Battleship Row was the grouping of eight U.S. battleships in port at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, when the Japanese attacked on December 7, 1941.[1] These ships bore most of the brunt of the Japanese assault. They were moored next to Ford Island when the attack commenced. The ships were Arizona, California, Maryland, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia. A repair ship (former coal ship), Vestal, was also present, moored next to Arizona.[1]
Arizona, California, Oklahoma, and West Virginia were sunk during the attack. Arizona suffered the most serious damage and loss of life, an explosion in a forward magazine breaking the hull in two. Of the other four, only Nevada had serious damage.[1] Pennsylvania was in dry dock, making attack difficult, and as a result was relatively undamaged. Vestal was also damaged. Following the attack, operations immediately commenced to refloat and repair the damaged ships. By the end of the war, all except the Arizona and Oklahoma had been put back into service. The six surviving ships were decommissioned soon after the war was over. Nevada and Pennsylvania were expended in atomic bomb tests in the Pacific.[1] The rest were scrapped in the late 1950s. Oklahoma was eventually refloated but not repaired, and capsized and sank while being towed back to the mainland for scrapping. Arizona's hulk remains a memorial, one of the most popular tourist attractions on the island.[1]
Utah was in port at Pearl Harbor, but was not moored with the rest of the battleships. However, she was still sunk within a few minutes of the battle.[1]