during the terrifying hours starting with the bombs during their early Sunday morning meal.

This week, let’s remember the hopes, the fears and the struggles of seventy years ago.

Resources:

Library of Congress – USS Arizona circa 1915
World War II Database
World War II Pacific Islands – 1941
The Battleship USS Arizona
The National Park Service – Pearl Harbor

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