Battleship Row

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The formation of ships in Battleship Row.

Battleship Row was the grouping of eight battleships in port at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese launched the Attack on Pearl Harbor. These ships bore the brunt of the Japanese assault. They were moored next to Ford Island when the attack commenced. The ships were:

• USS Arizona - Magazine explosion, sunk with few survivors
• USS California - Sunk
• USS Maryland - Damaged
• USS Nevada - Damaged and run aground
• USS Oklahoma - Capsized and sunk
• USS Pennsylvania - Damaged. The Pennsylvania was in dry dock during the attack, making efforts to torpedo her extremely difficult.
• USS Tennessee - Damaged
• USS West Virginia - Sunk

Japanese planes attacking Battleship Row, as seen from the southwest. Ford Island is in the center of the picture, and Battleship row is behind the island

Four of the ships were sunk; of the other four, only Nevada had serious damage. Following the attack, operations immediately commenced to refloat and repair them. By the end of the war, six of them would see service again (all except the Arizona and Oklahoma). No battleship that was in the attack on Pearl Harbor is afloat today. The last ship to be either sunk or scrapped was the USS California (BB-44) in 1959.

An aerial view of Battleship Row moorings on the southern side of Ford Island, three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. In upper left is the sunken USS California (BB-44), with smaller vessels clustered around her. Diagonally, from left center to lower right are: USS Maryland (BB-46), lightly damaged, with the capsized USS Oklahoma (BB-37) outboard. A barge is alongside Oklahoma, supporting rescue efforts. USS Tennessee (BB-43), lightly damaged, with the sunken USS West Virginia (BB-48) outboard. USS Arizona (BB-39), sunk, with her hull shattered by the explosion of the magazines below the two forward turrets. Note dark oil streaks on the harbor surface, originating from the sunken battleships.