USS Arizona Memorial and Pearl Harbor National Memorial

Built to commemorate the lives lost on the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941, the USS Arizona Memorial marks the final resting place of over 1,100 sailors killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor and the island of O‘ahu that brought the United States into World War II.

Built some 20 years after the end of the war, Alfred Preis’ award-winning Arizona Memorial of 1962 has both New Formalist and Expressionist qualities. In 1966, the Memorial was included in the list of the nine best examples of contemporary architecture by the Hawai‘i Chapter of the AIA.

Preis explained his design: “Wherein the structure sags in the center but stands strong and vigorous at the ends, expresses defeat and ultimate victory… The overall effect is one of serenity. Overtones of sadness have been omitted, to permit the individual to contemplate his own personal responses…his innermost feelings.”

Photo by David Franzen

Accessible only by boat, the Memorial is a 184-foot-long bridge over the wreck of the USS Arizona. The structure contains three rooms: the Entry, the Assembly Hall and the Shrine. The center hall is dominated by seven large openings on each side. The solid floor is interrupted by an area open to the water, through which the wreckage of the Arizona can be seen below.

The wreck of the USS Arizona is designated a National Historic Landmark, as is the entire Pearl Harbor Naval Base, which encompasses all of Battleship Row. The Memorial itself, as well as the Battleship Row Mooring Quays, the nearby Chief Petty Officers Bungalows on Ford Island, and the Pearl Harbor Visitors Center, are part of the Pearl Harbor National Memorial (originally designated as the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument).

Historic Hawai‘i Foundation continues to be a consulting party to the National Park Service as regular repair, maintenance and preservation projects occur at the site, including recent repairs to the memorial’s dock, replacements of the Shrine wall, and improvements at the Visitors Center. HHF is also engaged in discussions with NPS about preservation of the CPO Bungalows and their future use.

 

Learn more:
https://www.nps.gov/valr/index.htm
https://historichawaii.org/2014/08/22/uss-arizona-bb-39-wreck/
https://historichawaii.org/2014/08/22/battleship-mooring-quays-battleship-row/
https://historichawaii.org/2014/08/18/pearl-harbor/