There were eight battleships at Pearl Harbor that day and seven of them were lined up on “Battleship Row”. All eight were bombed and/or torpedoed although only two were a complete loss (Arizona and Oklahoma). A total of 18 ships were sunk or run aground including five battleships. Of the 8 battleships attacked, six were able to be repaired and put back into service within months of the attack.
In the second wave of Japanese planes, 10 “Kate” bombers at an altitude of 9,800 ft dropped armor-piercing bombs on battleship row. The bombers scored four hits that ran the length of the Arizona and three near misses. The first hit the stern and ricocheted off Turret #4, penetrating the deck and landing in the captain’s pantry causing a small fire. The next hit was near the port edge mid-ship, blasting a hole in the anti-torpedo bulkhead. The next struck near the port rear 5-inch anti-aircraft gun. The last bomb penetrated the armored deck near Turret #2 and entered the ammunition magazine causing a cataclysmic explosion of an ammunition magazine that blasted the ship almost in half. This explosion killed 1,104 of the 1,512 crewmen on board and accounts for about half of the people killed that fateful day.
A total of 2,335 U.S. servicemen (2,008 Navy sailors, 109 Marines, and 218 Army soldiers and airmen) were killed and 1,142 wounded in the attack. 68 civilians were also killed and 35 wounded.
