How Many Sailors and Marines Are Entombed in the USS Arizona?
More than 30 surviving crewmen from the USS Arizona have selected to be interred in the wreckage of the ship as of 2011. In 1982, the U.S. Navy began to allow USS Arizona survivors to elect to be interred in the wreckage following a full military funeral, if desired. Divers escort cremated remains that are placed inside an urn and deposit them beneath one of the wreck’s gun turrets as a final resting place.
Those crew members serving on the USS Arizona prior to the infamous attack that led to the ship’s demise in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, can also have their ashes scattered above the site of the wreckage. In addition, crewmen serving on other vessels that were stationed at Pearl Harbor on the day of the attack canhave their ashes scattered above their respective ships. Only 18 of the 355 surviving crewmen from the bombing of the USS Arizona were known to be alive in 2011.
The 2-hour assault on December 7, 1941, took the lives of more than 2,500 people and wounded 1,000 others. A total of 18 American ships were destroyed along with 300 airplanes that day. Around half of the casualties occurred on the USS Arizona as a result of four hits by Japanese bombers. The attack on Pearl Harbor catapulted the United States into World War II.
