Battleships Sunk at Pearl Harbor and Their Post-Attack Journeys

The morning of December 7, 1941, left a scene of utter devastation on Battleship Row. For the US Navy, the list of battleships sunk at Pearl Harbor was a catastrophic blow, seemingly wiping out the core of its Pacific Fleet in just over an hour. But the story of these behemoths didn’t end there in the oily, burning waters. Their post-attack journeys—of salvage, rebirth, or solemn remembrance—are a powerful testament to American resilience and engineering ingenuity.
This is the story of what happened after the bombs stopped falling. It’s about the monumental task of raising multi-ton giants from the seafloor and the complex decisions that determined whether they would fight again.

At a Glance: The Fates of the Sunken Giants

• Total Losses: Learn why the USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma were considered irrecoverable, with one becoming a sacred memorial and the other a tragic hulk.
• The Great Salvage: Discover the incredible engineering feats required to refloat and repair the USS California, USS West Virginia, and USS Nevada.
• From Ruin to Revenge: Follow the path these resurrected battleships took from the muddy harbor floor back into the heart of World War II, where they delivered powerful paybacks.
• The Triage Process: Understand the strategic decisions behind which ships were saved and which were scrapped, a complex calculation of damage, time, and resources.

The Morning After: Assessing the Unthinkable

When the smoke cleared, the US Navy faced a daunting reality. Eight battleships were hit, and five of them were now sitting on the shallow bottom of Pearl Harbor. The immediate task was search and rescue, a desperate effort to save trapped sailors. But soon after, the focus shifted to a question that seemed almost impossible to answer: what could be done with these sunken steel mountains?
The salvage operation that followed was one of the largest and most complex in naval history. It wasn’t just about recovery; it was a strategic imperative. Every ship that could be returned to service was a critical asset for a nation suddenly thrust into a global war. For a comprehensive overview of every battleship present during the attack, you can Explore the Pearl Harbor battleships and their positions on that fateful morning.
This triage process divided the sunken battleships into two distinct groups: those beyond hope and those with a fighting chance.

Beyond Saving: The Final Resting Places

Not every battleship could be saved. The nature and extent of the damage to two particular vessels made their return to service an impossibility.

USS Arizona (BB-39): A Tomb of War

The fate of the Arizona was sealed in a single, cataclysmic moment. A 1,760-pound armor-piercing bomb, dropped by a Japanese Kate bomber, penetrated her forward decks and detonated her forward ammunition magazine. The resulting explosion was so violent it lifted the 33,000-ton ship out of the water before breaking its back.

• The Damage: The explosion and subsequent fires were catastrophic, consuming the ship and killing 1,177 of her crewmen—nearly half of the total American casualties that day.
• The Decision: The ship was a complete structural loss. Her hull was shattered, and the fires had raged for over two days, warping what remained. Salvage for repair was never a viable option.
• The Legacy: The Navy removed her aft main turrets and some superstructure, but the hull was left where it sank. Today, the USS Arizona Memorial straddles the submerged wreck, a hallowed war grave and a permanent reminder of the attack.

USS Oklahoma (BB-37): The Ship That Turned Turtle

The Oklahoma suffered a different but equally fatal ordeal. Moored outboard of the USS Maryland, she was completely exposed to the first wave of torpedo bombers.

• The Damage: Struck by as many as nine torpedoes in quick succession, all on her port side, the ship’s stability was rapidly overwhelmed. She listed heavily and then capsized completely, trapping hundreds of men inside. In the frantic hours and days that followed, civilian yard workers heroically cut through the hull to rescue 32 survivors. Still, 429 of her crew were killed.
• The Salvage Effort: Despite being a total loss, the Oklahoma presented a navigational hazard in the crowded harbor. An immense and ingenious “parbuckling” operation was undertaken, using 21 massive winches on shore to slowly pull the ship upright. This effort took nearly eight months.
• The Final Journey: Once righted and refloated, the ship was moved to a dry dock. The damage was too severe to justify a full rebuild, especially with newer battleships already under construction. She was decommissioned, stripped of her guns and superstructure, and eventually sold for scrap. In a final, tragic postscript, the empty hulk sank in a storm while being towed to California in 1947.

A Note on the USS Utah (AG-16): Though no longer a battleship (she had been converted to a target ship), the Utah was also sunk during the attack and lies where she fell. Hit by two torpedoes, she capsized and remains a war grave for the 58 crewmen lost.

The Resurrected Fleet: From the Mud Back to the Fight

The stories of three other sunken battleships are ones of incredible recovery. These ships were battered, sunk, and left for dead, but they would rise again to exact their revenge. The salvage process for each was a unique engineering puzzle.

