On Dec 7th 1941 the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Total losses were 2,388 American personnel killed before the end of that morning.

At 6:40 AM the crew of the destroyer USS Ward spotted the conning tower of one of the Japanese midget subs headed for the entrance to Pearl Harbor. The Ward sank the sub with depth charges & gunfire, then radioed the info to HQ. Before 7 AM the radar station at Opana Point picked up a signal indicating a large flight of planes approaching from the north. These were thought to be aircraft flying in from the carrier Enterprise or an anticipated flight of B-17s from the mainland. No action was taken.

The first wave of Japanese aircraft arrived over their target shortly before 7:55 AM. At approximately 8:10 AM the USS Arizona exploded having been hit by a 1,760 lb armor-piercing bomb that slammed through her deck and ignited her forward ammunition magazine. In less than 9 minutes she sank taking 1,177 American lives with her. The bodies of the service men are still entombed in the sunken ship till this day.

From the memorial you can see a gun turrent still above the waterline. Oil still seeps to the surface leaking from the ship below. You can view artifacts from some of the downed Japanese planes, and see a Japanese torpedo that was used during the attack displayed in the museum nearby. One photo shows a diagram of how the memorial is stationed above the sunken ship.