February 21st Visit to USS Arizona

I was in Hawaii last week, and as regular visitors might know, a visit to Arizona:

One of Arizona's anchors with the Memorial between a fluke and the stock.

Above: Memorial from the Visitors Center shoreline with the Ford Island control tower in the background. Below: Approaching the Memorial by boat; Battleship Missouri in the background.

We timed our visit perfectly to catch the nuclear aircraft carrier Stennis CVN-74 departing Pearl Harbor and rendering honors. I was the last off the boat, which left me in a good position to shoot this quickly from the entrance (even though they said to wait until we were in the memorial). A second after I shot this, you could hear "salute!" come from the Stennis' loud speakers. Thank you to the crew for a fine example of the continuing respect Arizona is given.

The wind was fresh, making it difficult to get good shots of Arizona's oil. Tide was headed out to sea.

Working from Stern forward; Barbette #3 with some of the ventilator shafts visible closer and under the surface.

Casemate 10's outline can faintly be seen here on the starboard side, just forward of the forecastle/main deck break at Frame 88. Biths and Chock outboard at deck edge:

The remains of turret #2 just break the surface, looking towards Battleship Missouri. Wind rippled, yet peaceful water that over 1,100 sailors rest eternally underneath.

Stennis had been partially turned around by the time we needed to line up on the rails and loomed large in the openings.

We visited Battleship Missouri the next day and a rainbow was visible from the bridge, connecting the Memorial to the Visitor's Center. A fitting Hawaiian Islands tribute.