The Anatomy of a Battleship Salvage

Raising a sunken battleship was a monumental task that followed a general, painstaking process:

1. Initial Survey: Divers, working in near-zero visibility amid debris and unexploded ordnance, had to meticulously inspect and map every inch of the damage.
2. Patching the Hull: The gaping holes from torpedoes and bombs had to be sealed. This was done by building massive custom patches, often made of wood and concrete, and fitting them to the hull’s contours.
3. Dewatering: Once the hull was made watertight, powerful pumps began the slow process of removing thousands of tons of water, oil, and debris from inside the ship.
4. Refloating & Stabilization: As the water was pumped out, the ship would slowly regain buoyancy. This was a delicate phase, requiring careful management to prevent the ship from becoming unstable and rolling over.
5. Dry Dock & Rebuild: Only after being refloated and stabilized could the ship be moved into a dry dock for a complete overhaul, which often included significant modernization.

Case Study: USS West Virginia (BB-48)

“Weevie,” as she was known, took a tremendous pounding. Moored outboard of the Tennessee, she absorbed an estimated six to seven torpedo hits and two bomb hits. She sank upright, settling into the harbor mud.

• The Challenge: The port side of her hull was shredded. Salvage crews had to build and install a massive cofferdam—a temporary watertight enclosure—around the damaged section to pump it dry for repairs.
• The Return: Refloated in May 1942, she was sent to the Puget Sound Navy Yard for a complete rebuild. She returned to the fleet in July 1944, so heavily modernized with new anti-aircraft guns, radar, and fire control systems that she barely resembled her former self.
• The Payback: West Virginia participated in the Battle of Surigao Strait in October 1944, part of the larger Battle of Leyte Gulf. Her new radar-guided 16-inch guns were among the first to open fire on the Japanese fleet, landing a direct hit on the battleship Yamashiro with her first salvo.

Case Study: USS California (BB-44)

The “Prune Barge” was hit by two torpedoes and a bomb, which caused progressive flooding. Despite counter-flooding efforts, she slowly sank over three days, coming to rest in the mud.

• The Challenge: Like the West Virginia, her recovery required massive wooden patches to seal the hull before she could be pumped out and refloated.
• The Return: Raised in March 1942, she underwent a similar modernization at Puget Sound. She rejoined the fleet in January 1944.
• The Payback: California also fought at Surigao Strait, her 14-inch guns contributing to the devastating barrage that annihilated the Japanese force. She went on to provide crucial fire support for island-hopping campaigns across the Pacific, including at Saipan, Guam, and Okinawa.

Case Study: USS Nevada (BB-36)

The Nevada has a unique story. As the only battleship to get underway during the attack, she became a primary target for the second wave of Japanese bombers. Badly damaged and on fire, her commanding officer made the critical decision to beach her at Hospital Point to avoid sinking in the main channel and blocking the harbor entrance.

• The Challenge: While not fully submerged, Nevada was hard aground with significant bomb and fire damage. The salvage was less about raising her and more about refloating and repairing her enough to make the journey to the mainland.
• The Return: Refloated in February 1942, she received temporary repairs at Pearl Harbor before sailing to Puget Sound. She returned to service in late 1942, serving first in the Atlantic providing convoy escort and fire support for the Normandy D-Day landings.
• The Payback: Nevada later returned to the Pacific, lending her guns to the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. She survived the war only to be used as a target for the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll, a testament to her rugged construction.

Quick Answers to Common Questions

Q: Were all the battleships at Pearl Harbor sunk?
No. Of the eight battleships present, only five were technically sunk or grounded (Arizona, Oklahoma, West Virginia, California, Nevada). The USS Tennessee and USS Maryland were damaged by bombs but were protected from torpedoes by being moored inboard. The USS Pennsylvania was in a dry dock and suffered relatively minor damage. All three were back in service within months.
Q: Why was the USS Oklahoma salvaged but not repaired?
The salvage was necessary to clear the harbor, but the damage was simply too extensive. The ship had been submerged for over a year after capsizing, ruining all her machinery and electrical systems. The cost and time to rebuild her from such a state were deemed prohibitive compared to building new ships.
Q: Did the salvaged battleships really make a difference in the war?
Absolutely. While aircraft carriers became the new queens of the sea for fleet-on-fleet battles, the “old” battleships proved invaluable for shore bombardment. Their massive guns were essential for softening up enemy defenses during the island-hopping campaigns, saving countless American lives during amphibious assaults. Their role in the last battleship-versus-battleship engagement at Surigao Strait was a fitting final chapter.

The Legacy in Steel and Memory

The story of the battleships sunk at Pearl Harbor is one of dualities. It is a story of catastrophic failure and unpreparedness, but it is also a story of unmatched determination and recovery. The images of ruin from December 7th are forever etched in history, but so too should be the images of these same ships, rebuilt and defiant, pounding enemy shores just a few years later.
From the silent tomb of the Arizona to the avenging guns of the West Virginia, each vessel’s journey reflects a different facet of the war. They are symbols not just of a day of infamy, but of the industrial might and fighting spirit that ultimately led to victory.